Several area brick-and-mortar businesses got their start as vendors at O’Fallon market

One of the offshoots of the thriving Vine Street Market at O’Fallon Station is that several of its vendors have gone on to establish brick-and-mortar businesses.

Some will be back at the local farmers’ market when it resumes in May, and there are five micro-markets planned for March and April.

“We have seen phenomenal growth the past six years,” said Sarah Burton, the city coordinator for both Vine Street Market and the Downtown District. “We have relationships with the vendors, and they become part of our family tree. We work closely with them.”

Burton said seasons range from 60 to 100 vendors, and they like to see the response, how their relationships with customers build.

Burton noted that last year they had an average attendance of 1,800 each week during the May-October market.

The latest vendor to operate a storefront is Lachelle Stevenson, who opened Harriett’s Sweet Treats at 622 E. State St. late last fall, just in time to make holiday cookie gift boxes. Her specialty is Southern desserts with banana pudding, sweet potato pie, peach cobbler, and other favorites available.

One of her biggest fans is Debbie Arell-Martinez, president and CEO of the O’Fallon-Shiloh Chamber of Commerce.

“One of my favorite outcomes from our very successful Vine Street Market at O’Fallon Station is watching vendors thrive, growing their business, developing a following, and expanding into a physical location,” Arell-Martinez said.

“We have seen this happen with several local favorites, and Harriett’s Sweet Treats joins this club with the opening of their store.”

Stevenson said the response, so far, to her leap to storefront “has been overwhelmingly delightful.” She has added custom desserts for ordering ahead to her repertoire.

Being part of the farmer’s market “has been a very good thing,” she said.

Another local brand that has flourished is market mainstay Nitro Salsa, which is owned by Nathan and Nicole Parchman. They opened Nitro Family Foods at 231 E. State St. in the downtown district in May 2022, rehabbing a vacant dog grooming facility into a state-of-the-art commercial kitchen with a storefront.

But the market is where their items took off.

“We wanted to help be a part of the growth we’ve enjoyed watching others create over the past several years,” Nathan Parchman said.

Their product line started with four different kinds of homemade salsa from mild to extra hot available in pint jars. They have added pickles: bread and butter kind either mild, medium or hot, and spicy dill, plus fresh tortilla chips, pizza sauce, barbecue sauce, and iced tea in gallons, either Southern-style sweet or unsweetened. Recently, they added a lasagna meal package with salad and homemade buttermilk ranch dressing and honey wheat brown bread that you can pre-order.

The Parchmans started their food business in 2019 to use produce from their massive garden, using the Illinois cottage food laws that allow people to cook out of home kitchens. Because of the Vine Street Market, their popularity among local customers spread faster than anticipated, and they quickly outgrew their home space, utilizing the VFW’s commercial kitchen in O’Fallon.

Having their own became a necessity, Nathan Parchman said.

Besides the market, their salsa can be found at Creative Landscapes in Fairview Heights, Downtown Delights in Wood River, and in O’Fallon – Boarding House Bistro and both MotoMart locations.

“The Vine Street Market was and will be the biggest driving force of our business. It’s the reason we still exist,” Parchman said. “We love it. Sarah has been a tremendous help to our business.”

Parchman said the business grew during the pandemic.

“Consumers started shopping local and turned to farmer’s markets as an alternative to going to the big box grocery stores,” Parchman said.

Erik Busch brought his fresh-roasted LongStory Coffee to Vine Street Market in 2021, where he became a popular vendor. He had also been selling online and at boutique-type shops when he opened in early 2023 at the renovated train depot at 732 S. Illinois St. in Belleville.

At O’Fallon’s seasonal market is where he met the Suga’ Pies owner Carla, and she supplied small pies, cookies, and snacks for his bakery cases when he first opened, before Clara B’s Kitchen Table took over the food operation.

(Suga’ Pies is moving to Tennessee in June, she announced on Facebook, and won’t return to the market, but she is still baking desserts to order.)

Vine Street Market Plans

Micro Markets will be held from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturdays March 2, 16, and 30 and April 13 and 27.

The regular season is set for May 11 – Oct. 19 from 8 a.m. to noon. Live music is scheduled from 9 a.m. to noon, and there will be demonstrations and special contests. The POP Club for kids continues.

Vendor applications are open through Feb. 28. Burton said they are specifically looking for farm and unique vendors. Applications are available: https://buff.ly/3QUxUay.

The O’Fallon Station will continue to accept SNAP and Link Match and is part of the Southern Illinois Link Hub, which provides support to farmers markets in Southern Illinois for the Link Match Double Coupon Program. Funding comes from Experimental Station, Link Up Illinois and the Illinois Department of Human Services. The market is in its fifth year and is one of the largest markets around.

Burton said the Link Hub and Link Match program help low-income families throughout Southern Illinois access equitable, healthy and nutritious foods year-round at Illinois farmers markets and as the program circulates dollars into the local economy though local farm businesses, it also provides stability to local farm businesses and farmers markets.