Manager excited about Saint John City Market's prospects, despite loss of Slocum's

As the manager of the Saint John City Market, Andrew MacDonald is used to seeing businesses come and go.

But there is something about losing the market's longest-running vendor that's "harder to stomach for sure," he said Wednesday.

MacDonald said it's not the easiest time to run a restaurant, and Slocum & Ferris, a name that has been at the market for 129 years, is not the first to go.

"Looking at what's happening around the world — and of course what's happening around the city, in the province, country — with restaurants, it's a real hard time for sure."

Slocum & Ferris — known for its down-home cooking, old-school signage and local goods —  closed last Saturday, citing slow sales and low foot traffic through the market.

An archival picture from the Saint John City Market (Provincial Archives of New Brunswick P171-23)

MacDonald said the number of people walking through the market each day has been slowly rising toward pre-pandemic levels, but the market's success depends on more than traffic. People have to buy things, he said.

"And they're starting to spend a bit more money, and that's what we're looking for," he said.

MacDonald said he is excited about things coming up in the short and longer term, including a move to consistent daily hours for all vendors, new vendors already set to open, and the market's strategic plan.

The closure of Slocum & Ferris comes nearly a year after the City of Saint John announced a new strategic plan with 65 initiatives that include making the place more welcoming for locals.

The plan is to change the very layout of the market, going from three aisles to two and creating more seating inside the main building, rather than the solariums on either side.

Reaction from businesses

Darren Lavigne, the proprietor of City Market Greengrocer, said he's sad to see Slocum & Ferris go. He said the pandemic has been tough on smaller places.

"We're like a family here," he said of the businesses in the market.

Felix Liu from Chicken by Felix was also nostalgic about the loss.

"When I was first here in 2013, there were a lot of vendors, a lot of people there," he said.

An interior shot of the Saint John City Market in the Christmas season of 2018. (Saint John City Market/Facebook)

"There are not enough people to come to the market to support all the businesses here. And more and more people work at home now."

Jeremiah's Deli sits two stalls up from Slocum & Ferris. Co-owners Loretta Landry and Maggie Bryson expressed their own dismay on seeing the place close.

"We're super sad that the business is closing," Landry said.

She said the repercussions of such an established place closing down has more backlash than it would first seem, including the public being worried there's nothing happening in the market anymore.

"There's still lots of things happening around," she said.

"Slocum's no longer being a part of the market for now, that's really sad because I've never known the market to not have that name," Bryson said.

"Slocum has always been a part of it, and it always will be in one way or another," she said.

Scott Scichilone of H&S Meats said seeing a fellow vendor and entrepreneur not be successful is always troubling.

"It's definitely sad to see," Scichilone said.

He said when it comes to running a business there are many factors people don't always hear about, like traffic flow and demographics.

"Some of those factors are your environment, your entrepreneurial skills, your business skills, and your product knowledge," he said, adding the current economy is a challenge and causing people to pinch their money a little tighter than usual.

History of the market

The first market building opened in 1830 and at one point, it grew to six different locations, including a fish market and wharf on Water Street, a hay market on King Street, and a cattle market in King's Square.

According to the history section of the market's website, as the city grew, people realized there was no need for six different markets so they were centralized. By 1876, the market moved to a new building made by shipbuilders, giving the place its unique appearance of an inverted or upside-down keel of a ship.

On June 16, 1986, the market was designated a National Historic Site of Canada.

Today, the Saint John City Market is the oldest continuing farmers' market in Canada and attracts more than one million visitors annually from all over the globe.