Design Your Dream Fresno Public Market

Last week I visited Seattle for the first time, and I was able to make several trips to the famous Pike Place Public Market. (Watching fish carcasses get thrown around is actually kinda gross — who knew?)

While there, I started thinking about the proposed Fresno public market. Last September, it was announced that initial plans were in place to investigate the feasibility of a public market located in the old Gottschalks building on Fulton Street in downtown Fresno.

I haven’t heard anything about it since then, but that hasn’t stopped me from thinking about what I’d like to see from a Fresno public market.

Fresh fruits and vegetables is pretty much a given — we know a local market would heavily feature fresh local produce. But here’s what else I’d love to see.

Flowers

One of the coolest things about Pike Place is its flower stalls. Rows of large, fragrant bouquets are everywhere. It was so tempting to buy them up — alas, I knew I couldn’t keep them alive through a plane ride back to Fresno, so I had to admire them from afar.

Books & Magazines

I found a used book store tucked away in Seattle’s market and it was just so cool to stumble across it. I know magazines are a dying industry, but it’d be great to see a news stand/magazine rack/bookstore in the Fresno public market. If you’re gonna dream, dream big, right?

Cheese

Cheese is probably the best food ever, so I’d love to see a stall with nothing but cheese and so would you, don’t lie.

Pretzels & Beer

One thing I found interesting while in Seattle was that nearly every restaurant I went to had large pretzels on the menu. Not sure why this is, but I like it.

Pretzels with cheese and/or mustard are delicious, and even more so when served with cold beer. I’d love to see in the Fresno market a small food place/brewery that served sour ale (and other beer, I guess) and soft pretzels with different hot cheeses. And fried pickles! And a charcuterie plate. Seriously, I want all of this right now.

Crab

Okay, Pike Place obviously has a major advantage over a proposed Fresno market — proximity to a large body of water — but sometimes you just want a cup of crab cocktail. Amirite?

And that’s what a dream Fresno public market would look like to me. Now it’s your turn. Build your ideal market in the comments below.

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Jason Farris

Head YES man at FresYes.com

I grew up in Fresno. Relaxed in its calm breezes, listened with my dad to the crack of the bat at little league baseball games when I was a kid and now take my son to do the same at minor league games. I broadened my mind at its schools (I went to high school right here at San Joaquin Memorial, and to college at Fresno State!) I love that if I drive for two hours in one direction, I can be in the mountains. For two hours in another, luxuriating on a California beach. I can enjoy the cosmopolitan atmosphere of San Francisco or Los Angeles, but still be able to come home to relaxation, calm, and quiet.

I love where I live, and I also love what I do. I'm lucky to be able to work in a profession in which I get to build relationships; one that has me meeting new people each and every day and helping them to build new lives in my beloved city. I'm lucky enough to work in a profession in which I can marry cutting-edge technologies and marketing techniques to good, old-fashioned, nose-to-the-grindstone work. I am lucky enough to work in a profession that allows me to work as an advocate for my clients; to use every tool at my disposal to get a job done well for them, and with as little stress and expense as possible.

I love my city. I love my job. One inspires my excellence for the other.

Fresno? I say FresYES

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