Popular Winnipeg markets teaming up to help shoppers buy local during coronavirus pandemic

Two popular markets are teaming up to present a new, socially-distanced opportunity to buy local from Manitoba makers.

Third + Bird, a long-running urban market featuring established and up-and-coming Winnipeg artists and artisans, is coming back from COVID-19 lockdown on Thursday afternoon, setting up shop at the farmers’ market site in St. Norbert.

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We are SO excited to see you this coming Thursday, June 18th. This will be our FIRST market of 2020, we are filled with so much joy that we can see you all again. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ The past few weeks, we have been busy building a new e-commerce website. We have been working around the clock! LITERALLY! This has been a massive undertaking + we were hoping to launch online shopping this weekend. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ We want to give you the BEST experience possible + we are not quite there…so we will be delaying the launch. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ This means no online sales this week, but you can come visit us IN-PERSON on: ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Thursday June 18 // 2-8pm St. Norbert Farmers' Market 3514 Pembina Hwy ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ We are very hopeful to get the online portion up and running in a few days. We want to thank you in advance for your patience, understanding, grace and support. Once it’s live and ready to go we will let you know! Stay tuned! ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Come interact with makers at our physical location, in partnership with the @stnorbertmarket , with ALL the government regulated protocols in place. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ SHOP! @shopthirdandbird (SHOP! for short) will be a slimmed down version of the Third + Bird experience. There will be limited vendors, 40 give or take. No bells and whistles, no spectacular vendor booths and no over the top decor, but the heart of Third+Bird will still be present, creating experiences and connecting you to our beloved makers. The road to recovery is all about community supporting each other! ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Fun signature Third+Bird elements you can still count on seeing at SHOP! are: ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ @glitterandglueparties x @6degreesphotobooth selfie wall (no props or contact with the equipment) Food Trucks In-house DJ play list! Sip + Shop Bar - by @cargobar ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ADMISSION: $5.00 Kids 12 + under free ** NEW ** Strollers/wagons are welcome for SHOP! market only We love our fur babies, but sadly no pets allowed. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Link for tickets in our bio ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ @thirdandbird ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ #thirdandbird #shopthirdandbird

A post shared by third + bird urban market (@thirdandbird) on Jun 13, 2020 at 6:52pm PDT

Third + Bird’s founders, Charla Smeall and Chandra Kremski, told 680 CJOB collaborating with the St. Norbert Farmers’ Market was a natural fit coming out of the coronavirus crisis as a large public event.

“We’re a huge event, so we’re going be the last phase, if any. We kind of sat with it in shock, and thought — OK, what are we going to do?” said Smeall.

“As the spaces started opening up, we just started getting creative — what can we do, how can we get people back together in person in a safe way?”

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Kremski said they saw the St. Norbert Farmers’ Market had opened up with unique physical-distancing plans, including curbside delivery, so they took a trip down to the southern edge of the city to see it for themselves.

“We went down there and met with organizers and we shared our platform and our heart and realized very quickly that we both have similar values, ideas when it comes to supporting local and supporting local producers and farmers,” she said.

“Together we decided, we’re both in the same position, we both need each other to survive this 2020 pandemic.

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“We have assets we can bring to St. Norbert, and they have assets they can bring to us, so it just made the perfect partnership to put community over competition and come together.”

In addition to the in-person market, which will run every Thursday from 2 to 8 p.m. in St. Norbert, Third + Bird is also working on launching an online store for the first time, as an option for those who still don’t feel quite comfortable with mingling in person with other shoppers.

5:00 Exploring Manitoba this summer

Smeall said the website was something Third + Bird had been planning for a while — a dream the organizers had to make the market’s wares available to people outside the city — and despite the frustrations of the pandemic, it was a perfect opportunity to work on it.

“I think this pandemic has put a lot of businesses in a position where it’s kind of like ‘sink or swim,'” Kremski said.

4:26 St. Norbert Farmers Market going virtual