The busy time of year at the St. Jacobs Farmers Market is winding down.
With shoppers looking for indoor shopping as the weather turns colder, it’s possible they’ll check out the Walmart across the street, which plans to start offering produce and meat shortly.
And if they like what they see at Walmart, it’s possible they won’t return to the farmers market in the spring.
Possible – but if you talk to vendors, also pretty unlikely.
“I’m not knocking corporate grocery stores, but I don’t think they can compete with a farmer that grows it and brings it to the market,” says Hugh Nauman of produce vendor Nauman’s Farm.
“It can’t be as fresh as what we have.”
Nauman says he’s not surprised Walmart wants to expand its selection – most of its local stores already offer a full supermarket – but says he doesn’t think it’ll take away any of his loyacl customers.
“They want to deal with local people and they want fresh stuff,” he says.
Others point to the different shopping experiences between the two markets – one open every day for at least 13 hours, one open two or three times a week for a few hours – and say they attract different shoppers looking for different things.
“I’m not extremely excited about the competition from a big-box retailer, but we have a niche market and we’ve always sold at this market,” says Jack Romagnoli of Beamsville-based Romagnoli Farms.
“I feel like we have our own customers, and hopefully it won’t affect us too much.”
Woolwich councillors have already approved Walmart’s attempt to expand into groceries on Farmers Market Road, but the Region of Waterloo must still issue its approval as well.
