Should we stay or should we go? That's the question Burnaby Village Farmers' Market manager Lyn Hainstock wants Burnaby residents to answer about the market's current location.
The farmers' market relocated to its cur-rent site at the Burnaby Village Museum from its former spot in the city hall parking lot this year.
But the move has been fraught with problems, Hainstock said, and customers are divided on whether the market should stay in the same spot next year or move back to city hall.
"At the moment, it's really 50-50," she said of the responses. "They absolutely adore it or they absolutely hate it."
Hainstock wants to get feedback from people who were previously customers at the market but have stopped coming.
The move has discouraged cyclists, dog owners and seniors from coming to the market, she said.
Bikes and dogs are not allowed in the village museum, but many of the market's former customers were cyclists and about 30 per cent brought their dogs, Hainstock estimated.
Seniors have been unhappy with the move because there is limited parking in front of the museum, and there's a steep incline to the parking in the back, she added, so it is difficult mobility-wise.
On the other hand, Hainstock said, families love the new location, as their children can explore the museum while they shop.
But customers who do come are buying less, according to Hainstock, possibly because it is difficult to get purchases back to their cars.
"The feeling is, the vendors are losing," she said, adding some are taking home only a few hundred dollars per week.
The market has created a survey for current and former customers, asking if they want the market to stay at the museum, or to return to the city hall parking lot.
Those interested in responding can fill a survey out at the market up until Oct. 8, or can email a response, including name and phone number, to [email protected], Hainstock said. The market has faced challenges because of the weather, as well.
On its opening weekend in May, the market was hit by a deluge of rain, according to Hainstock.
"We weren't expecting monsoon weather," she told the NOW in an interview that week.
Staff at the museum have been working to accommodate the market, she said, helping vendors relocate along the roadways in the village museum, to get out of the mud.
"Staff have been bending over backwards for us," she said.
But if customers vote to return the market to the city hall parking lot, Hainstock said, she will apply to go back. If customers vote to keep it at its current location, though, the museum would need to continue to provide free admission next year, she pointed out, so customers could access the market.
Admission has been free for the Burnaby Village Museum's 40th anniversary year.
The move has increased attendance but cut revenues, as the loss of admission was not covered by gift shop purchases, food services or donations, Dave Ellenwood, Burnaby's director of parks, recreation and cultural services, told the NOW in July.
The farmers' market has been at the village every Saturday since its first weekend on May 7 and continues to run on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. until Oct. 29. For more information, go to www.artisanmarkets.ca.
