Richard Hines, board president of Tacoma Farmers Markets, said Wednesday that the Dome District market wasn’t getting enough shoppers.

“There wasn’t the response from the commuters that we thought we’d have,” Hines said, referring to the potential for customers from the nearby bus and Sounder stations.

But he has a good feeling about the Sixth Avenue market, scheduled to open in July and expected to run on Tuesday afternoons.

The Tacoma Farmers Market, the group responsible for the Broadway Farmers Market on Thursdays in downtown Tacoma, has joined forces with the Proctor Farmers Market.

The partnership – the Federation of Tacoma Farmers Markets – aims to build a culture of farmers markets in the city and create new ones.

The Sixth Avenue market is its first project. The federation is still gathering information about what kind of farmers market the neighborhood might want.

Each market has a different feel.

For example, the Broadway market caters to people working in downtown Tacoma. It has more craft vendors and prepared foods.

The Proctor market, Hines said, was developed to focus more on local produce – the idea that people go to the Saturday market prepared to shop for fruits and vegetables for the week.

“We don’t know if the vendors will be the same,” Hines said. “We want to reach out and give an opportunity to existing vendors, but depending on what the neighborhood wants and supports it might be a different mix altogether.”

To that end, market organizers have planned a community meeting to discuss their plans for Sixth Avenue and gather input from residents.

It’s scheduled from 7 to 9 p.m. April 28 at the Epworth LeSourd United Methodist Church at 710 S. Anderson Street.

John Loesch, Sixth Avenue Business District Association president, said local merchants are excited about the market.

That includes, Loesch, who, as the owner of the Sixth Avenue Neighborhood Market, could see the farmers market as competition.

Instead, he plans to buy produce from the vendors and sell it at his store.

“The more varied business we bring to the area, the better off we are in drawing people to the area,” Loesch said. “Even having the grocery store, I think this is one of the best things to happen for the district in a lot of different ways.”

John Toler, an assistant manager at Walden Mortgage and another member of the business association, said the farmers market is also trying to work with nearby restaurants to encourage them to use its produce.

Details are still being worked on, but the market will likely be located on Pine Street, between Sixth Avenue and North Seventh Street, said Toler, who’s been coordinating the creation of the market on behalf of the business district.

The area’s other farmers markets are set to open soon.

The Proctor market is scheduled to open April 26, to be followed by the Broadway market May 15.

Kelly Kearsley: 253-597-8573

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