New Devlin Road Farmers Market Opens at Bristow Commons on Sunday

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Some Bristow Smart Market vendors have chosen to leave Smart Markets and instead remain at the Bristow Commons location.

The new Devlin Road Farmers Market will be open on Sundays from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. It is composed of a group of vendors, previously with Bristow Smart Markets, who rallied together under the direction of Holly Martin of Martin’s Angus Beef.

Despite Smart Markets deciding to leave the Bristow Commons location,these vendors decided they wanted to stay in the location, which has been profitable for them.

“It was really more an economic necessity, and nothing against Smart Markets in any way," said Martin, "Except that we had moved already, and that Bristow Commons was a really good market."

Martin said she did not want to move again.

“I thought that moving would jeopardize our businesses,” she said. So when Bristow Commons sent a letter to vendors, telling them they did not want them to leave, Martin and others discussed the possibility of staying.

Ultimately seven vendors decided to stay at the  Bristow Commons site , and three more vendors are considering moving back.

Vendors currently signed on with the Devlin Road Farmers Market include: El Ceibo Free Trade Chocolate, Jose Montoya Produce, Lothar’s Gourmet Sausage, Martin’s Angus Beef, Rainbow Acres Farm-Chicken and Eggs, Twin Feathers- Emu Products, and Uncle Roger’s Baked Goods-Gluten Free.

“Bristow has been phenomenal,” said Martin. “We’ve been really happy with that market. They’ve been so wonderful in supporting us, so it seemed like a win-win.”

Although there were some parking problems at the Bristow Commons location, Martin said she believed that overall the developers had done an excellent job, especially in marketing them.

According to Rebecca Maguire ,a spokesperson for Bristow Commons, the key will be “managing growth.”

Although the new market is smaller, Bristow Commons developers want it to grow at a deliberate rate. Meanwhile, Bristow Commons is working to provide the market with additional parking.

To keep things consistent after a week off, this Sunday the market will be located in front of the Bristow Montessori School. In time, however, they expect to move further along on the road between Walgreens and the Montessori school.

Bristow Commons is also working to head off any parking issues with neighboring communities, and Martin expects it will be a shared effort between the market and the developers.

In forming the Devlin Road Market, Martin said she chose not to reach out to some vendors, because the idea was not to take vendors away from Bristow Smart Markets. Some vendors will be working with both the Devlin Road Farmers Market and Smart Markets.

She said she wishes Jean Janssen continued success with Smart Markets, and believes Bristow can support two simultaneous farmers markets. In the meantime, Martin is in the process of hiring a market master, and promoting her new enterprise through news outlets, public relations, a new website and social media.

Find out what Janssen has in store for her Smart Market at Thought for Food and "Bristow Smart Market Moves Temporarily to New Nokesville Location."

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