Plans were underway to launch an organic produce section for the Farmers Market, but they got put on hold during the pandemic and should start to become a reality in early 2022. The 600-acre farm she and John and their kids look after grows soybeans, wheat and corn. Some of our retail store owners have been here for 40 and 50 years.”Īckerman and her husband and children look after a 600-acre farm in Salem County between Elmer and Franklinville and Janice said she was raised on a produce farm in Mount Laurel before much of that municipality became housing, retail and warehouse tracts. That works out really well for vendors, for store owners, and for us because it provides more variety for our customers. Most of the 60 stores are owned by families, and she stressed, “we have a lot of diversity with the stores so we don’t have a lot of repeated product lines. “We have about 60 indoor stores now and we have an outdoor flea market which operates on Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays.” “Over time it’s developed into a larger retail space,” Janice Ackerman said.

Central Jersey Equipment, a John Deere distributorship, occupies two buildings of farm equipment to support farmers around the state, a wooden palette business occupies another building and a third building is occupied by Goodwill Industries, a chain of thrift shops. The nursery operator is open on a seasonal basis from April to the end of October, and many vendors take advantage of Columbus Self Storage, also on the site. The indoor retail space amounts to about 100,000 square feet, and that includes merchandise and food vendors. “We all developed skill sets as needed over the course of three decades, including things you never knew you wanted to learn how to do,” she said with a laugh.Ĭolumbus Farmers Market sits on about 200 acres and the outdoor flea market, open on weekends only, includes 1,200 vendor spaces. John Ackerman and Charles Pratt bought Columbus Farmers Market in 1988, and shortly after, Janice was installed as general manager, overseeing more than 60 vendors.

Over time, it’s developed into a much larger space with an outdoor flea market open on weekends that rivals Englishtown Auction in Monmouth County. “It began as a cattle auction and was started by the Tallman family.” “Initially, the Columbus Farmers Market was established in 1929 in the town of Columbus which is about two miles north of here,” Janice said.

Janice Ackerman of Upper Pittsgrove Township is General Manager here and she’s been here 33 years, with her husband John, a farmer and real estate developer, and his partner, Charles Pratt. It is as much a center for merchandise - a flea market - as it is a center for fruits and vegetables, meats, an Amish market with value-added goods and an extensive seafood market. Called the Columbus Farmers Market for years, the facility’s more recent owners – for the last 33 years - decided not to change the name. (Photo by Richard Skelly)ĬOLUMBUS - Although it’s called the Columbus Farmers Market, this gargantuan complex off Route 206 here is actually a grouping of indoor and outdoor food and merchandise vendors, a self-storage facility, a nursery and a base for farm equipment. From left, John and Janice Ackerman and Charles Pratt have operated the Columbus Farmers’ Market since purchasing it in 1988.

Goodwill columbus market