Artists and artisans will soon have a new venue to sell their wares when the Butler's Market opens this fall.
A large wooden butler will soon stand proudly outside 1156 Fourth Avenue to commemorate the opening of the market, which will be held every weekend beginning Oct. 1.
A Butler's Market (please do not call it a flea market) will open Saturday and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. year round. Fifty cents, donated to the Hospice Society, will get each guest into the market that will see a concession and bistro tables placed in the front part of the market.
Annette Savage, downtown business owner, says the butler statue at the market's entrance has seen lots of things placed on his tray while standing guard outside her Fourth Avenue store, Addicted to Retro & Funky Stuff.
And she's sure the tradition of placing quarters, newsletters and other donations on his tray will continue as the market opens at the former Community Policing Access Centre.
Savage is always looking for more vendors that will sell garage sale items, collectibles and antiques in the 3,000 square foot building.
There will be as many as 10 rooms rented out that will adjoin the main room where vendors will have tables displaying their wares.
Savage has been involved in flea markets since 1980 but she dislikes the connotation that the term "flea" brings with it - A Butler's Market sends a better message, she said.
"I don't like the phrase flea market," Savage said. "We will have a little bistro where people can have a cup of coffee or tea, or a cold drink and the tables will have white table cloths on them. It will look so nice. Everything will be very clean."
Savage has already had calls from some interested sellers, especially when they hear the tables rent for between $15 and $25, depending on the size.
"That includes HST," said Savage to the vendor.
Savage said when customers come to her retro store they always ask about collectibles like hockey and baseball cards. The Butler's Market would be the perfect place to sell those items, she added.
"We need a market to compliment the Farmers' Market and offer more products to the tourists that come to town," said Savage. "We need more things going on during the weekends to attract people downtown."
Savage does not like to see the downtown filled with empty spaces and she has enough ideas to rebuild the entire downtown, starting with the Butler's Market and ending with another kind of market she said would thrive downtown.
"I think we should have a grocery store down here," she said. "And it should go right beside the Butler's Market."
Savage is asking anyone interested in joining A Butler's Market to call her for more information at 250-961-1954.
