'SHOP LOCAL': Brock Street Market, located next to the Plaza downtown, is approaching its one-year anniversary and is hoping to add new vendors to its wide selection of locally-sourced goods.
The importance of Sioux Market is not only because it offers a wide range of fresh, locally grown foods for Sioux residents to purchase and enjoy, but also because it supports food vendors in the Sioux and Algoma area with a “buy local” ethos.
Although it is only open on Saturdays throughout the year and one weekday in the summer, it is also a geographical alternative to supermarkets along major thoroughfares such as Trunk Road, Great Northern Road and Second Line.
“There aren't a lot of food options in the downtown core, so we offer a variety to our customers,” Sioux Market general manager Robert Pryor said in an interview with Sioux Today.
Soo Market, or Soo MRKT for short, at 73 Brock St., is a nonprofit operation that meets state standards to be classified as an official farmers market.
The market was previously known as Mill Market (Mill MRKT) at the city's old fish hatchery on Canal Drive and reopened in September 2023 as Sioux Market on Brock Street.
Pryor said Sioux Market currently has 34 food vendors.
Well-known operators include Agawa Fisheries and, for beef lovers, Penokian Hills Farms.
“Our vendors include produce and meat farmers, prepared, hot and frozen food vendors, two outdoor food trucks – one selling Syrian food and the other selling roadhouse food. We also have an on-site pizza vendor and a light duty kitchen making fried chicken, poutine and other items,” Pryor said.
Pryor said more vendors will be coming to the market in the near future.
“We're hoping chocolate makers Sweet Change will join us again, maple syrup manufacturer Hogan's Homestead will also be there and Thompson's Strawberry Farm will be selling pies on Thursday and Saturday.”
Pryor said food prepared by vendors from the Sioux-Algoma region has been popular with foodies.
“One of our vendors is a local chef whose hobby is growing chili peppers and making hot sauce. Jeff and Lisa Spence from Red Roof Honey produce their own honey and make cinnamon honey and hot honey. You won't find it at your local grocery store. The products we sell are unique.”
Pryor said the market is a win for both vendors and customers.
For example, a farmer who produces pea sprouts in season can harvest the pea sprouts on Thursday and sell them fresh to customers at the market on Saturday.
Meanwhile, customers can buy fresh pea sprouts instead of buying the pea sprouts trucked in from other parts of the state and sold in supermarkets.
During the Canal Drive Mill Market period, the market was open on Saturdays throughout the year and on Wednesdays from the last Wednesday in June through the last Wednesday before Labor Day Weekend.
Hours for the new Sioux Market on Brock Street will be 9am-2pm on Saturdays year-round and 10am-2pm on Thursdays during the summer.
“We open up on Thursdays for weekend customers who want to shop, instead of going out early on Saturdays, and they go straight to the Cottage. The traffic on Brock Street on a Thursday is 50 percent better than the traffic on Canal Drive on a Wednesday,” Pryor said.
“The market gives local people a chance to try local foods. It's very beneficial for people who want to support local and buy local. And we're the largest farmers market in town.”
Pryor said the market also serves those struggling with hunger in the area.
“Our farmers work together at the end of the day and donate food to Harvest Algoma so that food doesn't go to waste. Ultimately, that way they're helping the less fortunate parts of the community.”
