I
t’s a hot one at Downtown After Sundown
this week, but coffee seller Leah Sparks is
keeping cool all the same.
This is the Southern Girl Coffee co-founder’s
second year selling her brand of brews at the
Oxford farmers market, and while response
has always been good to her hot beverages,
she’s keeping iced coffee on tap, too.
“We tried to sell coffee during one of the
hottest times of the year,” Sparks said with a
laugh. “People still tried it and it just caught
on.”
The business grew from vendor space to
coffee delivery service, making strides
through winter as a tasty way to fight off
the chill, showing up at events as the drink
of choice and sometimes purchased just to
leave sitting out for the smell.
INSIGHT
Sparks has since purchased a building on
Choccolocco Street, where the market is
held every Thursday, with plans to start
roasting beans at the new location and
eventually open a coffee house to customers.
It’s a success story borne from what farmers
markets are all about: community support for
quality products created by local vendors.
“We’re encouraging our citizens to buy local
— if we want to ask a question about how
something was grown, this is our opportunity
to actually meet the person that has grown
the product,” said Charlotte Hubbard, one
of the key organizers for the weekly event.
“To me, that’s a huge plus of having a local
market.”
Vendors like Sonya Owen of Custom
Handmade Jewelry visit markets all around
Calhoun County. Owen sells her handmade
August 2014
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