Located in the center of Des Moines, Iowa’s Historic Court District invites thousands of residents, both local and state-wide, to a market aimed at letting small businesses thrive. There, craft and community have uniquely intertwined for 50 market seasons. 

The Downtown Farmers’ Market first made its debut on July 24, 1976. Only 15 vendors set up in a small parking lot at Eighth and Mulbury Streets, and roughly 200 shoppers attended, according to the Greater Des Moines Partnership. Through the support of the Downtown Community Alliance from 1980 until 1982, the market slowly began to gain traction before moving to a parking lot on Court Avenue near Fourth Street in 1983. Now, the market has almost 320 vendors lining the streets of Downtown Des Moines and thousands of curious shoppers from all over the nation basking in the live music and open booths each weekend. For small business owners all across Iowa, however, the farmers’ market is so much more than just a shopping opportunity on an early Saturday morning. 

Elsa Stutzman, owner of Elsa Stutzman Studios, is one of the small business owners who greatly benefit from the market. Starting her debut in the 2021 market season, Stutzman said that there is no other market that has impacted the growth of her “functional poetry” business like the Downtown Farmers’ Market. 

“[The farmers’ market] opened so many doors for my business. It’s just a huge platform to show a lot of different demographics my work,” Stutzman said.

Stutzman began exploring markets in the Ames area, where she first started her business in 2020. Ames was an area much less open to and appreciative of fine art, she said.

“When I tried to sell there, to people who I grew up with, they just didn’t get it,” Stutzman said. 

Stutzman was met with numerous accounts of backlash for how “expensive” her poetry was as compared to the plastic resale products in the booths next to her. According to Stutzman, this presented an environment that was very discouraging for a self-run business. With a little bit of encouragement and guidance from a local hairstylist at the market, she began her journey with the Downtown Farmers’ Market.

“I started out with just doing two markets, one season, just to kind of see if I could do it, and it was a huge success,” Stutzman said. “I made more money at my first Des Moines Farmer’s Market than I ever made at a market before.” 

Due to the large amount of visibility and exposure to niche clientele the market offers, Stutzman was able to open her own website. Additionally, the traction gained allowed her business to make appearances in other markets that accentuate her unique style of pottery. 

“I just think that the value of it is enormous…[At the Downtown Farmers’ Market] I would make a similar amount in the morning, seven to noon, as I do at a full two-day market somewhere else in the state,” Stutzman said. 

The market offers much more than just exposure for businesses. Elizabeth Weyers, the Downtown Farmers’ Market manager at the Greater Des Moines Partnership, works closely with the Spark DSM Incubator program to provide entrepreneurs with the tools and foundation to thrive. 

“Small businesses will apply to this program, and most of them are just starting out. They’ll go and follow this curriculum, giving them a toolkit so that they can be successful when they continue their business,” Weyers said.

Within the five-module program, early-stage entrepreneurs learn the ins and outs of business planning, financial management, marketing strategies, legal compliance, networking and exposure.

 “Part of that program is that they get four to five dates at the farmer’s market, in which they don’t have to provide anything,” Weyers said. “They just bring their products and show up. We set up their tent, we set up their tables, we print all their signage, and we do their marketing. When they’re on site, we’re promoting them and doing scavenger hunts with them, sending people over there to look at their products.”

As a result of the program now reaching its fourth year, many small businesses have gotten their own brick and mortar stores or shared kitchen spaces to become a staple within the Des Moines area. Weyers illustrates that although the Incubator program sets up the foundation for the small businesses, the entrepreneurs’ success is completely their own.

“Every single vendor has a story,” Weyers said. “Every single vendor has their own personal life and their own family, but yet they show up and they want to be [here]. They want to be a part of this community.”