Features

Thursday night market’s impact on downtown businesses

What businesses say about the Thursday Night Market

Brynna Garcia, Reporter // April 16, 2025

A variety of locally grown produce is one of the main attractions of the Thursday Night Market.

As the Thursday Night Market kicked off its 27th season on April 10, the streets of downtown Chico were filled with people, vendors, music and entertainment.

Downtown businesses usually close around 5 p.m., but during market season, these hours often change. In hopes of attracting more business on market night, businesses extend their hours to be open during the market.

But does it make a difference?

The Upper Park store had a live screen printing booth outside of its store during the market. This gave the opportunity for people to customize and watch shirts get made before their eyes.

“After the shirt is done, they must come inside

People walking around downtown Chico during the first night of the farmers market. Photo taken by Brynna Garcia on April 3.

to pay for it,” said Carys Mae, an employee of Upper Park.

With more people coming inside, more are exploring all the store has to offer.

Along with preparing the custom screen printing set up for market night, the store made sure they were stocked up on inventory in case there was an influx of customers.

“The market definitely brings a little bit more customers, and I honestly feel like people are buying more,” Carys said.

Across the street, Sweet Chico, agreed.

“It impacts business positively. It brings in a lot of business,” said Keleen Thompson, a Sweet Chico employee.

The store’s main selling point is their wide selection of gelato, which had a line out the door for the majority of the market. In the winter, they tend to see less business and the market is usually when business starts ramping back up.

“It’s really fun during market season and it brings in a lot of business; keeps the vibes up,” said Austin Earp, the manager of Sweet Chico.

Four Leaf Clothing Co. a newer business, decided to extend its hours for market season as a test to see if it helps business. This is the store’s first Thursday Night Market season.

“I did a lot of social media advertising to get the word out that I will be open,” said Jill Bailey, owner of Four Leaf Clothing Co.

The foot traffic during market season is very high. This leads to a mix of more sales, but also more people discovering the business in general.

“It’s been very busy; I called my husband for backup,” Bailey said.

With hope for the future, businesses appear to be happy to stay open during the market, not just for increased sales, but for the energy and the people they meet through it.

Next time you’re at farmers market, don’t forget to stop into your favorite downtown businesses, too.

Brynna Garcia can be reached at [email protected].

About the Contributors

Brynna Garcia, Reporter

Brynna Garcia is a third year student at Chico State studying communications with a minor in journalism and public relations. This is her first semester with The Orion and she is very excited to push herself out of her comfort zone as a writer. In her free time she is probably hanging out with friends and family or baking and you will almost never see her not listening to music.

Sophia Pearson, A&E Editor

This is Sophia’s third semester at The Orion. After two years of reporting for the A&E section she returns this semester as the section’s editor. As a journalism major who is minoring in cinema studies, A&E allows Sophia to write about the things she is passionate about. When she isn’t writing about movies she is surely watching one. Although it changes often her favorite film is “Whiplash” (2014).