Weekly farmers market, flea market coming to future 20,000-foot Kimball greenhouse site
They might be in the waiting phase of developing their 20,000-foot greenhouse project in Kimball Township, but Sindy and Luke Marion aren’t letting the property sit idle.
The couple will hold farmers markets, flea markets and a food truck stop this summer at 25 Range Road. These events will be from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Fridays, starting July 2 and running until the first week of September, Luke Marion said.
He said there have been so many times in the past he has wanted to do something like this, helping to connect local farmers and consumers. Now he has the space to do it.
“I really want to give it my all,” he said.
The Marions, who own downtown Port Huron businesses MIgardener, BellaBolla and batchmade BEAUTY, bought the property in September and started developing it in November.
The plan is to build a year-round greenhouse and have a nursery for trees and shrubs, trial gardens and eventually an event center. Luke Marion said the development will be upward $2 million and is expected to create over 30 jobs.
The couple are waiting to get environmental approvals and hope to break ground for the project this fall, with plans to open the greenhouse in spring 2022.
“Things are moving forward, we’re working with the right people,” Luke Marion said.
Because they will have a finished parking lot, “we might as well use the space for something,” and they want to generate publicity and buzz for what is going to be there with the events, he said.
Marion said they are connecting farmers and food trucks that have been displaced in recent months with potential customers. The goal is to give them a place with “prime visibility” at an affordable rate.
The parking lot has enough room for 50 vendors. Vendors pay $20 for a 10-by-10-foot space for the day, Marion said.
The money made through renting the spots will go toward property taxes and costs associated with the land while waiting for further development, he said.
The Marions want the focus to be primarily on farmers, but they had six people interested in doing crafts at the market and two food trucks. They had confirmed responses from eight people and interest from another 15 to 20 as of Monday.
“Spaces are filling up fast,” Marion said.
People interested in being vendors can contact the couple at contact@migardener.com with “Vendor Interest” in the subject line, he said.
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One person interested in being a vendor at the new flea market is Port Huron resident Megan Noel, who co-owns "Just for laughs and crafts" with Kelly Sparby of Richmond.
She hopes to have her custom artwork, signs and yard games business at the event later in July and said being part of the Kimball Township flea market would allow them to expand the business and meet new people in the crafting and selling community.
“Small businesses need a way to reach new customers after the effects of the pandemic and this will give us a new market area and new people to gain as customers,” she said in a written message.
Contact Bryce Airgood at (810) 989-6202 or bairgood@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @bairgood123.