The Main Street Market will return in May with hopes of bringing more attention to downtown businesses and increasing the diversity of vendors during its second season.
When the market first started, there were 35 vendors, which increased to 60 by the end of the season, said Convention and Visitors Bureau Vice President Amy DeLaRosa. This year, they hope to reach 100 vendors.
DeLaRosa organizes and recruits vendors and does social media and advertising for the events.
They’ll be adding more produce vendors and vendors to cater to male clientele, she said. There is potential for more cutlery, engraving and leather working-type vendors.
The community showed a need for this kind of event through attendance last year, she said.
“It blew us away about how responsive our community was to the events,” DeLaRosa said. “So that’s one thing that we learned – that not only was our community voicing that they wanted this, and then when it actually came to fruition, they showed up and they showed out month after month.”
The event will now be the second Thursday of the month to avoid any conflicts with Thursday night Chiefs games, she said.
One goal to focus on with this year’s markets is to drive business to the stores downtown, President Jason Musick said.
Many businesses had specials or events going last year during market hours to get shoppers in the door, and DeLaRosa will be doing more to engage with businesses to help market goers move down the street and also shop there. She’ll be doing more promotional content on social media to let people know about special deals and promos at Main Street businesses.
“We are working really, really hard to partner with them so we can have them capitalize as well on the increased foot traffic down on Main Street,” she said.
Hopefully more signage about businesses being open will help, too, Musick said.
Musick said the vendors will be kept where they were last season near CPA park.
He hopes this year the whole process will be streamlined since organizers were able to test out a lot of things last year. As a nonprofit, the market’s spending budget is low, so making sure organizers bring in entertainment and activities that complement the market is going to be a priority, he said.
Spending money on things like inflatables and sports mascots did not have a substantial return on investment, he said.
The biggest takeaway from last year is that there is a need for more people to get involved because organizing the event is a lot of work, Musick said. They’re trying to balance jobs, life and the market to make sure volunteers don’t get burned out, he said.
“If you want us to do more, if you want us to help and assist and we do, but we also need something, you know, we need support,” Musick said.
This year, the Convention and Visitors Bureau will partner with Eudora CPA to host a three-day market during the CPA picnic in June. Market vendors will be in their usual spot on Main on Thursday and Friday night during the carnival and Saturday for most of the day. All the normal picnic events like the parades will still take place, he said.
The CVB is focusing on collaborating with existing events that the community is already excited about, he said.
A new Maker’s Market will also take place on April 27. The event will be for kids to sell their goods in the Rec Center community room. The goal is to allow kids to learn entrepreneurial skills, engage with the community and bring goods to the community, he said. It’ll be an opportunity to shop just before Mother’s Day.
There will be another Maker’s Market in the park during the CPA picnic, he said.
The grand scheme is for the market to eventually take up all of Main Street, but Musick said they are trying to take baby steps to make sure the market is done responsibly and so organizers don’t get in over their heads. There are around 5 to 10 volunteers who assist in making the market happen, he said.
The first market is May 9. Markets will be from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. the second Thursday of the month through October.
Reach reporter Sara Maloney at [email protected].
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