The West Bank Farmers’ Market, which was located on River Road but has been closed since July, will move to a new location due to dwindling customers and vendors at its old spot.
On Jan. 21, the West Bank Market will open in the parking lot of the old K-Mart building in the St. Charles Plaza on Highway 90. The Plaza, which currently houses Subway, Merle Norman, Foxy Lady, El Mexicano and Smoothie King, among others, offers increased visibility – something any market needs to survive.
“The location was picked because of the increased traffic flow that Highway 90 has,” Ann Montgomery, the marketing director of the German Coast Farmers’ Market, said. “The owners of the Plaza were generous enough to allow us to set up shop there.”
Because of the increased traffic flow on the highway, Montgomery said that the market should attract more patrons and more vendors.
“We will offer more items at this new location than we did at our old location because our vendors have high hopes for this spot,” Montgomery said. “We hope to build it up to the size of the east bank location.”
The East Bank Market, which is located on River Road next to Ormond Plantation, has flourished for years. And though the West Bank Market started off strong on River Road, the early success died down two years later.
“No matter what we tried, we just couldn’t draw patrons to our old location,” Montgomery said. “Both the board and our vendors agreed to try another location to see if the parish can support two farmers’ markets.”
After the decision was reached to find a new location, traffic studies were conducted in order to choose an ideal spot.
“The traffic studies showed that Highway 90 will have double the amount of traffic that we had on River Road,” Montgomery said.
However, safety on Highway 90 was an issue, and the Plaza was picked because of its traffic light.
“We wanted to make sure that traffic could get on and off the road,” Montgomery said. “That traffic light allows that to happen safely.”
The grand reopening of the West Bank Market will take place on Jan. 21 from 3 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Some products that will be available on that day include baked breads and pastries, rotisserie meats, hogshead cheese, local honey, soy candles, seafood, broccoli, cauliflower, beets, cabbage, greens, lettuce, mushrooms and citrus. Some value-added products included are wines and jellies, kettlecorn, cracklin, gourmet rice and hot plate suppers.
Blanch Newsome will also perform for the opening.
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