Downtown market busy Saturday
Published 10:45 am Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Buyers and sellers enjoyed Atmore’s first “Market in the Park” event last Saturday. A repeat event will be held this Saturday at the First National Bank and Trust park in downtown Atmore from 7:30 to 11 a.m.|Photo by Allison Brown
Following the success of last weekend’s Market in the Park sponsored by the Atmore Area Chamber of Commerce and hosted by First National Bank & Trust, officials with the Chamber are hoping word-of-mouth will bring an even larger crowd to this weekend’s event.
The event held in the park located next to First National Bank & Trust brought in a crowd of people looking to purchase goods ranging from fruits and vegetables to baked goods and boasted entertainment as well.
The success has encouraged Sheryl Vickery, executive director for the Atmore Area Chamber of Commerce, to put more emphasis on advertising Market in the Park.
“Well hopefully more will come at this event,” Vickery said. “We are going to advertise it more, and put up more signs around the downtown area to make people aware of it. The biggest thing that will push it though is that I think one person will go and tell 15 people. That will bring so many more people to it. We already have commitments from vendors who were here last weekend, and I’m hoping to secure a few more. It’s just a wonderful time.”
During the Market in the Park last Saturday, the hustle and bustle of the crowds made it hard to measure how many people visited the Chamber’s event.
Vickery said that the way to determine strength of the event was by looking at how much was sold.
“Things went really well with that being the first time we have had the event,” she said. “It’s hard to measure by how many people visit because people are coming and going so much. We measure by how much is sold, but I did notice a lot of people standing around talking. With all of that networking, I thought it was successful.”
The popularity of the items is another aspect that is tough to judge, but Vickery did see a lot of different items being sold quickly.
She said corn and honey were two of the hot items at the event.
““I thought a lot of people had Steve’s corn in their hands,” she said. “Tomatoes went really fast and hopefully, we will have more this Saturday. The Perdido Winery did a wonderful job, and Kyser’s sold out of their honey and had to call back for more. The VFW had a lot of baked goods, which sold well. Just being out there, I had so many people tell me how wonderful it was to have something like this available. This time we will do more advertising along the streets to let people know where we are.”
The importance of a Market in the Park and other events like it carries weight in the Atmore community.
Vickery said that being in such an agricultural region makes this type of event a good idea.
“We are an agricultural region with not even a mile outside the city limits, you start seeing the gardens with corn, tomatoes and several other vegetables and fruits,” she said. “It’s also great to get the community together because anytime you can do that with a positive goal, it’s always good.”
Market in the Park will begin at 7:30 a.m. this Saturday at the park at First National Bank & Trust. For more information call the Atmore Area Chamber of Commerce at 368-3305.