KITCHENER - Customers at the Kitchener Market are keen to see a second market day, but it's something the city would embark on very cautiously, after careful study, the market's manager said Monday.

As part of work for a new strategic plan to guide the market's operations over the next five years, market staff talked to more than 3,000 people, market manager Kim Feere told Kitchener councillors at a planning committee Monday.

By far the biggest issue for customers was seeing the market open a second day of the week, Feere said. "They want to have more market days," she said. "Sixty per cent of respondents would visit Kitchener Market more often if a farmers' market was offered one or two more days per week between May and October."

There was also some interest in an evening market.

Some councillors were skeptical, though. "Years ago there was a second day market," said Coun. Zyg Janecki. "It lasted three years. The reason I understand that the market started to fizzle out was that there wasn't enough customers."

Some vendors are keen to see a second market day, and "some that are adamantly against it," Feere said.

Adding an extra market day "has been tried many times over the last 25 years, and it's never been successful," said Coun. John Gazzola.

The St. Jacobs market is open twice weekly year-round, and opens a third day in the summer.

Any expansion of the Kitchener Market would need to be done very carefully, with a lot more consultation of both potential customers and vendors, Feere said. Adding a second market day just during the summer months could probably happen sooner, but she said a year-round weekday market wouldn't make sense before the LRT starts in early 2018, bringing the potential for a lot more foot traffic.

The city would need to have an attraction, such as live music, to attract people to a midweek market, Feere said. The city would also have to send a clear message that a midweek market would be different than the Saturday market, she said.

"The opportunity to add days to the market is going to really depend on the level of urbanization that takes place" near the market, said Rod Regier, Kitchener's executive director of economic development, who oversees the market.

The strategic plan also called for the market to take on a bigger role as a hub for the local foodie culture, and as a support for local food businesses, which could use the market kitchen as a test market, or try out new products at a temporary market stall.

The plan also aims to increase the market's visibility, with better signage and more entertainment and events on the main square in front of the market.

Councillors enthusiastically endorsed the plan, with just Gazzola voting against it, although several members of council said they are keen to see a business plan, expected early in 2017, that would spell out in more detail what new initiatives might cost, whether they would require more staff, and what revenues they might generate.

The market gets a subsidy of $248,000 a year from the city, though that has been steadily shrinking since the new market building opened in 2004. The city also spends about $280,000 a year to run the building.

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Coun. Scott Davey asked if the market would likely break even within, say 10 years. "I really couldn't say," Feere said. "Quite frankly, I don't think it's likely. The building is aging, so our expenses will go up. As we increase the programming, there are costs to that."