The Chattanooga Market has officially been sold, and new owner/operator Chris Thomas and his staff are busy getting ready for opening day on April 27.
Over the last six weeks, Thomas, market director of operations Paul Smith and marketing and media director Melissa Siragusa have been contacting vendors, talking with sponsors, finalizing the schedule and getting the Web site ready. The site went live this week, and fans of the market who visit will notice a few things right off the bat.
First, the market also has a Facebook page, you will be able to find the music calendar on JamBase, and you can keep up with market events through Google Calendar.
“We’ll add more sites as we go,” Thomas said.
“What we want to do this year is roll out some more marketing tools for our vendors and help them create their own brand,” Thomas said.
He said his team has created a tiered vendor program that benefits vendors who sell at the market on a regular basis.
“We want to highlight in our newsletter and on the Web and in some other ways. We can’t do anything for people who show up once,” he said.
You’ll also notice that EPB has replaced ComCast as the music stage sponsor and that the Chattahippie Festival has been added as a sponsor. Thomas is the founder of Palo Duro Records, which is presenting the Chattahippie Festival in September at Camp Columbus.
Live music has always been a part of the market and because it is a Sunday afternoon gig, some fairly big acts have played there as a way to make a little money on what is otherwise a travel day.
With Thomas’ music connections in Texas and Nashville, live music will continue to be emphasized. On opening day, for example, two-time Grammy winner Gary Nicholson, Australian Anne McCue and Texas singer/songwriter Amy Cook are scheduled to perform.
“I want it to be a premiere entertainment destination as well as a great place to buy fresh produce and handmade art,” Thomas said.
The first vendor meeting will be at 2 p.m. Sunday in the Stadium Club at Finley Stadium. Interested vendors are invited, Thomas said.
As a parting gift to the market and the city, former market owner and founder Nick Jessen received a grant and then found a donor to cover the cost of installing two 24-foot diameter fans inside the pavilion.
The fans should help at least move the air inside the structure on those hot summer days.
Barry Courter is associate features editor, entertainment editor and books editor for the Times Free Press. He started his journalism career at the Chattanooga News-Free Press in 1987. He covers primarily entertainment and events for fyiWeekend and edits the Sunday books page. Born in Lafayette, Ind., Barry has lived in Chattanooga since 1968. He graduated from Notre Dame High School and the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga with a degree in broadcast journalism. He previously ...
