The Whiteland Marketplace Barns area is pictured prior to closing at 549 E. Main St., Whiteland.
Submitted photo
What was once an innovative idea for the Whiteland business community has run its course.
The last tenants in Whiteland Marketplace Barns closed up shop Wednesday. The barns have been part of the farmers market area next to town hall, 549 E. Main St., since roughly 2018. The farmer’s market moved this year to the Clark Pleasant library and town officials will be now be repurposing the space.
The barns had housed several small businesses, but the town council decided to close up the barns because they weren’t financially benefitting the town. They also take up considerable space on the small parcel where Whiteland’s town hall and police station are located.
Carmen Young, director of administration, gave a financial overview of the barns at the June 11 town council meeting at the request of council member Tim Brown. The town has made approximately $56,500 since the barns were installed sometime between 2017 and 2019, but the town has spent $68,000 to operate them. Whiteland had lost $11,376 as of the June 11 meeting.
Not only has the town lost money, needed maintenance would set the town back further, Young said.
“I think what’s significant to me is I know that we could probably generate enough revenue to break even and these were never intended to make a lot of money,” Young said. “But we’re starting to get a lot of wear and tear on the barns themselves. We’re also in a place where we don’t have parking for even our employees.”
Council member Joseph Sayler recommended phasing out the marketplace barns, instead of immediately closing the area, to make it easier on existing businesses and town entities using the space. However, the town council decided to approve the decision to not renew or give out new leases at its June 11 meeting.
The last two tenants of the barns have now left and are considering their options to continue their business.
Shannon Johnson, owner of Sweet Spot Bakery, is thinking of converting her three-car garage into a commercial kitchen while she looks for a new spot. Since the beginning of her business five years ago, she has used the marketplace barns because she “couldn’t beat the rent,” which was $425 per month.
“It is hard for small businesses to get out there unless you want to go into hundreds of thousands (of) dollars worth of debt as you’re starting your business, and I didn’t want to do that, I was already in debt buying the equipment and all of that stuff,” she said.
She’s sad to see the barns close, but her business will continue, Johnson said.
“As grandma says, ‘When one door closes, another one opens,’” Johnson said.
Johnson thought the town’s idea for the marketplace barns was a great idea, as did Charles Welch, owner of Welch’s Holiday Farm.
Welch decided to leave before the barns officially shut down because of a lack of business.
“It was just a good idea to try to bring a little community of stores and it just never happened,” Welch said.
He is not searching for a new spot for his business because he’s close to retirement, however, he said if a new location becomes available to him in the future, he’d be open to it. Welch’s Holiday Farm operates out of two other locations: Farm Girl Mercantile and the Wishing Well Motel in the fall.
It is unclear what will happen with the barns or the space now that the marketplace barns are closing. Officials are thinking over how to best use the space, which may include more parking for employees, Young said.
Officials are also coming up with ideas on how to repurpose the barns.
“We’re not just wanting to tear them up, from what I would like to see,” Brown previously said. “I would like to see us recycle (them) back into our system ourselves, for our people to use from around here.”
