The Outer Sunset Farmer’s Market: Uplifting Community

If someone were to walk down 37th Avenue on any given Sunday this summer, they would stumble upon an array of colorful tents, delicious smells of empanadas and bao buns and the vibrant energy of the Outer Sunset Farmer’s Market and Mercantile™ (OSFMM). Each weekend, San Francisco locals gather as a community to promote and support small businesses, local non-profits and entrepreneurs in this well-loved spectacle hosted by the Sunset Mercantile.

Sunset Mercantile is a business that was started by Angie Petitt and Laura Peschke-Zingler in 2014 after Petitt had conversations with other moms based in the Sunset District and realized the community’s need for a convenient marketplace.

As her own children grew older, Petitt realized she would have more time to start a new business to meet this need. However, there would be challenges. “We had some dreams and ideas, but to get a retail space is expensive and time-consuming,” Petitt said. That is when the idea of the “pop-up marketplace” began.

Sunset Mercantile’s first event was in 2014: a mercantile in the schoolyard of St. Francis Scott Key Elementary School on Kirkham and 43rd Avenue. Today, it has grown into the Holiday Sunset Mercantile™ that now happens every December at the San Francisco County Fair Building. This event was the first of many, eventually leading to the creation of the OSFMM.

The idea for a farmer’s market was originally scrapped as a result of logistical issues until Sunset Mercantile was approached by then-supervisor Gordon Mar to try and meet the need for a market in the Outer Sunset community. “[Gordon Mar] gave us the tools, support and help to find funding to start the farmer’s market,” Petitt said. The OSFMM was set to launch in January 2020; however, the impending COVID-19 pandemic pushed back the market’s opening until July 2020.

Farmer’s markets in San Francisco are difficult to pull off due to the lack of local farmers in the area. Petitt ran into challenges with ensuring that farmers would make the trip into the city and that the market would be both profitable and popular. “The farmers need to be assured that it’s going to be a successful market for them to invest their time, because they’re going to pick their produce and can’t put it back in the ground,” Petitt said.

Despite these setbacks, the OSFMM was able to launch in the middle of the pandemic with a thorough safety plan in place. Floor markers, along with other safety regulations, ensured that families were staying six feet apart and safe. With the help of a handful of vendors taking a chance and trusting in Petitt and the Sunset Mercantile team, the farmer’s market became an essential outdoor event for community members to enjoy with their friends and families.

OSFMM is a space for community building while also providing numerous opportunities for small business owners like Susan and Cory Sullivan. The Sullivans are the owners of Pure Cane Juice Co., which they started after traveling to Indonesia and realizing there was a market for sugar cane juice in the Bay Area. Susan Sullivan grew up drinking the juice, and when the opportunity arose to have a booth at the OSFMM, they took it.

Cory Sullivan is grateful for the continued support of their small business.“[OSFMM] has changed our life. Big time. It has been great in every way, ” Sullivan said.

Susan and Cory Sullivan at OSFMM.
photo by Jack Mireles

Currently, the Sunset Mercantile provides a variety of programming centering the community members that attend their events. One of the most notable is the Artship, a weekly event at both the OSFMM and Sunset Mercantile’s Secondhand Saturday vintage goods event that provides free art activities.

The activities are always centered around a theme, most recently spring-related activities with florals. Additionally, the Artship has recently started programming on nutrition, ecology and gardening. “It’s endless possibilities of education and enrichment for all ages with Artship,” Petitt said.

This program goes hand-in-hand with another essential program that ensures accessibility and customer retention: OSFMM’s Market Match program. When a customer uses Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) and Calfresh points at most farmer’s markets in California, the market will match $10 of the money spent. Despite trying to apply for state funding, this program continues to be fully funded by the Sunset Mercantile.

Sunset Mercantile prioritizes family alongside their programming with this community-centered business that they have built. A large portion of the Sunset Mercantile’s part-time employee base are high school students. Trinity Lee, a manager of the OSFMM, finds this important in the hiring process. “We want to give opportunities where other companies are more traditional and might not provide the same opportunities to students,” Lee said.

As summer appoaches, the Sunset Mercantile continues to provide fun and engaging events for the community. Two relaunched events are their Inner Sunset Flee Market™ and Secondhand Saturday™. Their Inner Sunset Flee Market happens the second Sunday of every month and has recently expanded into two blocks: Irving Street at 9th through 11th Avenues. Their Secondhand Saturday event happens on the third Saturday of every month at 37th Avenue and Ortega.

If there happens to be some free time this summer, follow Sunset Mercantile’s slogan by getting out to one of their events to “Eat, Drink, Shop, Play, Connect, and Be Local!”