Agricultural fairs, restaurant area, cultural activities: the Jean Talon market had to redefine itself if it wanted to remain an internationally renowned market after an internal crisis and a pandemic.
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“It’s not fully booked every day of the week, but this is also a public market. When you come to bloom in May, it’s not the same traders as [quand c’est ]Vegetable time,” explains Nicolas Fabien-Ouellet, General Manager of the Société des marchés publics de Montréal.
He took office at the end of 2019, initially on an interim basis, when the company was in the middle of a governance crisis. A crisis that the company wants to counteract with a five-year plan launched in 2021, which aims in particular to reduce the vacancy rate from 80% to 94%.
Management is definitely keen to attract small up-and-coming producers and offers turnkey kiosk rentals by the day.
This year, 26 young companies responded to the call, says Mr. Fabien-Ouellet.
restaurant area
To liven up the place, the market is developing gastronomy and delicatessen shops.
Tacos, vegan pogos and Syrian ready meals have taken up an entire aisle, the restaurant space formerly occupied by vegetable gardeners, in recent years.
By 2025, restaurants and ready meals are expected to take up 20% of the space, compared to 16% in 2020.
“We don’t want to dezon agriculture like other international markets. On the other hand, having outdoor restaurants brings added value,” stresses Nicolas Fabien-Ouellet.
At the Jean Talon market, gastronomy takes up more space than before. Photo by Anouk Lebel
Support
“The goal is to find the right balance between accommodating producers while also accommodating other types of business and even cultural activities so that the markets remain attractive,” adds Luc Rabouin, head of economic development at the Montreal City Executive Committee.
The city has full confidence in the new leadership to carry out this mandate, he said.
In 2021, it provided $850,000 in financial support over two years to support the revitalization of public markets, a first since the founding of the Corporation des marchés publics de Montréal in 1993.