Today we’d like to introduce you to Larry McClements.
Hi Larry, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I got my start in the farmers market industry as an assistant to my 14-year-old son, Brandon. I helped him sell peaches for legendary farmer Tenerelli Farms. He got paid real money. I got paid in peaches. But the peaches were amazing so it was a good deal.
We did this all summer in 2018 and had an absolute blast. At the end of the season, the market manager said she was retiring and leaving the state. I asked her who was going to run the market and she told me, you are.
I had a full-time business at the time but I knew I had to take this on as well. I had been a die-hard customer of farmer’s markets for almost 20 years. I do most of the cooking in our house so I really appreciate the quality of everything in a farmers market.
Our market had been operating for five years. It was very small, about ten vendors. The day I took over two vendors gave their notice, they had been doing the market as a favor to the prior manager. So that was what I had to start with. The remaining vendors told me they would give me a few months to increase sales or they would leave as well.
Fortunately, everything fell into place, but it took time. After I took over, construction on a major retail and residential project finished just across the street. Then there was a big parking garage completed. We are in the Old Town Newhall area of Santa Clarita and our city has been working on revitalizing the area. We had several exciting higher-end stores and restaurants open, and the area started to generate a buzz around town.
I dug into my experience running a business and started working to attract customers to the market. At the same time, I worked to bring in new vendors. This is a challenging process because most farmers and vendors want an established market that is busy. I had to do a lot of begging and growing the size of our market was a slow process.
Thankfully, our community took notice of what we were doing. We got new customers one at a time. Slowly but surely, we started getting more and more people. We were able to add live music, a seating area, and do fun events from time to time.
Today, we have over 50 farmers and food artisans. I’m most proud to say that we never compromised on quality just to get a vendor. Everybody that is accepted into the market is thoroughly scrutinized. We have a long wait list to get in, so we thankfully have the ability to be picky. Ultimately, I’m proud of everybody in our market. They are the real superstars.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
We’ve had many challenges all along the way. Thankfully, we’ve had some good partners to bring the market to our city. The city of Santa Clarita has been an amazing supporter. We operate in their library parking lot. They really wanted to see a farmers market succeed in the area and have been beyond helpful.
The biggest challenge of course was COVID. This was a double-edged sword though. People were staying home and cooking a lot more. We were busy and our farmers and food artisans definitely stepped up to the plate to meet demand. Most weekends, we were sold out of everything. Being outdoors, we were one of the safer places to shop which was nice.
However, rules from the Los Angeles County Health Department changed sometimes from week to week. For a time they didn’t allow certain food vendors to sell at our market because of how they were licensed. We had two identical products from two different vendors and one vendor could sell it and the other vendor couldn’t. It was frustrating for us and our customers. Then there was the rule against dancing they came out with. It was something new every week and it was extremely stressful to manage it all.
But we did our best to persevere and serve our customers. We never closed, and the community definitely appreciated us being there. We got a lot of new customers during the COVID lockdown and even after restrictions were lifted, they stayed with us.
As you know, we’re big fans of Old Town Newhall Farmers Market. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Since I select and cook most of the meals at our house, I built the market to bring a wide variety of items so that someone can purchase all the fresh foods they need to make complete meals. This includes ranch direct meats, the best seafood in Los Angeles, and specialty items like a spice merchant and olive oil farmer.
I also look at the business as being a two-way street with our vendors. They pay for the space in the market to fund operations so they should get something for that. We work very closely with our vendors on marketing, displays, signage, and things like that. We also travel to the farms and kitchens that sell at our market.
Last year, I went to the headquarters of Me Gusta Tamales right here in Santa Clarita. I got to work the assembly line and make tamales. We shot a video, and it was fun. I also went to Nipomo to Gutierrez Farms who sells berries at our market. I went head-to-head against the farm owner and one of her field hands to see who could outpick who. Of course, we filmed it for social media, and of course, I lost miserably. The people that grow the food we eat work extremely hard. I couldn’t keep up.
Most of all, we set a fun tone in the market. Our vendors are happy and they treat our customers well. We get compliments every week on how wonderful the market is. It always makes my day.
So, before we go, how can our readers or others connect or collaborate with you? How can they support you?
The only thing I ask from anyone is to support our farmers and food artisans. These people work extremely hard. Some items in our market might be more expensive than in supermarkets. But I can assure you that our farmers and food artisans aren’t getting rich doing this.
I grew up learning that you always shopped based on price and looked for the best deal possible. But there’s an increased cost to what we bring to market. Our produce is typically 12 to 48 hours old and driven to the market and sold by the farmer. Plus, our farmers often grow varieties that are not the easiest to grow. They do this because it’s a better quality and better tasting piece of produce. Our food artisans don’t cut corners and use cheap or inferior ingredients. They just don’t have that in them.
I like to remind people that you get what you pay for. Our produce is fresher and it lasts longer reducing food waste and saving you money. Plus, fresher produce is far more nutritious. This is concerning because supermarket produce can be weeks or months old. So is it worth an extra $0.50 for a head of lettuce? I think so.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oldtownnewhallfm/
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/oldtownnewhallfarmersmarket
