The Queen Creek Family Market is back for the fall season and will be set up for the community again this Saturday, Oct 22 at the Queen Creek Library.
Oct. 8 was their first market of the season and nearly 190 vendors filled the previously empty dirt lot outside the library, selling products from soaps to freeze-dried candies. Residents from Queen Creek and the surrounding area shopped at vendors, while it was hard to go a few feet without spotting excited dogs accompanying market goers.
Founder, Kelly Crandall, started the market in 2017 after moving to Arizona in 2016. She wanted to create a market with a little bit of everything and spent a year putting in work before it got off the ground. The market began with only 30 vendors, but now its popularity has exploded. The difference between this market and other markets that didn’t succeed in the past, Crandall said, is community.
“We make it like a family,” she said. “We all have a mutual respect for each other.”
Liana LaRoche, owner of Lil Goat Town, has been a vendor at the market since the beginning. Her stand features solid conditioners, soaps, lotions–and the captain of the goat yoga team, Easton. All of her products are made from the goats on her farm.
A few rows down, What the Freeze!, a freeze dried candy vendor, were first timers at the market. For co-founders Tracy Hansen and Sheri Kersey, the shop is a side hobby that they decided to take to the market.
Nathan Scott attended the market with his wife, Kuresa Scott, and their two dogs. While they weren’t looking for anything specific, they were hoping to buy a loaf of bread.
“We decided to come to the market to do something fun with the dogs, since the weather around here was decent,” Kuresa Scott said.
The market also supports a local dog rescue, Love Connection Dog Rescue, who usually brings 15 to 24 dogs looking to be adopted. Crandall has two dogs from the rescue.
Another market goer, Monica Everhart, came with her friend. She loved the Scentsy booth as well as looking at all the dogs in attendance.
“I love watching a community come together,” Crandall said. “There’s a little bit here for everybody.”
The Queen Creek Family Market is located outside the Queen Creek Library, 21802 S. Ellsworth Road, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. this Saturday, Oct. 22.
There's plenty of free parking. Remaining market dates for the second half of 2022 are Nov. 12, Nov. 26, Dec. 10 and Dec. 17.
If interested in being a vendor at future markets, apply online at queencreekfamilymarket.com.
