Vendors urge town to secure permanent home for Smithfield Farmers Market after lease loss

Several Smithfield Farmers Market vendors told council they need a permanent home after learning the market’s current lease will not be renewed beyond next year.

Judy Ewell, a vendor and advisory-board member, said the market currently occupies a bank parking lot on Southside of Virginia on a year‑to‑year lease and that the market lost that location’s lease faster than the board anticipated. “This is our last year in that location, and we have to find somewhere to go,” Ewell said. She asked the council to give serious consideration to a proposed project at the end of Main Street that would provide a permanent market home and to help the market find a suitable interim site for the next season.

Vendor Carrie Robinson (Peanut City Candle Company) described the market as an incubator for small businesses and said the market drives foot traffic and revenue for downtown businesses. Robinson told council the market was ranked among the top 101 farmers markets in North America and that many vendors are women- and minority-owned. “The decision to provide a permanent home for the farmers market and more small locally owned businesses will help keep the community together,” Robinson said.

Both speakers said the market is largely self-sustaining through vendor fees and sponsorships but that moving to a less suitable interim site would damage vendor sales and the downtown symbiosis.

Ending: Vendors asked the council for assistance both with consideration of a permanent-market project and short-term help locating a viable site for the 2026 season; no formal action was taken at the meeting.