Now that the City Market is back outdoors on the 104 Street Promenade, it finally feels like spring! I ended up missing my window to post about opening day last Saturday, so I thought I’d just combine the first two weeks in one post.
Opening day
The weather was very cooperative last week, gloriously sunny skies providing the perfect welcome to vendors setting up shop on the street.
Last week
Today was quite the opposite: overcast, windy, and eventually, rain.
This week
Due to the the Fox Towers construction, the market has been required to make some adjustments to their layout. Change is not always well-received, so I was eager to see how its new “T-shaped” configuration along 102 Avenue would look.
102 Avenue
It turns out, the shift was better than I anticipated. The aisles were spacious and easier to navigate (the Avenue seemed wider than the Street), and the vendors we spoke with were happy with their new placements. Erdmann’s and Sunshine Organic anchor the 102 Avenue drag, which will hopefully encourage shoppers to tour both ends.
Wide aisles
My only suggestion has to do with seating. Although it wasn’t an issue today because of the blustery conditions, it was quite obvious last week that the market could do with more tables and chairs. With musical buskers attracting crowds, and multiple prepared food vendors surrounding the market “plaza”, places to rest and linger were in short supply. I recognize this isn’t an easy problem to solve, with the challenge of on-site storage, but hopefully it is something that can be looked into.
Plaza
In terms of vendors, it was great to see all of our favourites again, including Sundog Organic, Riverbend Gardens and Edgar Farms. But it was nice to see some new faces at the City Market as well, such as Heritage Baked Goods and their unique doughnuts. Without question, we ended up filling our shopping basket much too full – call it the spring reflex, where anything remotely green results in an impulse buy.
Asparagus from Edgar Farms
Rhubarb from Sundog Organic
Spinach from Sundog Organic
Onions from Sundog Organic
Spring onions from Sundog Organic
Microgreens from Sundog Organic
Tomatoes from Gull Valley Greenhouses
Cabbage from Riverbend Gardens
Herbs from Riverbend Gardens
Flowers from South Cooking Lake Greenhouses
It’s wonderful to have the market back on our doorstep. See you there next week!
Only Here for the Food 
I really like the new configuration of the market.
It’s nice to do part of our shopping in the sun (well, last week anyway) instead of always in the shade of the buildings.