SAULT STE. MARIE -- Despite most vendors not showing up, the Mill Market in Sault Ste. Marie is still open for business.
Saturday is the busiest day of the week for the Mill Market, with a couple of thousand people showing up each week to buy fresh food.
But on this Saturday, that was not the case. In the first 90 minutes, less than 50 people showed up.
"I expected there wouldn’t be too many. I knew that the diehards crowd would still come true and they would still buy and they buy off me every week so to be here for the customers too," said Jeff Marshall, a local vendor.
Patricia Vecchio who sells bone broth and soup added, "so far today it’s been regulars it’s the people that typically buy from us each week."
Management made the decision to remain open to allow farmers the chance to sell their produce and to give people another outlet to buy local vegetables, meat, eggs and other goods.
"I have stuff that I have been growing for the last few months and it is ready now. So it gives us a place to sell," said Marshall.
Vecchio added "There’s a lot of people losing their jobs right now. So many people that are unemployed, there’s business owners that can’t, but I’ve had to close the doors. So for us, this has kept people employed and that’s huge."
The decision to open the Mill Market will be made on a week-to-week basis and updates will be announced on social media, each Friday.
