After being outbid by Food in Root on a contract to continue running the popular farmers market at St. Philip’s Plaza, Heirloom Farmers Markets will begin a new venture at Rillito Park on July 6, months sooner than originally planned.
Manish Shah, founder of Heirloom, had been the market coordinator at the farmers market at St. Philip’s Plaza for 12 years with no contract or rent. A few weeks ago, plaza management said it started to hear rumors of Heirloom moving to Rillito Park.
“We started to be contacted by some of our vendors and customers asking what was happening and why it was closing and when it was moving,” said Jillian Galla, property manager at St. Philip’s Plaza, 4280 N. Campbell Ave. “We didn’t know anything about it.”
Galla said when management approached Shah, he said nothing was definite. “Then we found out from the director of economic development of Pima County that Rillito Downs was in development and Shah and the county were in a pretty far-along agreement and they’d be moving the market in the fall,” Galla said. “And we were thrown off all of a sudden.”
However, Shah said he wasn’t even sure if he would have pulled out of St. Philip’s, and was considering options to run markets at both locations. “We were just looking at preliminary plans, but there was no lease agreement,” he said. “We didn’t even have budgets drawn up. We were seeing what could happen. We weren’t far enough along to make the call about whether we would have pulled out.”
In email communication with the plaza’s owner, Buzz Selby, Shah made known the possibility of working out a long-term lease agreement with St. Philip’s Plaza: “The fact is we still have some hurdles to even getting an agreement in place with Pima County, so the chance does exist that we could continue long term at St. Philip’s Plaza if terms are agreeable to all parties.”
Management’s response was to start an open bid process that would force a long-term commitment, effective immediately.
“We’ve had the market here for many years and we didn’t want it to go anywhere, so we put a minimum term agreement together and told him we were going to have an open bid process,” Galla said.
“We gave him a date and a time, and he was outbid. He didn’t even comply with the minimum requirements, which was a five-year term commitment, because we want the market here and didn’t want him to pick up and leave. ... We wanted to know that whoever is running the market is committed to the market. You can’t do that on a one-year lease.
“We’re invested in this. It’s part of our culture and brand.”
Shah understands the plaza’s desire to protect the market, but criticizes the bid process since it was only between Heirloom and Food in Root, and the bid had to be made within four days.
“I’ve run the market for 12 years and they gave me four days? Why not give me a week? Why keep the window so narrow that I wouldn’t have the ability to respond? It doesn’t make sense,” Shah said.
Plaza management said it had to act fast. “The whole thing happened so quickly,” Galla said. “We didn’t want to lose the market here. ... We did the open bid process because we felt we weren’t getting straight answers.”
Shah counters: “We’ve come from the heart and we’ve been forthright. There were no shenanigans on our part.”
So Shah will pursue plans with Pima County to set up a permanent farmers market pavilion at Rillito Park, 4502 N. First Ave., which is being developed into a multiuse facility with soccer fields and relocated stables for the horse races.
The permanent pavilion should be ready to open sometime in October, said Tom Moulton, director of economic development and tourism for Pima County. Until then, the county gave Shah a temporary permit to operate a farmers market for three months at an interim location at Rillito Park.
“The initial agreement will segue into a more permanent location, where there will be a longer term on the agreement,” Moulton said.
Once the details are worked out, Heirloom is looking to contract the pavilion out to run a year-round farmers market every Saturday and Sunday.
“The future looks like a beautiful food pavilion with about 80 to 100 vendor spaces, chef demos, music, food trucks and plenty of parking right on the river path,” Shah said. “You can ride your bike there. That’s the future.”
Food in Root took over operations at St. Philip’s plaza effective last Monday and will be managing the farmers market from here on out.
Vendors are welcome to stay at St. Philip’s. They are also able to work with Heirloom, since Food in Root will not initiate a non-compete agreement.
“A large contingency (of vendors) have confirmed their plans on staying,” said Clayton Kammerer, founder of Food In Root. “The majority recognize that St. Philip’s, as a location, is a premier destination and the fact that operators have changed hands won’t affect that.”
Vendors who work with Food in Root will pay for their space on a percentage basis, as opposed to the flat rate they are used to.
“We didn’t think it made sense to charge the little vendor taking up one table space selling products for a dollar the same rate as a very large vendor taking up two or three canopies selling products for $15,” Kammerer said.
The fee is 10 percent of sales up to $500. Beyond that it’s 5 percent. It caps out at $80. However, if a vendor participates in two markets, the cap is $60 and $40 for three or more.
Shah isn’t worried about his competition being in such close proximity.
“You can’t worry about competition,” Shah said. “You can only do your best and move forward. I believe we’ll have a great option for our customers. I never expected St. Philip’s to say, ‘Oh forget it, we’re not gonna have a farmers market.’ We’ll be mindful of competition.”
Food in Root’s Kammerer thinks it will push both markets to be better and to avoid complacency.
“Constant competition will ensure that both markets continue to evolve. I have no doubt that both will be supported,” Kammerer said. “If there is no competitive force, businesses get complacent with the status quo.
“I have no doubt in my mind Heirloom will put out a stellar product at Rillito. It’s a great thing. It will help every one of us and we’ll be able to benefit from it.”
