It was a hard call to make, and a sudden one, but the decision was a long time coming after a continued inability to attract fresh food vendors despite the monumental efforts of market co-ordinator Stacey Moutafis.
“What we've struggled with was getting people who sold fresh produce,” she said.
“Because of COVID, a lot of stallholders stopped coming to market.
“We found that without the fresh produce ... people didn't have a reason to come to the market every month because the stallholders were the same.”
The other issue was staffing. Ms Moutafis just couldn't find the volunteers to make running the market sustainable.
“It was making it really, really hard to run the market because it was mainly just me and one other person,” she said.
For the past several months the Museum of Vehicle Evolution has supported the market, which has been held in the 2000 sq m undercover area behind the complex.
“We had a meeting last week and I told them how the numbers were and how the foot traffic was,” Ms Moutafis said.
“In terms of our regular Sunday market, it was starting to die off a bit ... We weren't getting the foot traffic we initially got.
“And (the MOVE board) sort of said, ‘well, if it's going to get worse, it's probably not worth having it’, and that's when we decided maybe it's better we just cut it off.”
The outdoor area where the market is held is increasingly in demand for visiting car clubs, quite often during the hours that the market runs, MOVE executive officer Peter Hill said.
“She (Ms Moutafis) tried and tried so so hard to get the market up and running, but was just finding it dreadfully frustrating not being able to get those fresh food vendors to commit,” he said.
Although the market has been cancelled, Ms Moutafis is hoping to revitalise it in the future.
Mr Hill said MOVE would continue to support her initiative to establish a thriving Shepparton market at another location, including sharing intellectual property and expertise.
“I am definitely looking for another location to do the market but just not right now,” Ms Moutafis said.
“I'm thinking end of the year, we are looking at doing something at Ferrari Park but we haven't locked anything in yet. So we're definitely keeping our options open.
“I'm just hoping we can get some more stallholders before we try and reopen; otherwise, we'll have the same problem again.”
Ms Moutafis said she was grateful to all the people that supported the market and hoped to see the community out in numbers when she can kick things off again.
Anyone interested in having a future stall at the prospective market can contact Ms Moutafis via: moutafisevents@gmail.com.
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