Ann Arbor Public Market advisory panel hears staffing, vendor application surge and demolition timetable

The Ann Arbor Public Market Advisory Commission on Thursday, March 20, 2025, received updates on staffing and vendor applications, was told that demolition of the old market office building is expected in April, and learned the market won a food-safety grant to fund a monthly cooking-demo series.

The updates matter to market vendors and customers because they will shape space availability, parking and staging during demolition and nearby construction, and programming this season, commissioners and staff said.

Staffing and vendor applications

Market staff introduced Leila, the new assistant market manager outreach coordinator, who said she has been working the last couple of weeks at the market and returned to Ann Arbor after managing an incubator farm elsewhere. Leila said, “I’m really happy to join you all. I grew up here in Ann Arbor.”

Stephanie, the market staff member overseeing applications, told commissioners the market has seen a large influx of applications since switching to an online form: “I wanna say, like, 55 applicants who are new, since the beginning of the year,” she said. She said that technical problems — a printer outage and account/access issues for the new staff member — delayed processing and that staff prioritized returning vendors first. Stephanie…