The Fulton Farmers Market, tucked away at 4901 Chowen Ave. S,  is closing at the end of the season. In its place, the Southwest Farmers Market will open at the much more visible Mount Olivet Lutheran Church parking lot at 5025 Knox Ave. S. in May 2025.

Neighborhood Roots, operator of the Fulton, Kingfield, and Lake Nokomis Farmers Markets, made the decision after years of decline in vendor and customer participation.

“Markets need a critical mass of support to be sustainable for vendors,” a Neighborhood Roots statement reads. “Without it, vendors choose other markets to attend, which in turn can be discouraging to customers.”

The market’s location also suffered from visibility issues and is near this year’s Metro Transit E-Line construction.

By moving the market to 50th Street, Neighborhood Roots said it hopes the “prominent visibility” will grow its customer and vendor base. The organization is also breaking away from the model of working with one neighborhood organization per farmers market.

A map of the Fulton Famers Market, "Current Location," and Southwest Farmers Market, "Planned Location." Courtesy of Neighborhood Roots

The Fulton Farmers Market is operated in coordination with the Fulton Neighborhood Association, a neighborhood with roughly 7,000 residents.

“While we are disappointed to see it leave the Fulton Neighborhood,” neighborhood coordinator for the Fulton Neighborhood Association Sasha Jensen said. “Ultimately we want this asset to be able to stay in our area and give farmers and other small business owners a chance to grow.”

By expanding the Southwest Farmers Market to include Lynnhurst, Tangletown, Armatage, Kenny, and Windom, the farmers market can reach and collaborate with 33,000 residents. Neighborhood Roots is also betting on the vehicle, bicycle, and pedestrian traffic along 50th Street and the Minnehaha Creek Trail to pull in more customers.

The Southwest Farmers Market won’t necessarily be bigger than the Fulton Farmers Market, according to Sarah Woutat, chair of the Neighborhood Roots board of directors.  

“We have the possibility of getting bigger,”  Woutat said. “But I wouldn’t look at it that way.”

Neighborhood Roots’ priority is maintaining a “community market feel” that gives people a lot of room to move around.

“We want to create a robust marketplace,” Woutat said, “And provide a great space for vendors to be successful.”

To Woutat, who was a Fulton Farmers Market vendor from 2011-1018, a big piece of the local economy is supporting local farmers and makers.

The Fulton Farmers Market remains open every Saturday from 8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. through Oct. 26.