Farmers Market – Eastern Market, Detroit, Michigan
Of the several market sheds, Shed 2 is perhaps the most regal of them all. The entrance has “Eastern Market” set in stone and double arches almost making an arcade with a slender cast iron column in the center. This allows easy access inside. Low-pitched sheds to either side give ample space for vendors to set their products out. In the foreground even more vendors attempt to set up signaling a healthy customer demand that exceeds the capacity of the available space.
Once inside the shed is quite spacious giving plenty of room for circulation between the vendors. The roof framing gives a large and open feeling space with ample light streaming in from the signs. As the banner displays Tuesday is one of the days outside of the weekend, that activities take place at the market.
Learning how to pick produce is one of the most important skills that can be practiced at a market. My youngest son instinctively knew how to smell the cantaloupe from the spot where the stem broke off.
An effort at placemaking is on display here. DTE Energy Plaza outside of Shed 5 had some movable tables and chairs. We were still early so the activity was not significant in the space. A food truck selling beignets was on the edge of the plaza just off camera. The furniture was spread out enough and the food activation element not yet attract a crowd. Shed 5 was built in 1981 under the Coleman A. Young administration, and renovated in 2015 with support from the Eastern Market Foundation, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Kresge Foundation, New Economy Foundation, Michigan Economic Development Corporation, JPMorgan Chase Foundation, DTE Energy Foundation, Fred A. and Barbara M. Erb Family Foundation, Ford Foundation, Whole Foods Market, The Dow Chemical Company, Taubman, and The Bank of America Charitable Foundation. For so many large corporations to be supportive of a market and local food shows the importance of this activity and place beyond simple market competition.
Michigan corn is one of the many locally grown products on sale here.
A community kitchen presents the opportunity to create extra value to the products brought and sold at the market.
Eastern Market Juicery + Eatery is one of many food and dining businesses to pop up around the market.
Germack Coffee Roasting Company was another. They had another outdoor plaza installation, with furniture similar to that in Bryant Park.
Placemaking efforts are evident here with a simple backless bench, set against a wall, to give people a place to sit where they need a place to sit. The location on the edge of a public space gives an opportunity to look out and watch everything happening around it.
Other markets struggle to figure out how to handle non-food vendors. At Eastern Market they had the elegant solution of allowing vendors like this to pop up along the edge.
From this vantage point the sheds in a row and the more permanent businesses on the edge capture what a dynamic and successful entrepreneurial environment that Eastern Market has become for Detroit and the region.