What is the vision of JNM? Will it always be a monthly thing or would it ever be sustainable to move to weekly or bi-weekly?
Jaxsons Night Market serves two purposes
1) to produce a signature monthly event downtown. Downtown merchants have longed campaigned for a 2nd Art Walk (many businesses are able to pay rent from the business generated on a good Art Walk night). This is hoping to serve as that second signature event, albeit with a different theme (we are more food focused, versus art focused)
2) to act as a business incubation tool. The market curates the kinds of locally owned businesses that are absent from the downtown retail mix. We provide an opportunity for existing businesses, that have the capacity and motivation to expand, to 'dip their toes in the water' in downtown. We have worked with existing building owners to get market vendors to start filling in empty storefronts downtown (more on that later).
Without the partnership with Community First Credit Union.. the market could not have made this move. The new partnership also allows the market to focus on business incubation opportunities.
This is a good thing. Hopefully, the results will be very evident shortly.
