The Downtown Country Market

The Country Market in Downtown Buffalo located on Main St. has been having another successful year selling recently baked goods, freshly grown produce and other products such as newly popped kettle corn.

The Downtown Country Market has been going on for 29 years. It is held on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8:00 a.m. until 2:30 p.m. It starts May 17th and ends October 25th. It is located at the center of downtown on Main St. between Court and Church St.

About 5 or 6 vendors line each side of the street on opposite sides of the NFTA Metro Rail. The vendors are set up next to each other with tables or tents set up to showcase their products. Consumers are easily able to walk from one seller to the next.

People can enjoy seasonal produce and specialties from local sellers. People can come to the market to buy products like dog treats, fresh herbs, newly grown squash, recently plucked apples, etc.

The market features many different vendors, some of whom have been there previously for years.

“I started selling out of home, not out of shop,” said Barbara Owcarz a baked goods vendor from Clarence Center, NY.“I’ve been selling at the market for about 23 years now.”

Barbara Owcarz sells an assortment of homemade baked goods and is especially known for her pies. A small homemade apple crumb pie costs $6.00. Although her slot at the market has been successful, she also says that the market has changed over the years from when she first began.

“It has been good for us,” said Owcarz. “People don’t come to the market as often anymore though. They can just go to the grocery store rather than come to the market for homemade comfort foods.”

Some vendors at the market also sell more than one type of product. Sandy Andrew specializes in selling homemade baked goods as well as fresh fruits and vegetables. Her freshly baked cookies come three in a pack about the size of a fist for only $2.00. There are different flavors such as sugar cookies, peanut butter cookies, and chocolate chip.

“I’ve been successful because of the customer service and the quality of my product,” said Andrew. “A lot of people on their break from the office will come down to the market and buy something to eat.”

Andrew said that depending on the season, fruit is what she tends to sell the most of. It allows people to eat something fresh quickly before they have to return to work.

“This is the first time I’ve ever come to the market,” said Veronica Toeper, a college student who works at Grassroots Gardens of Buffalo. “It’s so awesome. I’ll definitely be coming back here more often.”

Toeper said she was there just to look around, but then wound up buying fresh groceries such as apples and sunflowers. 

A lot of different produce is available to people perusing the vending tables of the market. Different sellers have specialty products while others compete for customers. Ripe red apples can often be found at multiple stands to give people choices to choose from.

Marge Winter said the most popular and successful item she’s sold over the years has been the vegetable greens.

“The greens go the quickest,” said Winter. “The collard greens, mustard greens, all of those sell the most.”