NORTH ADAMS — Jenny Klowden and Bryan “Swifty” Josephs thought they were building a sandwich business — until farmers market customers went crazy for their pierogies.

“It turns out we are a pierogi shop,” said Josephs, who opened the Eastern European-inspired Door Prize Restaurant on Main Street in June 2025 after two seasons at the market.

“Go into the market ready for customers to tell you who you are,” Klowden added.

Door Prize is one of four businesses that have opened storefronts in the last year after building customer bases at the North Adams Farmers Market, alongside Red Shirt Farm, Steeple City Social and Hexagon Bagels. Owners said the market, which officially opened for the season on Saturday, let them test ideas, find customers and learn food service with lower risk.

For Andrew Fitch and Meghan Daly, whose A&M Bakery evolved into Steeple City Social on Eagle Street last year, the market’s steady local turnout helped them build connections in the community.

Andrew Fitch and Meghan Daly, of Steeple City Social, a bakery and cocktail bar on Eagle Street in North Adams, say the North Adams Farmers Market helped them build a community of loyal customers.

Fitch said people really show up for the markets, held every Saturday from now until Oct. 31.

“We chatted with a lot of people about what they were missing downtown, and what a lot of people wanted was a place they can hang out and an evening place where they can get a cocktail with a friend," Fitch said.

Red Shirt Farm has been selling its local vegetables at the market for years, which they attribute to helping build a loyal customer base. The farm’s newsletter boasts 1,500 subscribers.

Not only is the market's customer base loyal, they are honest, said Klowden, which helped her and Josephs ultimately refine their ideas for Door Prize.

Business owners also said the market provided important food service experience that prepared them to ultimately scale up to brick-and-mortar.

Hexagon Bagels co-owners Nicholas Rigger and Patrick Lang and their employee Julie Catalano make bagels in the kitchen of their storefront on Main Street in North Adams. The store got its start by selling weekly at the North Adams Farmer Market.

Hexagon Bagels’ Patrick Lang and Nicholas Rigger credit the business knowledge they gained selling their sourdough bagels at the market to their success opening their Main Street shop in November 2025.

“We had basically no food service experience so the market was a critical training ground for us,” Rigger said.

Selling at local markets helped Red Shirt founder Jim Schultz grow the farm’s community-supported agriculture program, providing reliable early-season revenue for the farm. On good days, the farm was grossing $3,000 at the market.

“Over time, it became clear there was enough trust and demand to serve the same community more consistently, in a place we could keep the lights on year-round,” he said.

Sarah and Jim Schultz of Red Shirt Farm in Lanesborough at their new store.

The farm has since expanded significantly, growing 40 crops and CSA memberships now making up about a quarter of its income.

Owners agreed that the market’s downtown location and the Market Match program play a significant role in its continued success.

Berkshire Agricultural Ventures’ Market Match program doubles funds from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program at many Berkshire markets.

When they were still at the market, Jim Schultz said SNAP and the state's Healthy Incentives Program customers were about 30 percent of their customer base.

He said the farm is working to attract more SNAP and HIP customers to Lanesborough.

Why might the North Adams Farmers Market, and generally Berkshire County markets, be an ideal place for local market research?

Hexagon Bagels co-owners Nicholas Rigger and Patrick Lang and their employee Julie Catalano make bagels in the kitchen of their storefront on Main Street in North Adams.

“We have an unusual agricultural economy here in the Berkshires, in that most of our farmers … are mostly direct to consumers,” said Jake Levin, who oversees BAV’s market match program. “That is not your typical economic profile for a farmer, even a small-scale farmer.”

And even though Berkshire County is somewhat rural, Levin said it is also a “thriving tourist and second-home community” that creates an economic base to purchase and to support these farmers markets and these direct consumer sales.

A year out, the four businesses report success and the usual financial challenges that come with a storefront.

Door Prize owners say they have expanded their catering service, continue to host packed community events and were happy to report their patio would be booked for most summer weekends.

Hexagon Bagels is open four days a week and sells hundreds every day, according to its owners.

At Red Shirt, Schultz's farm store is expanding offerings with its commercial kitchen and hosting food events and workshops.

Red Shirt Farm runs a year-round farm market on Route 7 in Lanesborough. Owner Jim Schultz said selling at farmers markets helped him grow his customer base.

Steeple City Social hosts packed community events daily, from karaoke nights to community conversations to a recent Kentucky Derby-themed party.

Steeple City Social, a bakery and cocktail bar on Eagle Street in North Adams, has been open for more than a year. The bakery got its start as A&M Bakery at the North Adams Farmers Market.

“To make a brick-and-mortar location happen, we partnered with many other organizations and people,” Fitch said. “It helped our reach but also made us realize how much of a community effort every brick-and-mortar small business is.”

The business owners also wanted to recognize the vendors whose long-term commitment gave the market the stability it needed to thrive.

“These transitions would not work without them,” Lang said.

Klowden encouraged aspiring vendors to give the market a shot.

Jenny Klowden and Bryan "Swifty" Josephs of Door Prize, a restaurant in downtown North Adams. The owners had originally thought they would open a sandwich shop, but feedback from North Adams Farmer Market customers helped them realize they made great pierogis.

“There is a lot of room to grow,” she said.

By fueling the city’s downtown economy, the market is helping change perceptions that downtown North Adams is stagnant or empty, Fitch said.

“There’s tons going on and it’s happening fast,” he said. “It’s about showing people over and over again until everyone gets it.”