Friday, January 9th, 2009

Photo

<p>Mary Robles sells strawberries at the Farmers&#8217; Market on
Weyburn Avenue.</p>

Mary Robles sells strawberries at the Farmers’ Market on Weyburn Avenue.

Farmers’ Market looks on bright side

As Neil Ins weighs his organic blue and pink potatoes, Lynn Johnson displays her plants that grow from seashells and musician Raymond Lee Parker plays jazz music for hours on the piano. Hundreds of customers stroll through Weyburn Avenue in Westwood Village.

It’s just another day at the Westwood Village Farmers’ Market.

Despite the recent closure of the market’s Glendon Avenue portion, which market manager Donovan Marshall said resulted in the removal of about one-third of the total vendors and 30 percent of the market’s revenue, the remaining sellers continue to have a positive outlook.

“Everyone had to give up space. It’s better to be here than not at all,” said Cecile Atalay, a fruit vendor from Rosendahl Farms who has been coming to the Westwood market for five years.

Aaron Shapiro, another market manager, said business at the market is thriving and revenue has been increasing each week.

The vendors, many of whom have been with the market for over 10 years since it started, have had to adjust to the limited space.

“We’ve gotten squeezed down smaller and smaller. It’s been difficult. I have no room for crops,” said Ins, a longtime vendor.

The market was cleared from Glendon Avenue in February to make way for the upcoming Palazzo Westwood retail and entertainment development by Alan Casden, but construction on the multimillion-dollar project has still not begun. While Weyburn Avenue is packed with crowds, tents and crates of produce, Glendon Avenue is currently inactive and only inhabited by parked cars.

“We’re all crammed into one little spot when that place is empty,” said Ins.

For the vendors, Marshall said that parking is “the issue of all issues.” Vendors say they cannot park in the lot they used before and must park their trucks on Glendon Avenue, reducing the parking available for customers.

Mary Robles, who has been vending strawberries with The Berry Best from Oxnard for eight years in Westwood, said she was selling an average of 150 boxes of strawberries per week a few years ago and is currently selling 80 boxes. She said one of the reasons for this decline is the lack of parking space for customers – a longtime problem for many Westwood businesses.

But the consolidation of the market has increased business for some vendors. Due to the market’s reorganization, vendor Danski Blue is able to sell her clothing on Weyburn Avenue in a more prominent location than before.

Marshall expects business to increase for all the vendors in the summer, and said he is “always hopeful” about the future.

This optimistic attitude is embodied by the Farmers’ Market. Many vendors had to work throughout their lives to start their own businesses to sell their products in this market, and they continue to support themselves through their merchandise.

Vendor Lionel Kozaczinski, who sells granola and oat products, came from France over 20 years ago and made his living by working in cafes. He eventually found his own kitchen and equipment and started his own business in Long Beach called The Sconeage Bakery. He said he is able to maintain his business through loyal customers at farmers’ markets across Los Angeles.

“Good produce brings more customers. Every market I go to, the customers come back,” he said.

His customers agree.

“He has fabulous cookies. We come down every time without fail,” said Roxanne Moster, who works as a spokeswoman for UCLA Health Sciences, while at the market.

The vendors take pride in their products and enjoy working in Westwood’s bustling market.

Blue said her job is “the closest thing to being free and making a living.”

“Here, you’re your own boss. There’s no corporation, there’s fresh air and there’s no one breathing down your shoulder,” she said.

The personality of vendors like Blue is reflected in the atmosphere of the market. The market on Weyburn Avenue is in its own separate world, an arrangement of canopies isolated from the tall office buildings and noisy traffic that surround it.

The market provides an escape in which everyone from businesspeople to college students can come together to relax, enjoy a freshly prepared meal and sample fresh produce.

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