New market sells flowers from several local farms in downtown Fresno, Clovis
Danielle Fischer has a vision.
A family meets up with friends and heads to downtown Fresno for a flower market on Saturday mornings. They buy a bouquet of dahlias and a vase to put it in, maybe some coffee and breakfast crepes as they stroll through a newly renovated historic building.
And then they find something else to do downtown while they’re there.
That vision is now a reality, with the launch of the Flower Market.
“It’s more than just a ‘come out and shop and go,’” Fischer said. “It’s like a gathering and a botanical experience.”
The first downtown Fresno Flower Market was last Saturday and the event will continue from 8 a.m. to noon every Saturday through Oct. 14 inside the Sun Stereo Warehouse building at 736 Fulton St.
The Clovis version of the event continues, from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. the first Thursday of the month at On The Edge coffee shop at 412 Pollasky Ave. in Old Town Clovis. It runs from April to October.
The Fresno Flower Market event will have a variety of products for sale: cut flower bouquets, build-your-own bouquets, hanging pre-planted flower baskets, and six packs of starter plants to grow at home.
“The most popular was building their own bouquet, going and talking to this grower about their fragrant greenery, or getting their dahlias from this grower,” Fischer said of past pop-up events.
Three to six vendors will rotate through events, including growers such as Sweet Acres Flower Farm and Blooms on Lincoln Ave in Fresno, Sweet Thistle Farms in Clovis, Fleurie Flower Studio, Solace Lavender Farm in Kerman and Silver Frog Flowers in Kingsburg.
Fischer’s business selling edible flowers, Magnolia’s Yarden, will be there too, along with Belmont Nursery and other vendors.
Mini’s Crepe Cafe will sell coffee and crepes at each event.
Various workshops and demonstrations are in the works, too.
Fresno County flower farms
The Fresno area has had an influx of new flower farms in recent years. Many have gained followings on Instagram and sell at roadside stands on their properties.
But they’re usually in rural areas.
“It’s a hike for people to have to go out there, so bring the flowers to one spot and make it accessible to wholesale and resale shopper,” Fischer said.
The flower market could help them grow their businesses, she said.
And maybe after, they’ll hit up some other downtown businesses.
During a test run, a pop-up event last summer at the T.W. Patterson building, that’s exactly what happened, she said.
“People came out with their friends,” she said. “There were multiple families that came out for something to do together. Then they went for stroll downtown.”
This story was originally published March 23, 2023 at 1:25 PM.
