Market day fills downtown Perrysburg

Judy and Ron Parry buy a pastry from Diane Rogers, right, of Syd and Diane's at her stand at the Farmers Market on Louisiana Avenue. THE BLADE/DAVE ZAPOTOSKY Enlarge | Buy This Photo

It's still early and the Perrysburg Farmers Market has been open less than an hour. But the parking spaces are filling as the crowds start to gather.

The market is a sample of small-town living -- flowers for sale, artisan breads and homemade soap on display at tables, the smell of barbecue sandwiches and kettle corn in the air.

Organizers said the market, now in its 14th year, is the biggest yet with more than 50 vendors every week and attendance reaching several hundred.

"I can't believe how much it's grown. We're so proud of it," said Sandy Latchem, executive director of the Perrysburg Convention & Visitors Bureau, which operates the market from 3 to 8 p.m. every Thursday from May to early October. "It didn't happen overnight."

When the market started, only a dozen or so vendors sold items along one side of the street. Now, it is packed, occasionally hard to navigate through the mix of dogs, children, and shoppers on the sidewalks.

But success poses problems too.

Because Louisiana Avenue is surrounded by neighborhoods, not much expansion space is left downtown.

Organizers say they don't have a long-term plan to expand. Instead, they deal with it one year at a time. This year for the first time, about 10 vendors were moved to Second Street.

"We've gotten creative with the space we have," said Laurie Rice, executive assistant at the convention and visitors bureau.

Ms. Latchem said the convention and visitors bureau and the Perrysburg Area Chamber of Commerce have not studied the market's financial impact. It regularly attracts shoppers from Toledo, Bowling Green, Oregon, and elsewhere in northwest Ohio.

It's not very scientific, but Perrysburg restaurateur Jim Hodulik estimated that about 60 percent of his clientele comes from outside the city when he asks customers their area codes.

On farmers market days, business increases 20 percent and the foot traffic creates a buzz about local businesses, said Mr. Hodulik, who owns Stella's Restaurant and Bar and Swig, both along Louisiana Avenue.

"As far as I'm concerned, it's a great thing," he said. "Indeed, we see that it impacts our business."