In this day and age, when businesses are constantly on the edge trying to surpass their competition, one would think that the Greenmarket in Union Square Park would be a battlefield every day. However, the reality is quite different.
The atmosphere and the vegetables of the Greenmarket seem to be enough to draw people in and the location doesn’t hurt either. With more than ninety thousand residents living in the surrounding areas, and many commuters, the Greenmarket rarely has a slow day. Kids and senior citizens utilize the Union Square Park for various activities, giving the market even more potential customers.
Despite the fact that most vendors sell similar products, the competition level is very low.
As many stores close in surrounding areas due to rising rental fees, many have wondered how this affects the Greenmarket. Customers have concerns that the rising rental fees might force the farmers to increase their prices.
Each farmer has to pay a daily fee of $76 to open his or her stall. In addition to that, the Greenmarket, as a whole, has to pay about $100,000 in annual usage fees to occupy a third of the Union Square Park.
But paying those fees is a walk in the park for the farmers since it is estimated that the farmers, all together, bring in about twelve million dollars annually. That’s more than enough for them to pay the fees and bring in a hefty profit. But with competition growing, one can only wonder how long the Greenmarket can thrive.
Since the city is home to more than fifty-four markets and two hundred thirty participating farmers, people might assume that the competition runs high but the farmers beg to differ.
“There is not much competition here. We are like a big family almost. We’ve been here for so long that all of us have become good friends,” said a poultry seller, who was located directly in front of the new Pavilion restaurant. Many of the farmers agree with her.
The new pavilion restaurant, which was highly criticized by many people, brought concerns regarding the increase in competition but the farmers assure everyone that this was actually a good thing.
An email was sent to the Union Square Community Coalition to which an involved local resident, Gail Fox, responded saying, “The pavilion restaurant- it is a total plus and of course they purchase from the Greenmarket.”
Instead of competing with the new restaurant, the farmers use it to their advantage by selling their products to the chef. It seems to work out in everyone’s favor.
“The restaurant is good– we sell our products to them. Profit wise, we are doing good. Old customers have favorite vendors, so they go to them, and there are new customers every day. So there is not much competition here,” a salesperson for a fresh fruit market said.
The locally grown fruit draws customers from every direction, since the Greenmarket is one of the biggest markets in New York. Besides buying products, customers could participate in the various activities the market provides, which include cooking demonstrations.
Open four days a week, the Greenmarket provides fresh food to the hundreds of thousands of people, making it a bustling yet beautiful area for customers and tourists alike.