"For more than a decade, North Redondo residents have talked about the need for a farmers market." That is how OurNRB board member Wayne Craig opened a September letter in Easy Reader. He described a market that "takes community support" to keep running and asked for shoppers, setup and takedown volunteers, and help with weekly expenses.
He had a deadline in mind. The City of Redondo Beach approved the North Redondo Beach Farmers' Market as a six-month pilot running from April 22 through October 28, 2026. Wednesday, October 28, is the last market date inside that window. According to the city's staff report, a full evaluation at the end of the pilot will decide whether the market can become a permanent program.
The market's revenue is pledged to the blocks of Artesia Boulevard around it, so whatever the city decides after October 28 also decides how that corridor gets some of its upkeep paid for.
A Market With a Job Description
The market sets up every Wednesday from 2 to 7 p.m. on Green Lane, between Artesia Boulevard and Vanderbilt Lane, next to the North Branch Library. It is run by OurNRB, a nonprofit formed for this project. Teresa Mitchell is its president, and the board also includes Desiree Galassi, Wayne Craig, Jim Mueller, Daniella Wodnicki and Nahal Sharifi. South Bay Credit Union is the founding sponsor, and the North Redondo Beach Business Association is also a sponsor.
The city's April 14 staff report spells out where the money goes. Proceeds are to be reinvested in street trees, benches, artwork, cleanups and community gatherings, guided by community input. The city has to approve any of that work that happens on public property. When the market launched, Easy Reader reported that the revenue would go back into the Artesia–Aviation corridor, mostly for maintenance and beautification.
The city supported the setup. Running the market on city property required a stack of permits:
| Permit | Cost listed by city staff |
|---|---|
| Street closure | $1,011 for the six-month pilot |
| Event permit | $55 |
| Tent permit | $169 |
| Street banner | $650 for two weeks |
| No-parking signs | $480 |
| Estimated total | $2,365 |
Staff supported waiving all of those fees. The one cost they did not waive was business licenses. Staff wanted regular vendors to hold their own licenses so their sales tax could be tracked and reported. The report tied the waiver to Goal 1.2 of the city's Strategic Plan, which is to revitalize Artesia Boulevard. In other words, the city counted a weekly street closure as a corridor project from the start.
The pilot had rules of its own. Sales were limited to food and nursery products, and the city's report expected about 30 to 45 vendors. Produce vendors must be certified by the California Department of Food and Agriculture, so the people selling produce are the people who grew it. OurNRB also planned its own check-in three months in to find problems and make adjustments.
What the City Has Been Weighing Since June
A weekly closure on a side street next to a public library raises a practical question about how to keep cars out of a block full of shoppers. In June, the city took up that question in Budget Response Report #42, which priced four ways to control vehicle access around the market:
| Option | Estimated cost |
|---|---|
| 10 automatic hydraulic bollards | $385,000 |
| 10 manual hydraulic bollards | $360,000 |
| Portable barrier system | $150,000 |
| 10 removable fixed bollards | $35,000 |
The most expensive option costs about eleven times the cheapest. That is a big spread for one block of Green Lane. Staff recommended bringing in a design professional to confirm the traffic ratings and the temporary traffic-control assumptions before any choice was made. The report lists options. It does not choose one, and the city has not adopted any of them. Still, a city does not usually price permanent bollards for an event it expects to end.
The state's paperwork also looks ahead. On the California Department of Food and Agriculture's list of certified farmers' markets, current as of October 1, the market is labeled "Year-Round." That label comes from the state's certification records. It is not a City Council approval to keep using the street. The city's authorization still runs through October 28, and the evaluation that follows will decide what happens next.
Meanwhile, the city has said the North Branch Library and the Community Services offices stay open during market hours and their parking lots stay open to the public. Staff are monitoring each week's market to make sure city services are not disrupted. OurNRB's site adds that Green Lane is closed from Artesia to Vanderbilt during the market, parking is available in the surrounding neighborhood, and two ADA spaces sit right next to the market.
The Boulevard the Money Is Meant For
The street trees and benches in the staff report are meant for a specific stretch of Artesia, and plenty of businesses already operate there. The North Redondo Beach Business Association's Dine Around ARTesia 2026 page lists them by address. MacKay's Donuts is at 2401 Artesia, South Bay Hardware at 2411, Natureba at 2415 and Hi Brazil at 2418. The 2515 address alone holds Al Hamra Kabob Grill, Bluesalt Fish Grill, Chicken Dijon and Menchie's. Farther along are Top Shelf at 2518, J Flowers at 2621, El Tarasco at 2622 and Mickey's Deli at 2716.
Mickey's is the newest name on that list. The Hermosa Beach deli opened its North Redondo location at 2716 Artesia at the end of February, according to the Daily Breeze, and the menu here includes a Redondo Chicken Cutlet sandwich. Two other changes come from comments people posted on the NRBBA page after this summer's Dine Around. Vanity Salon is new at 2505 Artesia. The Great Room at 2810 Artesia has new owners, and it is becoming The Fiesta Room. No date has been announced for the changeover.
Dine Around also shows the gap the market was meant to fill. The event ran on July 29 and August 20 this year, and the Daily Breeze counted more than 30 food businesses and more than two dozen artists along Artesia. On the NRBBA's Dine Around page, Al Hamra's owner explains what one evening can do for a storefront:
"We've participated in Dine Around since it started in 2011. Every year we meet new customers, and many keep coming back long after the event ends."
Dine Around draws crowds two evenings a year, while the Green Lane market brings shoppers to the same corridor every week. Teresa Mitchell explained why the frequency matters in Easy Reader's launch story: "The most important thing is that people come to the markets regularly, making it a habit." District Four Councilman Zein Obagi Jr. called it "a game-changer for North Redondo" in the same story.
Dates on the Corridor Calendar
The last pilot Wednesday falls in a busy stretch for North Redondo. Here are the dates already posted:
- Through October 31. The South Bay Galleria's pumpkin patch runs at the corner of Artesia and Hawthorne, per the Galleria's events page.
- Sunday, October 25, 6 to 9 p.m. The free Cookie Zombie Night Market will have vendors, cookies and food, and the NRBBA is promoting it. The post doesn't give a venue. NRBBA lists Cookie Zombie itself at 2806 Phelan Lane, so check the organizer's channels before you go.
- Wednesday, October 28, 2 to 7 p.m. This is the final market date in the city's pilot window, on Green Lane between Artesia and Vanderbilt.
- Thursday, November 12, 7:45 to 9 a.m. NRBBA's Rise & Shine Redondo series hosts "Meet the Chiefs" with Police Chief Sprengel and Fire Chief Brian Regan at the Galleria Community Room. The NRBBA's October morning in the same series met in the Community Room on Level 3, near the AMC.
By the November 12 meeting, the pilot window will have closed. OurNRB's market site lists each Wednesday from 2 to 7 p.m. and has an interest form for prospective vendors. If you want the market to keep going, Craig's letter says what OurNRB has asked for: people to shop there, volunteers for setup and takedown, and help spreading the word.
At Schneider Properties, we follow North Redondo through stories like this one: a market, a block of Green Lane and the Artesia storefronts around it. If you'd like to talk about how Artesia Boulevard and the streets around it are changing, contact us. We're happy to share what we're seeing.
