As I noted in another post, the topic of this week’s
disquisition over at Dyspepsiana is farmers markets. In that piece, I note that
such events have grown in popularity to such an extent that national
supermarket chains mimic the off-the-back-of-the-wagon ambiance of the market
in their produce sections.
Well, it was only a matter of time before the supermarkets
went beyond copying farmers markets to co-opting them. The Chicago Tribune reported the other day that upscale grocer Treasure Island Foods will be sponsoring
its own “Urban Islander Farmers Markets” at its Chicago stores.
It’s all part of the stores’ marketing strategy, apparently, a way to market-test new products. As a TI spokesperson explained, “We wanted to open up spots for vendors that we
don’t necessarily carry in our stores at the moment but could in the
future.”
The Urban
Islander markets will be the first in the city to serve as well as sell beer. (Among the vendors are beer distributor Wirtz Beverage Group, which has nearly $2.5 billion in annual sales.) There’s be food trucks too, and “music and kids activities” – in short, everything needed to turn the farmers
market into another version of the beery summer fests that literally infest the
city beginning about now.
This article appears in Apr 30 – May 6, 2015.
