Fenton Street Market Supporters Speak Up to Save Venue

Artists and customers of the Fenton Street Market (FSM) showed their support in a video hosted by the Onsite Manager Awate Serequeberhan, after Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett decided against extending a discounted rate to the market to continue to use space in downtown Silver Spring each week.

 could potentially close the market. The lower rate was agreed upon about a year ago with the market president Hannah McCann and the county.

In a recent email, McCann wrote that the market is "taking a positive approach to this fight."

Throughout the video, viewers are taken on a tour and introduced to a variety of vendors and customers on the Silver Spring Veterans Plaza.

Aaron Knight of Bella Acai is a jeweler at the market and said in the video that he loves meeting new people.

"We meet people here all the time that we, you know, become friends with other vendors customers. It makes the area thrive so much," Knight said.

In the July 12 memorandum, County Executive Leggett praised FSM for proving the space is viable but ultimately agreed with the mission of the Montgomery County Interagency Coordinating Board for Community Use of Public Facilities. He wrote that: 

“CUPF is not able to provide a benefit to FSM that would not be available to all user groups, particularly a for-profit user charging each of its 60 vendors a minimum of $40 per day ($80 for larger booths).”

The increased fee is too much for the market's vendors and could ultimately force it to close said McCann.

McCann told Patch in a recent interview that she wanted people to know that the market is small and is operating on a "shoestring budget."

"We are also paying what’s fairly typical for a market of our type and size, and our research indicated that many such markets, especially those that are really helping with revitalization don’t pay, and some are even paid," she added.