By Kimberly Warren
Managing Editor

The Flint Farmers’ Market in Flint, Mich., has been in operation since the early 1900s. But a facelift has broadened the market and expanded its reach.

One of the first big changes was a switch in the operation. Up until two or three years ago, the city of Flint operated the farmers’ market. But in 2002, Uptown Reinvestment Organization leased the market from the city and took over the management of the market.

Tom Pintacura and Dick Ramsdell are serving as managers for the Flint Farmers’ Market.

“Tom and I are both retired from the Flint schools and never thought in our wildest dreams that we would end up having anything to do with the farmers’ market – much less running the place,” Ramsdell said. “The learning curve has been great, but we’ve had a lot of support.”

One of the first things Ramsdell said they learned was that managing a farmers’ market is much more than opening and closing it every day. For one, the Flint market is open year round, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. In the summer, their hours are 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., and in the winter 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The market has 76 vendors, but not all are growers. Inside the permanent building, vendors include cheese makers, artisans, butchers, ice cream makers and other similar vendors. The growers set up in a tented area outside the market. And though vendors are usually required to sign a 6-month contract, the Flint Farmers’ Market is trying to attract more growers with one- or two-day trials.

“We’re not interested in more people with crafts or resellers, but with people who are growers,” Ramsdell said. “The key there is flexibility for the growers in trying to make it attractive to them. If they want to come try us for a busy Saturday, that’s the kind of thing we’re trying to do.”

And growers looking for a large customer base have found success at the Flint market, Ramsdell said.

“We’ve been doing car counts on Saturdays, and we’ve been putting 2,500 cars through,” he said. “We have to hire three police officers on Saturdays to direct traffic. Our vendors do 50 percent of their business on Saturdays.”

And getting those customers there is the job of Lynn Smith, marketing consultant for the Flint Farmers’ Market.

“We’re trying to build brand identity,” Smith said. “We try to get it (logo) in every location that we can so that the identity is there.”

One obstacle Smith and the team at the Flint Farmers’ Market are working to overcome is a tight budget for marketing. Because of this, they rely on partnerships.

One of those partners was a local radio station, which came out and participated in two clean-up projects at the farmers’ market. Another partnership is with the Flint Cultural Center, which is about 1/2 mile from the farmers’ market. The market and the cultural center do piggy-back promotions that include messages to bring people not only to the market, but also to the rest of the downtown area. The message: “Make it a day in downtown Flint.”

“They (cultural center) put our name and hours and activities in their publications that didn’t cost us anything, but we got a huge amount of brochures that went into the community,” Smith said. “Sometimes if you’re partnered with a couple different organizations, you’re better as a whole than you are individually – it helps us extend our marketing budget five-, six-fold.”

Another key to make the Flint Farmers’ Market a success: research.

“We’ve tried to understand who our market is,” Smith said. “We did informal research where we have customers fill out a questionnaire. That way, we can figure out who our customer is and where we can draw from.”

From the research, Smith said they found that their biggest market comes from 15 miles away – a more affluent market. To better meet that market, the Flint Farmers’ Market team worked to clean up their image through new signs, door decals with logos and a general clean-up and a general upgrade of the facilities.

“Flint’s a town that’s really struggled, and it’s got a reputation of a pretty rough place,” Ramsdell said. “And I would argue that this market is one of the key places in the town that is pulling people together. I don’t care who you are, the market is a place where you can come and feel welcome and feel comfortable – and also find some wonderful deals.”