Category > Market Watch
So everyone is safely graduated and ensconced in their summer sublet or is living it up, summer-style, in their usual digs, correct? It totally feels like summer out there, even though it's May. And the best thing to do on a summery Saturday morning is head to Urbana's Market at the Square over at the corner of Illinois and Vine from 7:00 a.m. to noon. It just feels good to roll out of bed at a respectable hour and …
| Market season done begun last weekend, with spectacular, late-June-style weather and an abundance of produce, people, and good vibes. Goodness, it was fabulous. Now, this weekend? It's a busy time in C-U, what with graduation and Mother's Day and alla that, but the Market is a good Saturday morning adventure and a GREAT way to show off our area to visitors. Farmers markets are familiar to most people who live in other places, and people from other places seem …
Farmers’ Markets in this area generally get going sometime in the month of May, but the elder statesman of them all, Urbana’s Market at the Square, launches first — and it launches THIS SATURDAY. It’s about time, too — with winter barely registering, and spring/summer trying to happen in March, it feels like the Market should have started a month ago. The Market, for the uninitiated, is one of the largest and most diverse markets in the state of …
There's big news this week at Urbana's Market at the Square. Our market is the recipient of one of the LINK Up Illinois Double Value Grants, which will match LINK card token purchases at the Market. Starting August 13, LINK card users can increase the worth of the money they spend. Essentially, someone who purchases $10 worth of LINK tokens will be given a matching value of another $10. The matching value increases up to $20 per Market day, …
Thank goodness the heavens unleashed some cooling rain this week so my visit to Brackett Farm wasn't the uncomfortable, sweaty venture it could well have been. On Wednesday afternoon, I visited Bob Brackett at his farm in Bondville, Illinois. Just over the I-72 overpass outside of Champaign, Brackett has turned a patch of land off the interstate into an independently operated Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm. He also sells his fruits and vegetables Saturday mornings at Urbana's Market at …
If you hadn't been reading Smile Politely prior to this week, or listening to our SPodcast, you may have been unaware that the C-U has, in addition to Urbana's Market at the Square, a sister market in Champaign. The Historic North First Street Farmer's Market is located behind the Police Department, and is open Thursday afternoon from three to seven. It is the small but growing cousin of the Saturday Market I frequent. Because it is across town and …
Last weekend I had the chance to visit the Market at the Square with a pair of fresh eyes: those of my friend Mike. My husband has been out of town learning to decipher sixteenth century German script, and Mike mentioned he might go to the Market Saturday morning. I had a lightbulb moment, and asked him if I could tag along. I was going to go anyway, to "research" my weekly column, and I figured this may be …
When my husband and I moved to Champaign-Urbana a couple of years ago, I was less than enthusiastic about the idea. It was nearly five hundred miles away from my hometown. In fact, before I moved here, I had lived within forty miles of the city I was born in for all but two years when I was in graduate school. But, situations change, and as you age, you find yourself doing things you never thought you'd do. Take …
If you were a visitor to Urbana's Market on the Square during the first weeks of the season, you may have noticed that the only produce available that wasn't still growing in a peat pot was asparagus, that perennial vegetable that "keeps on giving" like a Mr. Wizard experiment. I was thinking about my own exposure to this vegetable, which I had not experienced before adulthood. As a kid, my parents didn't want to introduce any objectionable green stuff …
High gas prices, the threat of nuclear crisis, the deposition of a despotic world leader, and deadly tornadoes in the Southern United States were prominent headlines during the summer of 1979. One local event would go almost completely unrecognized in local news that year, but would grow to be an integral part of Champaign-Urbana's summer atmosphere: a small number of local farmers organized Urbana's first Market on the Square. What began as four farmers selling their goods on the …
Most Recent Food Comments
it’s quite choice. looking forward to seeing how it and its patronage grow and develop over the course of the year. could be a neat little ecosystem.
“It was at this point, before he started his business, that working with city employees should’ve raised red flags…” But they didn’t because: 1) The City Clerk’s office originally mis-interpreted the rules, or are indeed re-interpreting them. 2) Champaign’s brick-n-mortar merchants hadn’t yet started whining about The Crave Truck.
Looking forward to trying this place!
I don’t know about Gerard and a random police sargeant. My (mild) outrage is based on this: “...he worked closely with Champaign City Clerk Marilyn Banks to make sure he was licensed properly as a transient food peddler, filling out the necessary paperwork and paying a $225…
Local Yocal pretty much nails it here. I suspect there will be merchants who oppose food trucks because they arguably don’t pay their fair share to locate their trucks in high traffic (high rent) areas. The food trucks take away business from rent payers, park in city…
I also got to visit Big Grove Tavern during the soft open and definitely enjoyed the pork belly the most of all the dishes I sampled. The cheesy grits and the vinegary pickled vegetables were a perfect compliment to the rich pork belly.
Food trucks are the start-up, small businesses of the future for those unable to afford real estate. No surprise, that merchants who pay rent, utilities, and maintenance on a property would despise the traveling competition. Or developers who build more empty retail spaces would want to close…
Not so much far-right Tea Party as a balanced, moderate viewpoint between letting businesses succeed and protecting society with reasonable regulations. In spite of what the city reps are saying, the interpretation of policy on this issue certainly has changed. Letting a business start up under one…
I think it’s neat that SP has turned rightward, now espousing a Tea Party-style frustration with government regulations & taxes.
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Most Recent Comments
High-profile whining. AKA Lobbying.
it’s quite choice. looking forward to seeing how it and its patronage grow and develop over the course of the year. could be a neat little ecosystem.
“It was at this point, before he started his business, that working with city employees should’ve raised red flags…” But they didn’t because: 1) The City Clerk’s office originally mis-interpreted the rules, or are indeed re-interpreting them. 2) Champaign’s brick-n-mortar merchants hadn’t yet started whining about The Crave Truck.
Super cool! Excellent track, Excellent band.
Looking forward to trying this place!
I’m in the middle (or the beginning or end, depending on how you look at it) of re-reading Slaughterhouse Five. What a great companion column.
Get yours early. The Rave’s CD will be available at Exile and at The C-U Flea on Saturday. C-U Flea details here: http://www.smilepolitely.com/news/sp_radio_podcast_c-u_flea_arrives/
I don’t know about Gerard and a random police sargeant. My (mild) outrage is based on this: “...he worked closely with Champaign City Clerk Marilyn Banks to make sure he was licensed properly as a transient food peddler, filling out the necessary paperwork and paying a $225…
Local Yocal pretty much nails it here. I suspect there will be merchants who oppose food trucks because they arguably don’t pay their fair share to locate their trucks in high traffic (high rent) areas. The food trucks take away business from rent payers, park in city…
Oh nice! I’d totally vote for Matt Campbell!
“Smile Politely sports writer announces candidacy for city government.”
I also got to visit Big Grove Tavern during the soft open and definitely enjoyed the pork belly the most of all the dishes I sampled. The cheesy grits and the vinegary pickled vegetables were a perfect compliment to the rich pork belly.
The Alan Partridge lookalike on the right in the first small photo has nothing to condescend to anyone about. AH HA!
Snell and the little Hitlers of the neighborhood association need to chill out. Legitimate businesses should have the freedom to exist without having to endure the slings and arrows of ignorant and misguided opposition.
represent, Matt.
Yeah, I’d agree that Transporter Room 3 is the worst house venue I’ve ever seen.
Food trucks are the start-up, small businesses of the future for those unable to afford real estate. No surprise, that merchants who pay rent, utilities, and maintenance on a property would despise the traveling competition. Or developers who build more empty retail spaces would want to close…
Not so much far-right Tea Party as a balanced, moderate viewpoint between letting businesses succeed and protecting society with reasonable regulations. In spite of what the city reps are saying, the interpretation of policy on this issue certainly has changed. Letting a business start up under one…
I think it’s neat that SP has turned rightward, now espousing a Tea Party-style frustration with government regulations & taxes.
This makes me so sad. (Happy to live in Urbana, though!) Crave Truck has been a GREAT addition to the food choices in C-U, and it’d be a travesty to chase them away. This town should be supporting small businesses. I’m glad to hear that they’ll still…
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High-profile whining. AKA Lobbying.