Niagara Falls City Market a Nexus of Agriculture and Community
The Niagara Falls City Market was established in 1893 by the city government ordinance. Originally located in the City’s North End neighborhood, the city market moved to its more centrally located and current site on Pine Avenue in 1913. Initially, the market catered mostly to the wholesale trade, but as the city’s population ballooned in the post-war era, retail business grew as well. By the 1950s, a host of other businesses had sprung up, including banks, paint and hardware stores, drug stores, dry good stores, variety stores, shoe stores, grocery stores and a host of eating establishments. At its height, the City Market could cater to 15,000 patrons a day, selling poultry, eggs, butter, cheese and every fruit and vegetable that local farms had to offer.
Without a robust management structure, the City Market became less competitive with other farmers in the region, and vendors left in droves.
In the last eighteen months though, the City of Niagara Falls has made the City Market a centerpiece of its community and economic development strategy. The City bought out the lease of the private operator and brought in Field and Fork Network, a local not-for-profit organization to manage the market. Field and Fork Network has implemented a number of changes to revitalize the market, hiring a part-time market director and adding facilities to support Supplement Nutrition Assistance (SNAP) and Women, Infants, Children (WIC) Program and the Double Up Food Bucks Program. In turn, the Empire State Development (ESD), the City and local philanthropic leaders made the City Market and the boarder opportunities of Niagara food and agritourism guiding components of the Niagara Falls component of a three-city “Reginal Revitalization Partnership” announced by the Governor in June 2022.
By investing in the infrastructure of the market, the City of Niagara Falls and ESD hope to continue this momentum and return the City Market to a nexus of agriculture and community for residents of Niagara Falls and visitors from around the globe.
Vendors
Vendors, please download the below form: 2023_NFCM_VendorApplication_fillable
Annual Report
2022 ANNUAL REPORT: 2022_NFCM_AnnualReport