The Lebanon Farmers Market has seen several changes in vendors since the downtown hotspot was sold to Richland-based Dunamis Holdings LLC in March 2022.
Read More: Lebanon Farmers Market sold
Soon after Dunamis took over, owner Jason Schwalm said many vendors left the market.
“When we took ownership last March, apparently the market was in a lot worse shape then we realized,” he said. “To the point that I was really thinking, ‘Why the heck did we do this?’ I just didn’t realize how unhappy the vendors were.”
However, since then the market has become filled up with vendors, with some vendors even setting up on the mezzanine for what Schwalm said is the first time in years.
“There’s definitely been a lot of changes,” he said. “It took us a little longer than I was hoping to to get there, but we’ve had it now about a year and it’s basically full, aside from the meat slash seafood stand.”
Schwalm says he partially attributes the market’s recent success to increased advertising and Facebook presence.
Owners of Artsy Gourmet New Beginnings (located on the mezzanine) Terry and Lisa Bowen seconded this, saying their business increased significantly when it was promoted on the Farmers Market Facebook page.
The couple sold goods out of Jim Thorpe for around four years, but started up at the market in early March.
The storefront carries a wide assortment of goods coming from as far as Texas and as near as local Amish suppliers.
“We have dips, we have sauces, we have olive oils, we have barbeque sauces, bloody marys,” said Lisa. “We have a lot of stuff that you cannot get somewhere else.”
As Artsy Gourmet New Beginnings began its time at the farmers market, Divas Have to Eat was getting ready to leave. The food vendor, what Schwalm said is the only vendor to leave recently, had its last day April 1.
Owner Dee Sanders said that she plans to open her own restaurant and felt her time with the market had reached a natural close.
Read More: A trip to the Lebanon Farmers Market
“I have been there for four years and I always wanted my own restaurant, so the time is now for me,” she said.
As of now, Sanders has not announced her new location or when it will open for business.
“The food I make needs to be served on beautiful crystal plates, not foam trays,” she said. “Divas Have to Eat Restaurant is coming super soon and I’m excited about it.”
Read More:
- Schaylor Brewing announces projected April 5 opening for brewpub at market
- Farmers’ Market anchor Keener Poultry has new owner, and a familiar face, too
- Is the Lebanon Farmers Market, built on the site of a 19th-century prison and gallows, haunted?
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