Joe Haskett can’t count the number of Sundays he’s swung by St. Lawrence Market for a meal only to find the historic red-brick building closed.

“Our schedules are pretty hectic Monday through Friday and that often bleeds into Saturday. So Sunday is usually the only day to take time to go out,” said Haskett, sitting at a table on the market’s bottom floor on a bustling Saturday afternoon.

“It just feels right for it to be open on Sundays.”

It’s a sentiment the city says it often hears from customers of Toronto’s St. Lawrence Market, and it is considering extending of operating hours for the storied south building.

The city says there is substantial public appetite for “optimized hours” at the market, home to butchers, spice shops, restaurants and dozens of other vendors.

A public consultation over possible changes is scheduled for Wednesday , from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., at the temporary market at the corner of Market Street and the Esplanade.

The south market currently operates five days a week. It’s open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Fridays and 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays.

“In the past number of years the St. Lawrence Market neighbourhood has grown as a result of development and food purchasing habits are evolving as the lifestyles of Toronto residents and visitors are changing,” a spokesperson from the city-owned St. Lawrence Market Complex said in a statement.

“The market is often regarded as an anchor in the market neighbourhood and is always looking for ways to positively contribute to the community and support residents.”

If there is a change in hours or days opened, it could come into effect by late fall at the earliest, a city spokesperson said.

The possibility of change is being met with mixed feelings by the market’s merchants, some of whom have been working their shops for decades.

“I work 53 hours a week. Reorganizing those 53 hours, I’m pretty much OK with. I have mixed feelings on working Sunday because that is my family day, my social day,” said Sara Spector, owner and operator of Everyday Gourmet Coffee Roasters.

Spector is also the president of the market’s tenant association. Most of the vendors inside the market are small family businesses, she said, and adding another day isn’t as simple as scheduling another shift or two.

“I think a lot of people forget about the human aspect of it,” she said.

“We’re not Loblaws. We’re 64 families, basically, and we get two days off like everybody else. That’s the way it’s been and I think a lot of us feel like, ‘Why do I have to give that up?’ ”

Spector said there is still too much unknown about the city’s plans.

“What are we looking at? Are we looking at Sunday in February or Sunday in July. Those are two different things,” she said.

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“I think there is a lot that goes into reorganizing the hours of the market, and it needs to be done in a very meticulous, thoughtful way.”

For some vendors, opening the doors on Sundays is a sound business move.

Randy Simon, one of the managers at Mike’s Fish Market, said there’s no logic in closing the doors of a large-scale downtown shopping destination on Sunday.

“All other stores are open on Sundays, why not us?” he questioned.

“This is a very special place in the city. Rich, medium, poor, everyone comes here and gets what they need. That’s how it should be.”

A few aisles from his stand, George Vasiliades agrees it’s about time the city looked into the possibility of opening on Sundays. His logic: Most people go to work throughout the week, and weekends are the only times they get to go shopping.

“Especially in the summer, there’s a lot of tourists who come to Toronto and want to check out the market on Sundays,” said Vasiliades, a manager at the St. Lawrence Fish Market.

“Just don’t rush the process. Make sure the public knows it’s happening, and give us enough time to prepare with additional staff and everything.”

Over the cheese counter at Alex Farm Products, a manager who would only identify as Socrates said the idea of opening the market on Sundays is simply a “waste of time.”

In addition to the area being “practically deserted” on Sundays, he said it is the time when people relax and stay home with their families, sipping wine and preparing for the week ahead.

“Does city hall open on Sunday?” he retorted. “If it’s too expensive for banks to be open on Sundays, it must be equally expensive for cheese vendors, too.”