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The Public Market / Supermarket
CD-6
Observation
The potential for a Public Market located in Downtown Baton Rouge exists.
Discussion
The primary, secondary and tertiary trade population as identified in this report will support a 15,000 sf Public Market. Sales may approach $6,750,000 annually in the first full year of the project’s operation. Located as an anchor at Main, Fifth, and North Streets, the Public Market would provide an important connection between the CBD and Spanish Town.
The primary trade area, composed of Spanish Town, Beauregard Town, as well as the daily office workers, will account for most of the day-to-day sales of the proposed Public Market. The worker (or daytime population) will utilize the Public Market before or on the way to work, during lunch time, and en-route home from the office. They will account for the convenience-oriented sales from the market and utilize the market primarily during the week.
Shoppers in the secondary trade area will account for a larger portion of the weekend sales and will shop at the proposed Public Market on a less frequent basis than the residents and the daytime population in the primary trade area. The overall success of the Public Market will be based on shoppers from both the primary and secondary trade areas. In addition, we may expect a significant number of additional shoppers from the tertiary trade area and beyond the specific trade areas, par-ticularly on weekends as the Market matures.
Currently Baton Rouge Economic & Agricultural Development Alliance (BREADA) has successfully operated a Saturday and Tuesday Farmer’s Market at the municipal parking lot at St. Louis Street and North Boulevard since November 1996. The Saturday “Red Stick Farmers’ Market” operates in the fol-lowing ways:
• It is held every Saturday, rain or shine, throughout the year.
• Fifty-six vendors participate seasonally, with a cap of thirty vendors per Saturday.
• The current vendor fee is $10 per space per day.
• Vendors gross revenue per day ranges between $200 and $2500 per vendor.
A pilot weekday Red Stick Farmers’ Market was opened at the Maison Blanche in mid-city during April, 1998. Though less busy than the Saturday morning market, it demonstrated that there was a weekday base of both farmer and consumer support. Closed in July for the Summer, the Tuesday Red Stick Farmers’ Market will now reopen Downtown on Lafayette Street in October, 1998. City-Parish officials have approved a regular street closure for the market. The Tuesday market will remain a seasonal market until the farmers are able to supply it on a year-round basis.
Public Market / Supermarket
What, exactly, is a public market? This study and the USDA define the differences between a Public Market and a supermarket as follows:A Public Market is a group of independent food growers selling their seasonal products directly to the public on a limited basis in an open setting. The open setting can and should include a covered canopy to protect against rain and sun and to offer the market a sense of place. The Market’s vendors should be limited to high quality growers offering the highest quality fresh foods and specialty products. A supermarket and a Public Market can be contrasted as follows:
| Supermarket | Public Market |
| One owner-retailer | Multiple retailers and vendors |
| No competition insdie building | Competition between vendors |
| One shopper entry/exit | Multiple shopper entries/exits |
| Aisles with shelves | Stalls with merchants |
| Low ceilings, high shelves | High ceilings, low stalls |
| Shopper pulls items | Merchant pulls items |
| Extensive marketing campaign | limited but regular marketing campaign |
| Linear organization of goods | Random organization of goods |
| Commercial exterior character | Civic/public exterior character |
| Expensive interior finishes | Simple interior grade finishes |
| Uniform artificial light | Assisted daylight |
| Tile floor | Concrete floor |
| Hidden delivery & processing | Open delivery & processing |
| Central check-out lanes | Multiple points of purchase |
| Extensive 7-day-a-week hours | Limited 7-day-a-week hours |
Note: For the purposes of this study, a Farmers’ Market is a type of Public Market whose business hours are limited to one or two days per week and whose vendors may rotate on a regular basis depending upon the growing season. In addition, the Farmers’ Market’s activities may be limited to the late spring or early fall. This study concludes that the Public and Farmers’ Market activities will be complimentary and that the two markets should be located near or adjacent to each other.
Recomendation
Factors for Public Market Success
It is important to recognize that a combination of location, style and the perceived quality of the Public Market will be critical to its success. In order to be successful, the Public Market should maintain the following standards:
• Offer perishables that are perceived to be the best quality, the largest variety, and the best value to the consumer.
• Open for business fully tenanted. The first impression of the Market’s earliest visitors must be that it offers a large number of unique vendors selling a wide assortment of quality fresh foods and products.
• Be open seven (7) days a week, with all vendors observing the Public Market hours.
• Staff for all the Public Market’s vendors will be very knowledgeable about the use and preparation of the products they are selling and will be friendly, professional, and outgoing. This level of service will help to reinforce the Market as a place offering value, quality, and service.
• Locally produced fruits, vegetables, meats, poultry and dairy products, etc. give the market its identity and should be the foundation of the market.
• The opening of the Public Market will be supported by an aggressive marketing and advertising campaign, which will continue on a regular and weekly basis to gain consumer recognition.
• Parking at the proposed market will be adequate and inexpensive at all times. If the Public Market is developed as part of the new State parking deck, adequate parking should be available at all times that the market is open, including during office hours.
• The market and its vendor stalls will be kept clean at all times and display cases will be well maintained.
Site and Building Design Guidelines
A well-designed building and site will allow for the proposed Public Market to reinforce its unique selection of goods and services, as well as its overall level of quality and value. This study recommends that the Public Market have the following characteristics and amenities:
• Easy vehicular access from I-110, Third Street, and the Government complexes.
• The building and signage shall be visible from both direc-tions on Main Street, as well as Sixth Street.
• The building and attached parking deck shall have an au-thentic exterior design to reflect the existing and historical character of Baton Rouge.
• The building shall have multiple pedestrian access points oriented towards Spanish Town, Beauregard Town and Third Street.
• The building shall have store display windows along side-walks.
• The building shall be well lighted with natural and artificial light sources.
• The buildings shall have wide aisles between vendors.
• The vendors shall be provided with proper utility services (electrical, plumbing, HVAC, etc.)
• 10% - 20% of the vendor booths shall be provided with full tenant improvements and fixturing.
• The vendors shall have their primary storage away from their sales areas (in basement or common storage).
• The vendor booths shall allow free standing displays to be no more than approximately five feet tall to preserve the open character of the Market.
• The Public Market shall have a parking ratio of approxi-mately 4 cars per 1000 s.f. net building area.
• The lower levels of the attached parking structure should be posted to restrict general Baton Rouge CBD workers from parking at the Public Market. Also, the Public Market shoppers should be given a coupon for free or discounted parking.
• The Public Market should contain the current Farmer’s Market, transferred from its existing location.
Location and Organization
The Public Market has a realistic opportunity for success at the Main Street and Sixth Street location. The proposed Public Market (combined with the re-location of the Farmer’s Market) along with the other recommended Third Street redevelopment, would add a unique destination to Downtown Baton Rouge. In addition, the proposed Public Market would help to make the existing and new housing development in Spanish Town and Beauregard Town more attractive.
This study recommends that the Public Market offer 15,000 to 20,000 square feet of retail space to consist of:
• 1,500 – 2,000 square feet of fresh meats (minimum of three vendors) offering a mixture of fresh beef, lamb, pork and veal. It is also recommended that at least one of the vendors offer specialty meat products such as (but not limited to) beefalo, buffalo, emu, venison, rabbit, and sausages.
• 1,000 – 1,200 square feet of fresh poultry and eggs (min-imum of three vendors) offering not only chicken and eggs, but geese, turkey, and specialty items, such as Cornish hens, pheasant, and quail.
• 800 – 1,000 square feet of fresh seafood (minimum of two vendors) offering whole fish, as well as steaks and filets, shrimp, crabs, lobsters, mussels, clams, crawfish, and sea-food salads.
• 1,800 – 2,000 square feet of fresh produce (minimum of three vendors) offering a wide variety of products including fruit and vegetables, as well as homemade salad dressings, and prepared salads.
• 2,000 – 2,400 square feet of bakery products including at least two bread vendors and two specialty vendors offering a variety of cakes, pies, danish, cheesecakes, cream puffs, canolis, bagels, and cookies.
• 1,000 – 1,500 square feet of delicatessen and cheese ven-dors (minimum of three vendors) offering a wide variety of international deli meets and cheeses, sandwiches, prepared salads, soups, crackers and condiments.
• 400 – 600 square feet of natural foods offering a variety of organic produce, as well as a wide selection of vitamins and personal care products.
• 1,200 – 1,500 square feet of ethnic foods (a minimum of two vendors), such as Cajun, Hispanic, Asian, Italian, and/or French, offering a variety of groceries and spices, as well as prepared foods for consumption.
• 400 – 500 square feet of spices, coffees, and teas, offering products in bulk as well as for consumption.
• 600 – 900 square feet of floral vendors (minimum of two vendors) offering fresh cut flowers, live plants, gardening needs, and bird accessories.
• 600 – 1,000 square feet of wine vendors offering a variety of wines and imported and microbrewery beers.
• 4,000 – 4,500 square feet of casual sit-down family restau-rants serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
• 500 – 1,000 square feet of miscellaneous vendors (minimum of three) offering quality craft products.
Two to three of these vendors should be leased to leading na-tional specialty bagel shops, food markets, or coffee houses. A few such national businesses will help to set high standards for the market’s visual merchandising as well as to offer some recognizable and “trusted” brand names to the market. These vendors should be encouraged to display their national brand names to help give the market (and themselves) credibility to first-time and out-of-town visitors.
Responsibility
Downtown Development District and Plan Baton Rouge
Project Status
See #35, SSC - 2B
Implementation
Explanation of Terms
Product
Centralized Retail Management
Responsibility
PBR & DDD
Implementing Agent
DDD
Feasibility Analysis
DDD
Initial Financing
PBR
Project Financing
FF & PI
Timing
P1