Acorn continues to need community support

Acorn Farmers’ Market & Café is a store inside a store at 455 W Main St, featuring fresh local offerings

by Marsha Chartrand

It’s been two years since Acorn Farmers’ Market & Café held a wildly successful fund-raiser in the midst of a pandemic. A $50,000 matching grant from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) for “Public Spaces, Community Places“ was earned when Acorn raised the first $50,000 from the Manchester community itself — providing the fledgling business with a $100,000 nest egg to get started in providing fresh, locally produced food to Manchester residents. 

During the months after the Manchester Market closed down in February 2019, a small but dedicated group of people carried a vision of how the future might look with a store that provided an opportunity for residents to reduce their carbon footprint and help sustain a safer food supply by shopping local. That vision has come true in a much bigger way than most anyone could have expected.

At the time of the fund-raiser, Acorn’s former tiny store at 327 W Main St was open just three days per week, for four hours at a time; much of that operating on a carry-out basis from a side door of the building. But behind the scenes, bigger things were happening. When it was announced that Acorn would be one of several components of the new and improved Manchester Market, plans got bigger, fast.

While the move to the new Manchester Market building has been little short of a miracle in many ways, it has also come with unanticipated complications. Renovations and other expenses in the six months that the store was closed while under construction ate into Acorn’s reserves, and a year after reopening, the store still is barely meeting its expenses each month. 

“We aren’t in a dangerous position yet,” said Theresa Herron, Chair of the Board of Directors. “But we need to find a way to change a very slow downward trend to an upward trajectory.”

Access to a line of credit through the Fair Food Network has been helpful, but even more helpful has been their Technical Assistance program, which has helped members of the Acorn board connect with Argus Farm Stop in Ann Arbor. Owners Bill Brinkerhoff, Kathy Sample, and General Manager Laura Matney have met with the Acorn Board and manager Mark Spina twice already, and a third meeting is scheduled. From those meetings, much has been learned, more new ideas have evolved, and suggestions from the Argus group are being implemented.

“One of the biggest benefits from these meetings is the positive energy that has been generated,“ Herron said. “We have developed some new connections, and are taking a lot of positive steps forward. We are looking at new ways of doing things based on input from Argus, and it’s likely that patrons will see quite a few exciting changes over the next few months. Sometimes, you think something isn’t possible, until you realize that, yes, indeed, it is!“

Programming will continue to be a big component in Acorn’s future planning. Watch the Mirror and the Acorn Facebook page for details of the varied and frequent programs that are offered at Acorn. Some are free and offered under grant-funded programs; while others cover the presenters’ expenses and some are helping to raise some much-needed funds for Acorn’s operations.

So, while the future may be looking bright for Acorn Farmers’ Market & Café, the business is not yet out of the woods. The store needs the community’s continued support. It needs volunteers, donors, and, of course, shoppers! The loyal patronage of Manchester residents — and those from outside the community as well — has been deeply appreciated over the past year and will continue to be valued into the future.

“The community has really come through for us,” Herron said, “helping us first to open seven days a week and then to expand our hours and the products we offer. We are forever grateful that our community has seen the value of shopping local, both for the vendors/farmers and for the village.“

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by Marsha Chartrand

Marsha Johnson Chartrand, a founder, writer, and copy editor with the Manchester Mirror, is a 50-year resident of Manchester. She has a long history of volunteer and community involvement.