“Sundays are really dead here,” local business owner Michael Pierce said during the meeting. “The goal is to turn Sundays into Saturdays.”
What you need to know
The idea of the market is to allow vendors who are unable to participate in the Tomball Farmers Market to be able to sell arts and crafts, Tomball Farmers Market Manager Amanda Kelly said.
Pierce said downtown businesses remain closed on Sundays because of the lack of foot traffic, and Kelly said that providing an opportunity for businesses to open shop is an all around win for Tomball.
“The reason they aren’t open is because there’s nobody here,” Kelly said. “But if we had a market, then it just benefits everybody.”
City Council members said they are interested to see the event grow and potentially expand dates from one Sunday a month to more frequently depending on the participation, similar to how the Tomball Farmers Market began.
“Parking on Sundays is a non-issue. There’s literally nobody here,” Pierce said, addressing concerns previously raised by some residents about parking congestion during the Tomball Farmers Market.
During discussion, council member Paul Garcia clarified that the market would not be run by the city, but by an outside group.
Also of note
Kelly said local businesses have seen a 20%-30% drop in sales recently, making the push for more downtown activity even more important.
“I don’t want to see another small business have to close because they’re not getting the sales,” Kelly said.
Garcia said there is a need for this market and he believes it would benefit Tomball.
City Council did not take any formal action since it was a discussion item at a workshop meeting. It should come before City Council again at a future meeting.
