Duvall Farmers Market makes its mark in 2024

When Alex Yearout moved to Duvall in 2020, she wanted to be civically engaged, but there wasn’t much to do.

“I always joked that the way I learned about the annual events was by seeing their closure announcements,” she said.

She took to social media to find out what she could about life in the town of 8,400. It was through Instagram pages and Facebook groups that she discovered all her new home had to offer, including the Duvall Farmers Market, which started in 2006.

As pandemic closures began to ease, Yearout leaned in. She started her extended maternity leave in late 2022 and joined the Duvall Farmers Market Board in a marketing role in early 2023. Then, when the board’s previous president stepped down, Yearout said she became the de facto replacement. Since then, she’s used her marketing experience, penchant for social media and love of community to breathe new life into the Duvall Farmers Market.

The market is on Thursdays from May to October — longer than most local markets, which tend to open in June. It’s held at Taylor Landing, a small park adjacent to the Snoqualmie River and Snoqualmie Valley Trail. This year, with 23 total events, it exceeded sales records, attendance records and expectations.

“We knew that what we had were great vendors and great space and live music,” Yearout said. “We had what people enjoy. It’s just a matter of making sure that information gets out to them.”

Yearout’s marketing efforts began well before May, with her Instagram post on Feb. 24 marking the account’s first use since 2017. Amber Vroman, a board member and local graphic artist, designed a new logo for the market, which Yearout uses across platforms.

Prior to recent years, Yearout said there wasn’t much branding for the market. Now, branding is a priority, online and at the markets themselves. Nearly every week since February, she has posted colorful photos and information on what to expect from upcoming markets.

Yearout tracked the market’s social media success by looking at its reach, a metric that measures the number of unique users who have seen the account’s content. The month before opening, the market reached 16,000 accounts across social media platforms, compared to 7,000 in 2023. The first month after opening, it reached 35,000 accounts — more than triple last year’s numbers.

Turnout, Yearout said, has “definitely, definitely been impacted.” Opening day saw more than 1,000 people, the second week had a bit more than 800, and markets after that averaged more than 600 people, which was last year’s opening day count. (Yes, there are volunteers that count attendees.)

Social media marketing helped Yearout connect with new vendors, too. She discovered Downpour Espresso, a mobile espresso bar out of Monroe, just six days before the season’s start and sent the business a message. Yearout said it helps when vendors have their own social media presence, like Downpour owner Tess Steffy, whose team set up shop at several Duvall markets this year.

Yearout said the board made an effort to find and attract new vendors, and it worked. The number of vendors this season averaged 20 per market, with a high of 23. Last year, the average vendor count was about 16, with some weeks as low as 12. There were 42 vendors that participated overall, with applications remaining open throughout the season, but the numbers can vary quite a bit. Some vendors, Yearout said, are hobbyists that only attend a few markets. Others sell highly seasonal products that aren’t ready in May or don’t last until October.

Vendors are charged an application fee, as well as a booth fee that depends on the size of the booth and covers operating costs. This year, the market also received an economic development and tourism grant from the City of Duvall. The $7,000 in funds was used to upgrade the market’s live music setup, pay musicians and purchase marketing materials, among other things.

The Duvall Farmers Market is a nonprofit. All eight members of the board, plus other community members, volunteer their time. The market has one paid position, the market manager, which was filled by longtime farmers market lover Anaya Stout this year.

“We’re not looking to make money, but we want our vendors to make money,” Yearout said.

While sales were certainly up — an increase of $50,000 from the 2022 season — Yearout is still analyzing data to find out why. She compared the attendance data to the sales data and found the two sets were not entirely correlated.

“Our top highest earning weeks are not the highest attended weeks,” she said. “It shows that vendor quality, quantity matters a lot, too.”

The highest sales weeks were not necessarily the weeks that had the most vendors, either. Some of the high sales weeks Yearout attributes to alcohol sales, with vendors like Valhalla Mead and Hammered Dwarf Cider. But it’s a case that Yearout said she will continue to study.

Duvall Farmers Market Board president Alex Yearout stands with the market’s new banner on Oct. 3, 2024. Grace Gorenflo/Valley Record

Building relationships that last

Early in the year, the board sent out a survey to collect community feedback on the market. The survey got more than 400 responses, which Yearout said they continually refer back to. In addition to vendor quality and quantity, Yearout knows vendor consistency helps sales. When customers can rely on their favorite products being there each week, they’ll come through to re-up on their usuals, she said.

Yearout prioritizes having small, hyper-local vendors with whom the market has or can build long-term relationships. Treeline Farms, located right in Duvall, sells its beef shares and beef tallow skincare products at the market.

The Duvall Farmers Market also prides itself on having distinctive vendors. A fan favorite is Pete’s Sharpening, run by local woodworker Pete Gillis. Attendees can bring their dull knives, scissors and other tools to the market, and Gillis will sharpen them while they peruse.

McCormick Jam Co., which sells jam made fresh by Sarah McCormick, is a longtime Duvall Farmers Market vendor. Co-owner Dane McCormick said the 2024 season had a nice variety of vendors — he was most excited about the new honey vendor, Hestia Apiary — that represent the Valley well.

“The Valley, being a farm community, people appreciate clean, quality products,” he said, adding that some McCormick jams are made with Snoqualmie Valley produce. “[The market’s] roots are old school. To be able to continue to build on that is fantastic.”

Downpour Espresso’s Steffy said the Duvall Farmers Market is one of her most profitable markets, despite it being the smallest she attends. It’s also a market her team truly enjoys attending, she said, because of the strong community and team behind it.

“The community shows up, and so I think that’s a huge help in what brings it to the top of my list,” she said. “I am newly pregnant and will be giving birth in March. I definitely am already trying to figure out, OK, how can I at least come back to Duvall?”

Local band The Rockin’ RF’s plays at the Duvall Farmers Market on Oct. 3, 2024. (Grace Gorenflo/Valley Record)

A place to stay a while

Perhaps the most special thing about the Duvall Farmers Market, contributors say, is that it’s conducive to hanging out. It has a playground, picnic tables for eating and rows of chairs for enjoying the live music.

“There’s a lot of energy put into making it a place for people to stay,” Stout said. “In the past few years, it was a place for folks to come and visit and stop by and get their groceries. But this year, they really wanted to put a big emphasis on it being a place where people spend time.”

When Steffy brought her parents to the market, she expected them to pop in, but she said they stayed until closing, which has become fairly common. After a bit of shopping, neighbors and friends enjoy music and dinner together, chatting until the sun dips behind the Snoqualmie Valley’s walls.

A week out from the season’s end, Yearout and her team are celebrating their success, but they aren’t stopping here. The hope is that next season is even bigger and better.

“Outgrowing the space is definitely a possibility,” Yearout said, “but I think it’ll be a happy problem to solve.”

Members of the Duvall Farmers Market team pose with fresh flowers from market vendor Flower Day Farm. From left: board member Pat Martinell, board member Diane Litts, volunteer Jim McGraw, volunteer Liz Geary Scott, market manager Anaya Stout and board member Pati McGraw. Courtesy of Alex Yearout