Market back in business with new rules
Saskatoon Farmers’ Market reopens with new safety measures in place
Gail Cutts is no stranger to wearing protective equipment. The retired high school teacher says she moonlights as a “mad scientist” while making soap to sell at the Saskatoon Farmers’ Market, donned in googles, rubber gloves and a mask.
So precautionary measures undertaken by the Farmers’ Market as it reopened Saturday were more than welcome, Cutts said.
Indoor booths and outdoor tents were spaced out Saturday as a steady flow of patrons made their way along one-way walkways, many wearing masks.
The market reopened after closing due to COVID-19 a few months into operating in its new 2600 Koyl Ave location. It’s operating under new rules for the time being, which include encouraging people to use cashless payment and not to touch anything until they’ve purchased it.
Speaking to Postmedia on Friday, president of the Saskatoon Farmers’ Market Co-operative Ltd. Adi Ramachandran said in discussions with vendors leading up to the opening, social distancing and handling cash were among their main concerns.
Cutts, who has been operating her business Soapcutts Handmade Soaps out of the market for about five years, said people for the most part kept their distance and followed the rules. The new location’s large space and having the vendors spread out played a big role in that, she said.
“I was so impressed. People are waiting as people go and quite a few have masks,” she said. “It’s not as congested today but some days we can get pretty busy so I’m really appreciative about the big building.”
While sampling and testing products is part of the experience of shopping at the market, people were understanding, Cutts said. Selling soap can pose a challenge when customers can’t pick up a bar to take a sniff, but customers still showed interest.
Samples are also a big driver for Rosemary Bakery and Kitchen — so much so that owner Tetiana Morozova was concerned about what her sales would look like on the first day back.
Morozova, who became a vendor at the Farmers’ Market in February, said the number of people coming through and her returning customers made the day a busy one.
“Samples help a lot. Because my products are a bit unique, people don’t know what to expect when they try,” she said. “It turned out to be pretty good and I almost sold out, which I didn’t expect to be honest.
“But I’m just happy to be back here after quarantine.”
It’s a sentiment Cutts and the people she spoke with throughout the day shared as well.
“I think people are so missing human contact that even if they’ve just walked through, you can see a bounce in their step,” she said. “And I think it’s the same with us.”