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CUP OF JOE WITH JOE The Downtown Windsor Farmers’ Market . . . “Market” On Your Calendar To Attend

After years of searching for their new forever home, the Downtown Windsor Farmers’ Market (DWFM), a non-profit Farmers’ Market partnership of the DWFM and the Downtown Windsor Business Improvement Association (DWBIA), has now been a fixture on Pelissier Street and Maiden Lane Avenue since 2016.

This year it has been operating on Saturdays, since May 1, and continues to do so until December 11, between the hours of 8 a.m. and 1 p.m.

I recently attended the market and was amazed by what I saw as I approached the intersection of Pelissier and Wyandotte. As far as my eyes could see, there was an endless line up of tent after tent after tent housing a very diverse assortment of market vendors and their products. The street was alive and filled with masked (COVID-19 safety protocols) market shoppers of all ages, genders, and ethnic backgrounds. This was a microcosm of the Windsor I know and love!

Due to previous pandemic restrictions (and the fact that I also officiate weddings on Saturdays) I finally had the chance to visit the market in July 2021 . . . and what a pleasant surprise it was for me.

There have been palpable, positive vibes felt in the downtown Windsor core in the past few years. The DWBIA and their ally partners have undertaken new and exciting initiatives to help bring this new vitality and energy to a downtown, too long neglected. I don’t have the space here to describe all these initiatives — except for one major one — The Downtown Windsor Farmers’ Market.

While I was at the market, I sat down and chatted with DWBIA Executive Director, Debi Croucher and Steve Green, DWFM Manager. They helped me understand the sense of optimism I was experiencing for downtown and the role the market was playing in its resurgence.

One of the payoffs for the city in terms of the market’s success is an increase in the occupancy of unoccupied properties in the area.

Croucher indicates: “There is no longer a vacant property in the vicinity of the market. This is something that changed within the first year of the market on Pelissier. At that time there was a 30% property vacancy rate in the area and by the end of the first year there was only one vacant property left.”

She also points out the DWBIA made a significant infrastructure investment in the city with respect to the two ground-level parking garage sections (a subject of enormous controversy a few years back): “The ground level of the parking garage can now be activated, whether it’s for markets, parking, or any other event, because it now has hydro consumption. We’ve been able to demonstrate this effectively and safely.”

From a financial perspective, the DWFM has been a great success.

“Our totally self-funded market — (with the exception of some grants received this past year related to implementing COVID-19 initiatives) — turned a year-end profit of $40,000,” Croucher reports. “All of this money goes right back into the market to fund new initiatives like our new e-commerce platform.”

Green adds, “The appeal of the market also brings 2,000 people into the downtown core each week who not only shop at the market, but at existing businesses as well, and dine in our restaurants. Vendors can earn $1,000 on a good day. Multiply that by the 33 market dates times 70 to 80 vendors — well you do the math and see what kind of money can be made by these local small businesses in a year’s time.”

Since my last visit to the market a year ago, the number of vendors has grown significantly.

When I asked Green about the current vendor status, he proudly tells me: “We are two empty spots shy of 80 vendors currently, and I will soon have to activate 12 more spaces from our current inventory of available spots.”

My next question to Green was if he required city or DWFM board approval for additional vendors.

He replies: “No, I have set parameters from Wyandotte to Park and the Parking Garage; so, anything I can do to add additional vendors within these parameters, safely, is my prerogative.”

Green maintains a waiting list inventory of potential vendors, which has reached as high as 45 in recent times.
To become a vendor, the process and fees required are clearly spelled out on the DWFM website. There is also an online application that must be completed and submitted.

Their website can be accessed through the DWBIA via: DowntownWindsor.ca or on their own stand-alone URL: DWFM.ca.

This year the market has been extended from early October to December 11th — an addition of five more weeks. This was not in response to COVID-19, although in some ways it helped in lengthening its schedule, since outdoor markets are a category that are permitted to remain open (with mitigation restrictions) during shutdowns. However, even without the pandemic this past year, plans were already in place to extend the market year to mid-December.

A new feature to the market this year is the ability for shoppers to purchase items from the comfort of home, from the downtown market, with “ShopDWFM” — a multi-vendor e-commerce platform.

Here is how it works. By Friday of each week, place your order of favourite foods, artisan crafts, etc. by placing the items in your virtual shopping cart; next you pay for the goods and they will be waiting for you at the various vendors the following morning.

“They can place their order online and then on the day of market, they bring their order ID with them, they go pick the items up directly from the vendors,” Croucher explains. “So, they can skip the line for one; secondly, they can guarantee whatever products or produce they’re looking for is in stock; and finally, their purchases have been paid for and reserved for them.” 

This e-commerce platform also operates during non-market months, allowing registered vendors to sell their products online from their stores or homes, to their clients, 12 months a year. 

During my walkabout at the DWFM I was delighted to see a significant cross section of our population represented as buyers and sellers of one another’s goods. Windsor has long been known to be in the top four ethnically diverse cities in Canada, on a per capita basis, and this diversity shines through at the market.

Green comments that the market has established solid relationships with local social organizations, collaborating with new immigrants to our region. They assist the newcomers to Windsor to help them start up their own businesses and sell their wares at the DWFM. Eventually, many of them branch out from the market to their own “brick and mortar” businesses.

As Green says with a big smile, “The DWFM is the ‘farm team’ for their future businesses.”

If you haven’t had a chance to attend the market this year, I urge you to do so to discover some new friends and support local businesses at the same time.

“Market” on your calendar and enjoy our locally grown farm fresh fruit, vegetables, flowers, and unique artisan food, and browse the art exhibits, crafts vendors, community booths, entertainment, food demos and kid’s corner. You will not be disappointed and it will make you proud!

The post The Downtown Windsor Farmers’ Market appeared first on Biz X magazine.

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Downtown Windsor BIA Set To Open Safely Farmers’ Market on May 1, 2021

The Downtown Windsor Business Improvement Association (DWBIA) is thrilled to announce that the beloved Downtown Windsor Farmers’ Market (DWFM) will open on Saturday May 1, 2021 at 8 am.

The Downtown Windsor Farmers’ Market celebrates its highly-anticipated sixth season on Pelissier Street and Maiden Lane.

Home to over 40 produce, food and artisanal vendors, “the rain-or-shine event is forecasted to not only be a welcome gateway to the spring and summer season,” says Market Manager Steve Green, “but also serves as a sign of hope and recovery. This means that vendors and entrepreneurs will have a space to work, while visitors and residents will again have access to locally grown, farm fresh products.”

Last year, the DWFM worked closely with the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit and Farmers’ Market Ontario to ensure that social distancing measures and safety protocols were in place when the market opened; even stricter protocols will be followed this year.

Some of the 2021 measures include . . .

• Physical distancing measures at entry and exit points
• Division of site and one-way traffic flow in each direction
• Hand-wash stations, portable toilets, masks and sanitizers at all entrances/exits
• Patio services to be removed until such time as the health regulations allow for the congregation of market visitors
• All interactive features, like Kids corner and Chef’s Table, to be moved to virtual experiences

Similar to brick-and-mortar grocery stores, Farmers Markets are deemed an essential service.

The post Downtown Windsor Farmers’ Market Set To Open appeared first on Biz X magazine.

Downtown Windsor Farmers’ Market Extends for Winter Offering

The Downtown Windsor Business Improvement Association has announced that the Downtown Windsor Farmers’ Market will continue to operate until mid-December.

After a successful season where the DWFM and its vendors rose to every challenge presented by COVID-19, the City of Windsor has announced it will permit the Market to continue operating for six more weeks on the ground floor of the Pelissier Street Garage.

“The Downtown Windsor Farmers’ Market activates the neighbourhood, and solves the food desert problem in the downtown core once a week throughout the spring, summer and fall,” says DWBIA Chair Brian Yeomans. “To be able to extend the Market for another six weeks keeps the downtown vibrant and full of life during the colder months, supports many of the vendors who have had an especially challenging time operating through a pandemic, and drives traffic and visitation to our member businesses too.”

The new venue – just steps from the summer market space – allows for up to 40 vendors. As many of the DWFM produce vendors cultivate goods throughout the winter season and our artisan vendors will have fewer opportunities for holiday markets this year, we expect the DWFM to operate at or near vendor capacity each week.

“We’ve wanted to expand into the winter season for years now,” says Steve Green, Market Manager. “The COVID-19 pandemic has shown us that our vendors are ready for anything – and that our Market shoppers and visitors are too!”

The Market will operate Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. from November 7 to December 12. Vendor applications can be submitted online.

The post Farmers’ Market Extends for Winter Offering appeared first on Biz X magazine.

DWBIA Ends Sponsorship of Canada Day and Santa Claus Parades

Although the DWBIA was thrilled to have partnered again with the Windsor Parade Corporation to host the 2018 and 2019 Canada Day and Santa Claus Parades, both of which ushered in thousands of spectators to the core, DWBIA membership has decided to place its focus and efforts elsewhere for 2020.

Brian Yeomans, DWBIA Chair, says that the general consensus of the membership is that although the Parades bring joy to thousands of residents and visitors, “for a number of valid reasons, including economic, we are opting to support other ventures and opportunities that directly benefit our members.”

“It has been a pleasure to sponsor both Parades these past couple of years, which are both spectacular. They’re a testament to the hard work and passion of the Windsor Parade Corporation.”

Yeomans adds that although the DWBIA will no longer be financially supporting the Parades — which cost the membership a total of $40,000 a year — the Parades would still be welcome downtown.

“Should the Windsor Parade Corporation find a sponsor who sees value in keeping the downtown routes for the parades, we would be more than happy to host them.”

As the DWBIA exists to effectively represent the interests of all its member sectors, “our mandate is to ensure that we listen to our membership and contribute to events and efforts that uplift the economic vitality of the downtown district,” adds Yeomans.

“We’re most certainly looking forward to the new ventures we have in store that will engage our business owners, residents and visitors.”

The post DWBIA Ends Sponsorship of Parades appeared first on Biz X magazine.

Your Mission — To Decide

In the past year or so, two galactic sized battles have surfaced in downtown Windsor pitting the NIMBYs (Not In My Back Yard) against the YIMBYs (Yes In My Back Yard).

On the one hand, in one battle, a group of Windsor YIMBYs are insisting that Windsor’s new acute care hospital be built in the city core — and not at the selected County Road 42 location; and on the other hand, in the second battle, the NIMBYs are apoplectic over The Downtown Mission of Windsor’s purchase of the Windsor Public Library on Ouellette Avenue as their new home. It’s this latter battle this article addresses. But first, a few personal disclosures.

First, I have been a lifelong supporter of The Downtown Mission of Windsor (DM). Second, I am one of many residents whose eyes rolled back with incredulity and skepticism when I heard that the Windsor Public Library (WPL) Central Branch had been sold to the DM for their new eventual home. And my third disclosure is I am the Windsor resident whose beloved greyhound, Vici, was attacked and killed April 26, 2019 on Ouellette Avenue by the dangerous dog owned by a homeless man and occasional DM guest.

• The DM originally opened its doors in Central United Church at 628 Ouellette Avenue in 1972, serving coffee and doughnuts to about 28 people a day. Today, they serve over 900 meals a day in total (breakfast, lunch and dinner), seven days a week.
• In 1986 the DM moved to the Volcano Restaurant at 157 Wyandotte Street West, where it remained for 16 years, until moving in June 2001 three buildings south into Temple Baptist Church at 664 Victoria Avenue.
• In May 2016 the DM purchased the four-storey office building at 875 Ouellette Avenue, directly across from the WPL. It currently houses their Wellness Centre consisting of the Sanctuary (shelter) Program (gender separated dorm rooms with 103 beds, transitional accommodations, and separate accommodations for youth under 18 years of age), Phoenix Recovery program, Food Bank, Fitness Centre, and medical and dental care facilities.
• The DM is a registered Canadian charity under the direction of a current 13 member governance board of directors. Its legal name is the United Church Downtown Mission Windsor Inc.
• Ron Dunn is the DM Executive Director, holding the post since 2015, having first served as Director of Communications and Community Relations from 2011.
• 23% of the guests at the DM have lived in Windsor less than a year.
• DM currently employs 65 full-time and part-time staff in the downtown core with a volunteer base of almost 800.
• Nearly every major city in Canada locates their homeless mission/sanctuaries on accessible main thoroughfares in the downtown core.
• Having outgrown their current facilities, the board directed a search for larger accommodations. They looked at the vacant office tower at 880 Ouellette Avenue, immediately east of WPL, but found it lacking in load capacity and structural worthiness.
• The DM looked at the closed-up Bowlero building and property on Tecumseh Road West in Windsor, which would have met most of their needs, but the owner wouldn’t sell.
• The DM explored seven or eight downtown area properties, but none were for sale or cost effective. Included in their search was the vacant Green Shield building at McDougall Street and Giles Blvd., old hotel properties, as well as vacant land in the downtown core.
• The DM board determined that WPL property represented the DM’s best opportunity, dollar for dollar, for a solidly constructed city core facility.
• After the City of Windsor decided they were looking for a new location for the main branch of the WPL, the DM approached the city to purchase the building and the parking lot east of the building (107 spots). They were two separate, yet related offers, since the parking lot is under City of Windsor control, but the WPL is under the WPL Board control.
• An agreement of $3.6 million was reached, including $400,000 for the municipal parking lot. WPL also purchased the shuttered restaurant on Dufferin Avenue, just north of the WPL. It has been transformed into a virtual 11,000 sq. ft walk-in freezer to accommodate the weekly haul of fresh produce from the county.
• When completed, the new facility will grow to approximately 102,000 sq. ft from its 40,000 sq. ft at the church location, and 58,000 sq. ft at 875 Ouellette. Everything will be under one roof: Administrative offices, food pantry, clothing store, Wellness, Enterprise and Distress Centre programs will occupy the main floor; the Sanctuary Program will locate on the second floor with room for 125 beds for the guests. Also, there will be 34 small “apartments” (300 sq. ft) to assist those transitioning from homelessness to self-sufficiency, on the second floor on both the south and north sides.
• The current north and south driveways, beside the building, will be closed. Entrance to the building will be from a privacy fence enclosed walkway from Dufferin Avenue along the south side. The existing north driveway will also be enclosed behind privacy fencing and will be the guest’s courtyard.
• The type of fencing fronting Ouellette Avenue will be a decision arrived at by the DM and the City of Windsor. Concepts being considered are landscape berms with a concrete “living wall” with greenery and foliage to afford the guests their privacy from Ouellette Avenue pedestrian and vehicular traffic, and to mitigate the concerns of area residents.

So, my friends, I leave it up to you to decide how you feel about the DM and their planned relocation to the WPL property.

The homeless situation is not going away until a concerted effort is made by all three levels of government to enact serious measures to address and alleviate the poverty, addiction and mental health afflicting our cities.

Until they do, we will have the homeless populating our downtown city and residential streets — and they WILL grow in number — especially if they have no place of refuge.

So, what say you?

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