The San Fernando City Council unanimously voted to continue with the Outdoor Market for June with a few changes.
It was the intention of the Mall Merchants Association, which started the event during the summer of 2020, to increase foot traffic and drive more business to the historic mall area in the city. Especially following the COVID-19 pandemic, opportunities to support local businesses were urgently needed.
With various activities for the family, food venues and some entertainment, the outdoor market did bring new energy to the mall and, for the most part, has been viewed as a success by the association, which would like to continue to build the event.
That sentiment isn’t shared by everyone.
Over time, some merchants began to grumble, claiming that they weren’t receiving enough benefit from the event and went so far as to claim they were losing business when vendor booths blocked potential customers from seeing the entryways into their storefronts.
On May 19, the council approved a request for co-sponsorship with the San Fernando Mall Association for the next scheduled Outdoor market event. The city agreed to waive permit fees – around $4,064 – but not the cost for staffing, which is approximately $7,660.
The bulk of the costs are due to overtime for Public Works staff, as the work needed for the market is outside of their normal work hours. City Manager Nick Kimball said the Mall Association will pay for the overtime costs.
However, the council agreed to provide 10 free booths for San Fernando Mall businesses.
Other changes include starting the event an hour later at 6 p.m., redesigning the site plan to create better access between the sidewalk and street and relocating the food trucks to Maclay Avenue, where the generators won’t be placed in front of open businesses.
Some merchants would prefer that events be primarily focused on them, and don’t like to see vendors with booths at the market who come from outside the city.
City staff conducted outreach to the mall businesses for feedback. Some of the complaints they received included the lack of parking once the street closure notices are posted, no access to stores from the sidewalks or streets and the food trucks creating a mess and unpleasant smells.
They want to see more events that just prioritize their stores, like the Celebration Expo held in March that focused on local shops selling outfits for weddings, proms, baptisms and quinceañeras.
These same businesses are supportive of quarterly street closures in conjunction with these community events that highlight existing businesses as opposed to the current format of the San Fernando Outdoor Market.
The upcoming June event will be a “test” to see if the new changes can create a middle ground between the local stores and some of the more disgruntled business owners. If not, the future of the Outdoor Market may be up in the air.
Those disgruntled business owners should hand out flyers and have sales during outdoor markets. They should promote what they sell to passerby’s. I think outdoor market is good for our city. Businesses should use outdoor market to their advantage. Many stores in the mall are not popular . There are many poorly made furniture stores and outdated wedding shops.
We enjoy the outdoor market. It provides a sense of community and gets people out. The downfall of SFR is many of the stores sell the same items. No one is going to be buying and trying on party attire at 6-7pm. More variety of vendors would be great.
Every day after 6, those 2 blocks are a ghost town.