February 8, 2021, Washington, D.C. – Merchants and vendors at DC’s Eastern Market, the city’s longest continuously operating fresh food market, are experiencing serious management and operations problems. These problems are a direct cause in pushing out merchants who have served the market for decades.
The ongoing mismanagement of Eastern Market has been well documented in two studies:
- The Eastern Market Preservation and Development Corporation (EMPDC) report, DC’s Eastern Market: How to Save an Endangered Treasure (2018), conducted in 2018 and
- The D. C. Mayor’s Office Eastern Market Strategic Plan, which was made public in October 2020.
The D. C. Department of General Services (DGS) has been mismanaging the Market since it took over management after the fire in 2008. As pointed out in the 2018 study, there are several specific areas where the D.C. Government is operating Eastern Market outside of the law and mismanaging the Market’s budget. The Mayor’s strategic plan cost $300,000 and took 2 and ½ years to complete without the promised public review. The only result we have seen from the Mayor and the City Council has been to delay taking action to address these well-known problems with the management of Eastern Market.
The city’s inaction has consequences. Without immediate action by the D. C. Council and D. C. Government, Eastern Market as we know it, will cease to exist. The first domino has fallen. Longtime merchant Jose Canales and his wife have thrown in the towel after refusing to surrender to the city’s demand that they accept a 300% increase in their rent.
Jose Canales and his family has been a pillar of the Market for nearly four decades. Canales Quality Meats is rated as one of the best places in DC to buy ham, sausage, and other meats. It has been more than just a source of high-quality meats and ethnic food it has been a bastion of friendliness for all who visit. The change in ownership of Canales Deli is the beginning of more Eastern Market merchants being forced out by the city.
The District has been engaged in lease controversies with all the Market merchants and this is just one of many issues that are threatening the future of Eastern Market as we know it today and have known it for decades. Even the Mayor’s recently released Market Strategic Plan enumerates some of the issues:
- Stakeholder perceptions of management vary, though there is clear dissatisfaction with the overall organizational structure and governance.
- Distrust and/or frustration with management and oversight is prominent.
- There are no tenant leases and without leases, tenants have difficulty securing financing. We would add that without leases, the tenants are at the mercy of the whims of management.
- Capital improvements are overdue, and a facilities maintenance plan is not being followed.
- Repairs are made on an ad hoc basis. Meanwhile, major systems, such as the central air conditioning unit, are not operating as designed or at capacity.
- The DGS-designated threshold between repairs and capital expenditures is unusually high ($250,000) and definitions of qualifying capital expenses are not clear.
- Programming, marketing and promotion, and physical space improvements (i.e. signage, decorations, look and feel updates, etc.) have been severely lacking in comparison to successful public markets.
For years, the Eastern Market Preservation and Development Corporation (EMPDC) and others have warned The District government and politicians, such as Councilmember Charles Allen, that the impossible demands and mismanagement of the Market was going to drive out merchants who have been pillars of the Market for decades. Instead of taking action to address the growing number of management concerns regarding Eastern Market, Council Member Allen sponsored legislation to spend $300,000 of taxpayer money to conduct a study that took years to complete with limited community input and no indication when implementation will begin. Neither Councilman Allan nor the District Government has done anything to address the long-standing problems that are making it difficult for merchants that have served the market for generations to continue to operate. Many do not need to wait for a strategic plan to begin.
“The merchants and vendors at Eastern Market are an essential part of the Capitol Hill community. Their businesses are being run into the ground by a bullying management who threatens retaliation when concerns are raised as opposed to addressing problems brought to its attention. Eastern Market needs our support,” said Ellen Opper-Weiner, President, EMPDC.
To quote from the Strategic Plan “Decisive action is crucial for Eastern Market and the Eastern Market Special Use Area (EMSUA) to not only remain the heart of Capitol Hill, but to thrive as an economic and culturally sustainable public market for Washington DC and its region.”
EMPDC agrees with key recommendations in the Strategic Plan and urges Councilman Allen and the Mayor to stop dragging their feet and immediately implement these recommendations:
- Establish merchant and tenant agreements that balance small business security and management flexibility recognizing the full economic value of the Market to the neighborhood and the City as a whole.
- Transition to a nonprofit public-private partnership as soon as possible.
- Follow a capital improvement plan that balances historic preservation and energy efficiency.
The city is destroying this historic market and pro-actively forcing merchants who have served there for generations to leave. Also, our politicians by their inactions are in on the effort.
The Eastern Market Preservation and Development Corporation. This local community-based group’s goal is to protect and foster the historic function and character of DC’s Eastern Market.
Media Contacts: Gregory Rohde, EMPDC Board Secretary, glr@e-copernicus.com or (202-246-9004).