Maxwell Street Market Alert!

I just heard on the news that there are plans afoot to once again move the Maxwell Street Market. This time, they are talking about moving it to Des Plaines (the street, not the town) at Roosevelt. The drawing that I saw looked like there would be some sort of permanant pavillion constructed. I fear the Disneyfication of the Maxwell Street Market.

stevez wrote:I fear the Disneyfication of the Maxwell Street Market.

I may be mistaken, or it may just be an urban myth, but I think that Disney actually had a bid in on the renovation of the old Maxwell Street area into its current gentrified splendor.

Hammond

Considering the large swath of Canal that's been taken away by the current construction of the Whole Paycheck market I'm relieved to see that there's any kind of proposal to provide a location for the Maxwell market. I feared that the city would use this as an opportunity to just close the whole thing. Of course I still wonder what the boundaries of a Des Plaines location would be. Running from Taylor to the viaduct on Canal today the market is good sized; Des Plaines doesn't run south of Roosevelt and I wonder how much further north it could be extended to accomodate the lost space.

The news item I heard claimed the new space would accommodate 85 additional vendors.

Here's a link to a Sun-Times article: http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst ... 23%20.html

Hi,

It will be interesting how the new location impacts the cost of doing business and the vendor composition. I heard at the last move, there were veteran vendors who opted out in protest and rising expenses. Where veterans saw loss, there were entrepreneurs who saw opportunity and moved in.

I was in the Spice It Up shop in Highwood recently, which regularly attended Maxwell St. during summer months. They were not present this summer on Maxwell St. because their volume of business and rising permit expenses didn't make it profitable for them. Instead they are at a farmer's market in Skokie on Sundays this year.

It will be interesting what evolves with this current move.

Regards,

I view the indication that the city will make the market more or less permanent as a good development, not something to fret about.

The cost of doing business in the market has always been a concern of vendors. I first worked in the old Maxwell Street Market on Sunday mornings back in the late-1950's - early 1960's when I was about 10 years old (and when it was still at Maxwell St.). At that time the man I worked for complained about the daily fee the politically-connected/city employee Market Master charged - the "official" city charge and the bribe that was necessary to get a favored location.

From a market serving the Jewish community in years past to one that's largely serving the Mexican community today in the tradition of a tianguis, the market is one of the great examples in the city of how things/institutions thrive and change with the life around it.

Bill wrote:I view the indication that the city will make the market more or less permanent as a good development, not something to fret about.

I would consider it a good development also....that is, if I could think of a city project that has been completed as indicated.

I don't know which unfinished or seriously delayed projects you might be referencing, but I think the city's done a good job in the neighborhoods. Each of the areas that now have arches, markings and/or special landscaping are reasonably well-done and seemed to me to have been done quickly.

Bill,

I am not referencing any project in particular, but the political process in general. I am not being cynical, but realistic. Specifically, I know there were several "promises" to deliver that the City made when renovating the old Maxwell St. area that have simply not been performed (whether blamed on the developer or the City).

It is part of the political process to make promises (real or perceived) to build consensus, then, once momentum takes over a project many of the promises go undelivered. That's the City that works and, most likely, any other local government.

I think the City (as if you could identify it as one person) would just as soon do away with Maxwell Street Market...it is afterall a hot bed for fenced goods. And, I am not saying everything about the Maxwell Street market needs to be preserved, nor should it be any less dynamic. But, hey, it is the Second City's Ellis Island for many people.

...I guess I am just saying, "before I jump on the kinder, gentler, more convenient is better bandwagon and the market is moved again, I want to see the promises in writing." I want my grandchildren to visit a Maxwell Street Market, not read about it in a book.

pd

It appears that the Whole Paycheck construction interference along the east side of Canal (between Taylor and Roosevelt) will result in that side being closed beginning in September and instead wrapping the north end of the market west along Taylor to Clinton.

MARKET UPDATE

I was at the Maxwell Street Market last weekend, and was very disappointed to see that MANY of the favorite places were not there: Ricos Huaraches, Tacos Bernardo, Oaxaca Tamal, the Stand Wrapped in Saran, the Taco Place Under the Viaduct, the Elote Place Where the Scary Clowns Play and several others.

I believe that the construction plus somewhat inclement weather are keeping the usual standbys away...very upsetting.

Hammond

David Hammond wrote:MARKET UPDATE

I was at the Maxwell Street Market last weekend, and was very disappointed to see that MANY of the favorite places were not there: Ricos Huaraches, Tacos Bernardo, Oaxaca Tamal, the Stand Wrapped in Saran, the Taco Place Under the Viaduct, the Elote Place Where the Scary Clowns Play and several others.

I believe that the construction plus somewhat inclement weather are keeping the usual standbys away...very upsetting.

Hammond

Yes.

We went on January 1. Nothing was there besides the churro people, the place with all the meats in aluminum trays (with the comely server from the Gorilla Gourmet video) and the birria place next to it. I chalked it up to the holiday. It IS upsetting to hear that this is a trend.

[quote="Vital Information]It IS upsetting to hear that this is a trend.[/quote]

Is it in fact a trend?

I usually (well, used to) judge the size of the market by the amount of overhang on to the North of Taylor. The last time I was at the market, I was excited to see the overhang way past Taylor, then realized this benchmarket is now in flux with the construction.

The market has always shrunk by a few vendors during the very cold months. I'm not sure, but a bit of shrinkage may also occur during the very hot summer months. The busiest times for the market always seem to be spring, where people want to get outdoors but not many outdoor activities are open that time of year.

I'm not sure how many spots are availble or what the float (amount not spoken for on a semi-permanent basis) might be...I just know I would pay extra not to be next to the stand pumping out Latino house funk all day long through fried speakers.

pdaane wrote:I'm not sure how many spots are availble or what the float (amount not spoken for on a semi-permanent basis) might be...

It's very possible that the lottery-based slot allocation system has been thrown into chaos with the construction, which now intrudes on a large hunk of the southern end of the market. Another possibility is that there are less spaces (due to construction) to be allocated by lottery, and some vendors who want to be there, can't.

Hammond

Taking my 2006 resolution seriously, to source information rather than rely on conventional wisdom (which is all too often convenient wisdom), I contacted the City of Chicago Department of Consumer Services for first hand information.

First, I called Gloria Jubiter, whose name and number appear on the vendor application. Ms. Jubiter referred me to Bill McCaffery, who she said is responsible for answering these types of questions. When his number rang three times before being answered, I assumed I was going to get the old City-that-works-but only-if-you-can-get-hold-of-the-right-person-run-around. Not even slightly accurate. Bill answered and said he had time to answer a few questions about the Maxwell Market. He remained polite and helpful even after I explained it wasn’t official, I was just a curious taxpayer.

According to Bill, there are about 490 vendor spots in the market. There are about 1500 vendors for those spots. There is an annual license to be a vendor and then a daily permit for the spot in the two-part process. The annual license is about $25 with a few variables and the daily permit is from about $10-40 depending on size and an additional $5 for food vendors.

The vast majority of the daily vendor permits go to permanent vendors. Permanent vendors won the lottery for a spot when the new Maxwell Street market was moved to Canal Street and they are guaranteed a spot each Sunday. Bill would not even give a rough estimate, but based on passed knowledge, it may be as large as 90-95%. Another lottery determines location, but I did not press this line of questions…we started talking about some of the shifts due to the construction.

Here is a link to the Ordinance approving the temporary location due to construction.

What I did not realize is that a Permanent vendor can give up their spot and the City will add that spot to the “alternate” pool for that week only. Alternate vendor is how the Department of Consumer Services refers to the vendors selected to apply for an unfilled but guaranteed or always available site. The only seasonal difference that he is aware of is that more permanent site holders allow their site to be sold to an alternate during inclement weather.

Bill said that, notwithstanding the poor showing on Christmas Day which fell on Sunday this year, given the size of the vendor pool vs. the number of available sites are usually sold. We both speculated that since the relatively low cost of the daily permit, more vendors in the less desirable sites ($10) would probably gamble on the weather and then not show, rather than offer up the permit to the alternate pool.

Commissioner Norma Reyes from the Department of Consumer Services, that controls the Maxwell Market, issued this Press Releaseannouncing the City Council’s approval moving the market to a new location. Bill is listed as the contact for further information.

My thanks to Bill McCaffery for providing the information. Just goes to show you the City of Chicago does work, and quite well when you least expect it.

pdaane,

Fabulous background information. I really appreciate the links to the ordinance and press release -- it's now very easy to see where the Maxwell Street Market will end up in a few years.

It sounds, based on official windblasts, that the city is going to try to make a bigger, better market. As you say, we'll see.

Thank you very much,

Hammond

Well, we've done our part-- Norma Reyes, at least, has seen the Maxwell Street video.