Read more about the event, including VW’s committment to the region, online here.

Urban Rocks Gym

It’s a climbing free-for-all at Chattanooga Market this season.  Chattanooga’s newest full service indoor rock-climbing gym will be updating our climbing wall at the First Tennessee Pavilion before opening (Sunday, April 26th) to make it a little more challenging, more colorful and FREE!  Every Sunday each child’s first climb will be free – after that it’s just $3 a climb.  Come back the following Sunday to climb free again.

Staffed by Urban Rock’s knowledgeable belays, your kids will have a terrific climb.  Visit their website www.urbanrocksgym.com for a complete description of services, climbing parties and classes.

NOTE: The Chattanooga Market will reopen for the 2009 season on April 26, 2009

With the economy in crisis, students are cutting back on everything except fashion, but instead of spending a lot of money, they are finding more cost-effective ways to shop.

Lizzie Duff, a Chattanooga senior, said she is normally a boutique shopper but has been searching for more affordable ways to dress due to the recession.

“You don’t have to spend a lot to look good,” Duff said. “It’s about the signature pieces in your wardrobe.” Fashionable bargains, especially on basic items, can be found at stores like TJ Maxx, Charlotte Russe, Rue 21, Target and Wal-Mart, Duff said. “You can always find those items cheaper if you’re willing to look,” she said.

“America’s Thrift Store on Lee Highway is also a great place to find deals if you’ve got the time to dig,” Duff said. “The clothes average around $2.84 per item, so you can put together an entire wardrobe for the price of one item from a boutique.”

Duff said she recommends shopping at the Chattanooga Market at the First Tennessee Pavilion on Sundays. “The great thing about the market is that everything is local,” she said. “You can find everything from clothes to jewelry to artwork to homemade jams and fresh flowers.”

Shopping at the Chattanooga Market helps support the community, Duff said. “The middle man is completely eliminated and the money goes directly to the individuals,” she said.
Levi Adams, a Chattanooga senior, said he finds clothes at unclaimed baggage and overstock stores like Rugged Wearhouse, Ross and Marshall’s. “[These] stores have high quality merchandise at low prices,” Adams said.

“Seriously, the best thing to do to look fly is to reinvent things you already have,” Adams said. “Just dig around in your closet and find things that haven’t seen the light of day in years.”

Grace Maness, a Knoxville junior, said she recommends Plato’s Closet, a chain consignment shop. “I love it because you can take in the clothes you don’t like anymore and trade them in for new ones,” Maness said.

According to Maness, it is different than searching through a normal thrift store because they do not accept clothes that are tattered, stained or more than two seasons old.

“You can find such great deals on top brands,” she said. “I got Express jeans there once for eight bucks.”

With the economy in decline, many stores are going out of business, and going to store closing sales is the best way to take advantage of the recession, Maness said.

“The stores that are still open just changed from winter to spring and everything is going on sale,” Maness said. “Now is the best time to stock up on sale items, and if you find something you really love, buy it in every color.”

• Skip the fast food and eat more “slow” food

• Whenever possible, eat more local food produced within 150 miles of your home.

Read the full article of tonight’s national broadcast online here.

The kettle corn pops and the lemonade is freshly squeezed, it must be Sunday at the Chattanooga Market.
Shoppers can find all kinds of goodies at the market, from fudge to candles to artwork. Photographer Stephen Cochran is thankful to be back. Cochran says, “I think the people who have taken it over are doing a very good job. The first day has gone rather smoothly.”

Cochran says he was shocked to hear that the market had been sold and would not return in 2008. But shortly after that announcement, Chris Thomas bought the market franchise and now it’s back in business. Turnout on opening day looks good. But some vendors worry about how an unstable economy and rising gas prices will affect shoppers.

Cochran, “It’s going to be hard to do with the prices these days and art has always been a luxury not a necessity.”

This year’s market theme is Local Is Better. Organizers and vendors hope Chattanoogans will take that motto to heart.

Cochran says, “What happens to the market is going to depend on the people in Chattanooga. If the people come and they buy things and not just come and look then it’s going to turn out well.”

Artist Marian Heintz is back for her third year at the market. She says she feels optimistic about the season. “Everything is going up but I just want to keep doing my best so when people do spend their money they’ll spend it with me.”

Heintz says she’s had to make adjustments to keep her business going. Heintz says, “I’ve had to raise prices a little bit and be a little more competitive. A lot of people do this as a hobby, but I do this for a living. Everybody else’s cost of living is going up so is mine. My expenses are going up so we do have to pass that on.”

Chattanooga Market will open its seventh season from noon to 5 p.m. Sunday at First Tennessee Pavilion, 1826 Carter St. The openair market features locally grown produce, handcrafted arts, live music and prepared foods.

It will be the first market under new owner Chris Thomas and his staff. Thomas said the theme for the market this year is “Local Is Better.”

In addition to the nearly 100 expected vendors, Sunday’s market will feature twotime Grammy winner Gary Nicholson, Australian Anne McCue and Texan Amy Cook performing throughout the day.

Representatives from the Make-A-Wish Foundation will be collecting coins for their Coins for Kids program at their booth during the day. Among items for sale Sunday will be handcrafted

jewelry, locally designed and handmade clothing and produce, original paintings and local carpentry. According to Thomas, marketgoers also can find fresh-baked breads, handmade pizza, made-toorder tacos and hometown barbecue.

The EBP stage will feature talent from all over the world every Sunday with everything from Americana music, big band, rock ’n’ roll to dance troupes, he said.

Visit www.chattanooga market.com for more.

The Chattanooga Market has officially been sold, and new owner/operator Chris Thomas and his staff are busy getting ready for opening day on April 27.

Over the last six weeks, Thomas, market director of operations Paul Smith and marketing and media director Melissa Siragusa have been contacting vendors, talking with sponsors, finalizing the schedule and getting the Web site ready. The site went live this week, and fans of the market who visit will notice a few things right off the bat.

First, the market also has a Facebook page, you will be able to find the music calendar on JamBase, and you can keep up with market events through Google Calendar.

“We’ll add more sites as we go,” Thomas said.

“What we want to do this year is roll out some more marketing tools for our vendors and help them create their own brand,” Thomas said.

He said his team has created a tiered vendor program that benefits vendors who sell at the market on a regular basis.

“We want to highlight in our newsletter and on the Web and in some other ways. We can’t do anything for people who show up once,” he said.

You’ll also notice that EPB has replaced ComCast as the music stage sponsor and that the Chattahippie Festival has been added as a sponsor. Thomas is the founder of Palo Duro Records, which is presenting the Chattahippie Festival in September at Camp Columbus.

Live music has always been a part of the market and because it is a Sunday afternoon gig, some fairly big acts have played there as a way to make a little money on what is otherwise a travel day.

With Thomas’ music connections in Texas and Nashville, live music will continue to be emphasized. On opening day, for example, two-time Grammy winner Gary Nicholson, Australian Anne McCue and Texas singer/songwriter Amy Cook are scheduled to perform.

“I want it to be a premiere entertainment destination as well as a great place to buy fresh produce and handmade art,” Thomas said.

The first vendor meeting will be at 2 p.m. Sunday in the Stadium Club at Finley Stadium. Interested vendors are invited, Thomas said.

As a parting gift to the market and the city, former market owner and founder Nick Jessen received a grant and then found a donor to cover the cost of installing two 24-foot diameter fans inside the pavilion.

The fans should help at least move the air inside the structure on those hot summer days.

[Article on Chattanooga Times Free Press]

Article by Reneé LaSalle, WDEF News 12

Chattanooga’s parks and public spaces were under the microscope Tuesday… and they passed with flying colors.

Fred Kent is a leading authority on revitalizing city spaces.

He says its one of the best ways to keep a city growing and healthy…

A bike ride through downtown Chattanooga was all it took for Kent to name it one of the top cities in America.
Kent is the founder and president of the non-profit group Project for Public Spaces.

He says, “It is such a thrill to be here and to see the progress.”

Project for Public Spaces deals specifically with making cities and public spaces beautiful.

Kent tours as many as 70 cities a year, and his preferred mode of inspection is via bicycle.

He says Chattanooga is one of the best he’s seen, and its downtown revitalization is a big part of that, “Its sort of an organic way of growing a city.”

Speaking to a group of city planners and leaders Kent applauded the Tennessee Aquarium and the Water Front.

He praised city government for creating public places the city and its people can enjoy.

Benwood Foundation Executive Director Corinne Allen says, “It’s time for a celebration, not only of what we’ve done in the past, but the potential of going forward to make this an even more desirable community than it is today.”

City leaders say Kent’s advice will achieve that potential…

Kent says Chattanooga’s streets and traffic need to become public spaces once again, so that the atmosphere and activities in a place automatically control the flow of traffic and speed.

He listed two key areas that need some work… The Library and the Chattanooga Market.

Kent says, “You’re never finished. We always say that you’re never finished. There’s so much to do here, but you’re on such an amazing foundation.”

Kent was in town as part of the Benwood Foundation’s Hunter Lecture Series.

Full article on WDEF

Within a day of announcing he was closing the open-air Chattanooga Market, co-owner Nick Jessen got the phone call he was hoping for.

Mr. Jessen, who agreed to sell the market he manages, announced today that it will open April 27 under new ownership. “We’ve always hoped the market would continue, and we’d like to hope that people will continue to buy locally,” he said. Chris Thomas, founder of Palo Duro Records based in Ooltewah, said he has begun establishing a nonprofit organization to run the market. “My involvement will be limited,” he said. “Eventually, it will be a stand-alone operation with a separate board.”

The market will operate much as it did last year, including its involvement with charitable events, Mr. Thomas said. “We want to keep 2008 as close to what the 2007 market was,” he said. His interest in the market lies in its value to the community as a whole, but to the arts and entertainment communities in particular, Mr. Thomas said. “We are obviously heavily involved in the entertainment business, but we also support the arts in general,” he said. “The bottom line, though, is that it struck me as something that needed to be saved.”

Mr. Thomas said he expects to finalize the sale no later than the end of March. Mr. Jessen, who has accepted a job as regional sales manager with Chattanooga-based Heil Trailer International, said he is pleased the market will continue and that vendors will have a place to sell their products.

Two weeks ago, Mr. Jessen said he decided to discontinue the market because it had not “reached a point of independent operation.” Diane and Terry Hughes of Flat Top Mountain Farm Market have sold produce at the market for five years. She said the venue gives them an opportunity to put their product in front of potential customers. “It gives you more exposure,” she said. Rick Thompson, a principal at Artech, said he and his wife, Susie, are regular market shoppers and also enjoy the social aspects of attending. “I am thrilled to hear someone is stepping up,” he said. “It has become part of our routine to go down there after church and shop for fresh vegetables and cheese, the goat cheese, and the different items.”

Melissa Siragusa, who has a background in sales and marketing, will be in charge of running the market, Mr. Thomas said. “I’m very excited about this,” Mrs. Siragusa said. “One of the things I like about Chattanooga is that you can get involved and make a difference.”