
Sales down, vendors point to economy
Posted November 19, 2009 at 12:05 am in Featured, News
As the number of farmersâ markets on and around campus continues to rise, many of those markets â including the Trojan Fresh Market, which will be on campus on Thursday â have seen profits fall, though most blame the slip on the economy and not on the increased competition.
Besides the on-campus Trojan Fresh Market, there are at least six other markets near USC. Many of these markets report that their profits are down, but individual vendors often benefit by selling at multiple venues.

Farmville · A man shops for vegetables at the farmersâ market located at Adams Boulevard and Vermont Avenue. The market, which is near St. Agnes Catholic Church, runs on Wednesdays from 2-5 p.m. - Amaresh Sundaram Kuppuswamy | Daily Trojan
Helen Lee, who manages the farmersâ market at the Shrine that runs every Tuesday, said she does not think her market is competing with the Trojan Fresh Market or any of the others.
âWe donât consider us in competition with USC,â Lee said. âAnd the Trojan Fresh Market doesnât affect our business. In fact, [USC] Hospitality came through here and took some vendors to the Trojan Fresh Market … We encourage that.â
Lee said she never had any intention of making money from the farmersâ markets. Instead, she wanted to help the vendors make money, so when theyâre approached and asked to join other farmersâ markets, she views it as a good thing.
â[The Shrine farmersâ market] helps a lot of local neighbors who came here as vendors,â Lee said. âWeâre definitely here just for the people.â
Vendors at the Shrine, however, have also found business to be slow so far this year.
Olove Boyd, an employee for Heavenly Delights, which sells cobbler at the Shrine and other farmers markets, said business is down right now.
âUsually itâs slow in the beginning, but hopefully it picks up,â Boyd said. âI think itâs the economy. Farmersâ markets are not a necessity … When there are cutbacks, people take hits.â
Boyd noted that it is USC that drives her business, even with the presence of the Trojan Fresh Market.
âThe majority [of customers] are students and USC employees,â Boyd said. âUSC helps our business or we wouldnât be here.â
Dexter Scott, who sells beans at the Shrine farmersâ market, said he has also experienced a decrease in sales this semester.
âIt is one half of last yearâs gross income,â Scott said.
A farmersâ market on Vermont Avenue and Adams Boulevard seems to be experiencing the same problems as the Shrine farmersâ market. Most of the vendors are seeing less and less business, but still, they say the economy is at fault rather than competing markets.
âEach year it seems to get slower and slower because of the economy,â said Luis Buenrostro, who sells produce.
The marketâs manager, Kimberly Edwards, said she also believes the decline in profits is because people do not have the money to shop at farmersâ markets. She said she does not think she is losing clients to other farmersâ markets in the area.
âA lot of these customers who come here … they follow us where we go,â Edwards said. âOur business is slow because of the recession, and farmersâ markets are more expensive than the store.â
Edwards added that USC drives the market, even though the Trojan Fresh Market is a more convenient option.
âWe got a lot of people from USC coming here,â Edwards said. âWe see doctors, students, teachers … We get a big variety of people from USC.â
But Meera Dahyabhai, marketing chair for the student group Environment First, which is involved in the Trojan Fresh Market, said she thinks the competition has affected Hospitalityâs farmersâ market.
âThe revenue patterns have overall decreased due to competition with other markets,â she said.
Still, she said she does not think the increasing number of markets is a bad thing.
âItâs all about reaching the same goal,â Dahyabhai said. âThe main goal is to fund that idea of organic and fresh products to support local vendors.â
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This article is tagged: Helen Lee, Olove Boyd, Trojan Fresh Market







For a list of area farmers’ markets visit <a href=”http://www.universityparkfamily.com/> University Park Family.com.