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 City Councillor Dave McCann, Mayor Gord Van Tighem and Chamber second vice-president Trent Fequet stand in front of the parking lot at City Hall. The parking lot is slated to become the new site of a public market. - Stephan Burnett/NNSL photo |
Chamber representative Trent Fequet and City Councillor Dave McCann have put months of research into development of the market, which will run in the City Hall parking lot every Saturday.
Fequet and McCann say the market will provide small vendors with an opportunity to sell their wares directly to consumers.
They also hope the market will increase tourism and traffic in the downtown area.
"We're attempting to widen circle of people involved with it," said McCann, who hopes the market will be up and running by late May.
But Fequet added the Chamber is not rushed to get the market started.
"We want to make sure it's sustainable for following seasons," he said.
"Things are still not in the bag," McCann added. "But from my way of thinking people are enthused."
Fequet hopes to get some feedback from the public to make sure there are no objections to a public market
"The last thing we want to do is compete with some of the other vendors," said Fequet.
At the same time, McCann stipulated the public market would fulfill a new market niche.
"The members of the Chamber of Commerce board feel strongly that the public market will expand the size of the pie. We're not cutting up the pie differently.
"There will be food, food prepared for take-home use, crafts and entertainment. People will want to come to the market to look around and in that sense, we hope it will be good for tourism," said McCann.
The market will tie in with efforts to revitalize the downtown core, said Fequet.
"We hope it will get to the point where people will stay an extra day in Yellowknife because of the market," said Fequet.
The two market organizers emphasized it will not be a flea market.
No second-hand goods will be sold, other than refurbished furniture.
"Eventually, in time, we hope to attract artisans from the outlying communities such as Rae and Wha Ti," said McCann.
"Artisans might even come from as far away as Inuvik," added Fequet.
Fequet and McCann also noted there is a lot of unrecognized talent throughout the North -- men and women who do all sorts of arts and crafts.
"There's a lot of talent that is untapped," said McCann.
