Five Rivers MetroParks has tested out Sunday hours at the market since the beginning of June, and the response has been very encouraging.
Sunday’s market hours on average are drawing 54 percent more visitors than Friday’s. On average, Sunday attendance has been 1,708 people.
“We plan to continue to monitor attendance and conduct additional customer surveys, and will use that feedback to make a decision about Sundays at the Market for next year,” said Trevor Hagedorn, business operations manager with MetroParks.
MetroParks officials in March said attendance on Sunday would need to rival Friday’s crowds to be considered successful.
Sundays have supplanted Fridays as the second most popular market day, after Saturdays, said Jimmy Harless, 2nd Street Market manager.
However, what the future holds for the expanded market is unclear at this time.
“We’ve done customer surveys and got pretty positive responses,” Harless said. “We are waiting on what to do next until after the program trial run is over.”
RELATED: 3 in 4 vendors to test market’s Sunday hours
The market, at East Second and Webster streets, decided to try the pilot program this summer for Sunday market hours after receiving feedback from vendors and customers indicating they support the expansion.
“Being open on Sundays is good for some customers who can’t make Saturdays and it’s a place to go after church on Sundays. People enjoy it,” Tamra Wallace, an employee at the market’s Caffeine Carl, said.
Downtown’s booming housing market, coupled with decent commercial redevelopment, fueled interest in an additional day of shopping.
Three in four vendors signed on to participate in the program (nearly 40 in total), including all of the market’s largest mainstays.
“I don’t have a report on how they are doing, but they all seem to be doing pretty good because everyone who started is still here,” Harless said.
Some people are just learning that the market is open the extra day. The market, which has been in operation for 16 years at its current site, is open Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.
“We’ve had really steady business with new and regular faces. We’re hoping they do something like Sunday hours around the Christmastime,” said Sabrina Cox who works for Pet Wants at the market.