Saying Farewell to Findlay Market

With heavy hearts, we have recently notified the staff and board members of Findlay Market that we would be leaving the Farmers’ Market. Sales, for us at Findlay, have been down. We had hoped to weather the lull, but going into the second year of poor economic returns we saw a sudden fall off in business during, what is traditionally, the high point in the year for produce sales.

We love Findlay market. Our family—the Stewart clan—has always shopped at Findlay. I remember, as a child in the ‘70s, sucking on huge dill pickles while surrounded by delis filled with meats and pickled eggs and cheeses with wonderful aromas. The market was as diverse as the church we attended in Kennedy Heights and that mix of shoppers from all over Cincinnati felt inviting and inclusive. That feeling is still there and the experience of Findlay is still a wonderful experience.

The market has had its up and downs as any business and the market, the oldest open air market in the State of Ohio will continue for at least a couple centuries more. Currently, there is a lot more going on outside at the fringes of the market. More grab and go or sit down dining spaces. Not enough parking. With the renaissance OTR is experiencing and access via the new street car, that we would see a dramatic increase in business in the farmer’s market, but that has not been the case. We are not the only vendor to see such things, but our model of business at the market as farmers is probably the most vulnerable. So, this is all solely on us.

We suspect some of the sales fall-off is a result of the new downtown Kroger location—since the lag in our sales and the opening of the new grocery seemed to happen simultaneously. We bear no ill will towards Kroger. A large, affordable, grocery was needed for the community as a whole. We have many friends associated with the new location and we wish them great success. But that additional pull of customers away from Findlay has changed what was a break-even proposition at the farmer’s market for the past 15 months into a loss.

We don’t leave because we want. We leave because we have to. We are in the middle of making some large changes on the farm, to move towards developing a community ON the farm rather than OFF the farm. 2019 was a rough year, probably one of the toughest. With a change in local food trends and one of the worst weather patterns we have experienced in the region, we have had a lot of stress placed upon us.

So, we will not be back to the Findlay Farmer’s Market in 2020. I, personally, want to see us eventually come back, as part of a greater whole—maybe in a space occupied by several businesses that call Carriage House Farm home, a store front even: a collaboration of farmer, butcher, rancher, chef, author. For the time being, though, we are pulling up our tent stakes at Findlay and focusing on building the next chapter on the farm. If we are successful (after all, it is a business and all business involves some amount of risk…farming more than others) we will be returning.

So for now, you can find Carriage House Farm and MadHouse Vinegar products around Findlay Market and OTR at various vendors: Avril-Bleh Meat Market, Dean Mediterranean Foods, ETC Produce, & Madison’s. We hope to see you in our CSA (which now as a drop-off point at MadTree Brewing, in Oakley) or visit us at our farm store (at 2872 Lawrenceburg Road) which showcases Carriage House Farm’s fresh produce, grains, honey, and jams/jellies as well as a host of high quality local foods from grass fed ground beef to chocolate. It is a mere 20 minutes outside of downtown Cincinnati. You never leave the I-275 loop! If not you can still get our produce and honey indirectly by eating at one of the dozen or so restaurants that purchase directly from the farm

’Til we meet again…

Richard Stewart
Farm Manager
Carriage House Farm