Stephanie Willette, the new farmers market manager, not only introduced herself to the Chelsea City Council on Nov. 17, but also offered some very positive economic impact numbers for the city following this market season.
The Saturday Chelsea Farmer’s Market vendors reported about $91,700 in sales while the Wednesday Bushel Basket vendors reported about $34,000 in sales. So, in 2014, the two market sales combined totaled about $125,800 for the market season that lasts from May through October — an increase of about $17,300 from the $108,500 in total sales reported in 2013.
Willette also noted that not all vendor’s sales were included in these totals.
The Saturday Market had about 13,600 customers throughout the season and averaged about 545 per market. The Bushel Basket Market had about 8,800 customers and averaged about 340 per market.
The total customer count was about 22,470 for 2014 an increase of 2,259 visitors from the 2013 count of 20,215.
About 60 total vendors (both seasonal and daily) sold products at the two markets.
In addition, according to information provided by Willette, gross receipts at businesses near the Saturday market were about $6,700 while the annual gross receipts at businesses near the market from purchases made by market shoppers was about $173,700.
