NORWALK – 100 Mile Market brings the market experience to people’s homes.
Founded by a team of four environmentalists, including Norwalk resident Elise Gilchrist, the company operates as a farmers market. online and new pickup locations in East and South Norwalk.
Customers can shop for collections or specials online and pick up the products later in the week at one of the two Norwalk stores. Everything is sourced within 100 miles of the pickup location, Gilchrist said.
“The idea is that we go to an area and find small farmers, ranchers, food businesses, people who make great granola, salsas, pasta sauces, and put them on one simple website,” he said. of Gilchrist. “We have good, local, high quality, healthy food. People want it, but it’s hard to find it unless you take the time to go to local farmers markets.”
100 Mile Market eliminates the need to attend a local farmers market, but allows residents to find products on their own schedule, Gilchrist said.
Customers order their products, ranging from groceries to meat, milk, prepared foods, baked goods and coffee, among other things, on Monday and either receive a delivery or return pick up from one of two locations in Norwalk on Thursday.
100 Mile Markets only operates in Norwalk, but plans to reopen its location in Saratoga, NY, and expand to Westport, Mass., according to the market.
“Our first location was in Saratoga, N.Y. We recently shut that down for a while but will be reopening,” Gilchrist said. “We started one there and chose one in Massachusetts while we were early in the business and looking for areas where we have personal relationships.”
For Gilchrist, Norwalk made sense as a starting point since he lived in the city for two years. One of the company’s founders, Rita Higgins, is from Saratoga, Gilchrist said.
While the company has been in the works for a few months, the idea has been in the works for years, Gilchrist said.
The first pickup location in Norwalk was at the Harbor Harvest restaurant and market on Cove Avenue in East Norwalk. The Harbor Harvest pickup location has been up and running for about two months, Gilchrist said.
“It took a long time to implement activities and groups and build relationships with customers, but we work with 30 local customers, small farms and businesses within 100 miles of Norwalk and probably almost in it’s 20 miles,” Gilchrist said.
Just this month, 100 Mile Markets began partnering with sustainable grocery, restaurant and entertainment space Eco Evolution on Washington Street in South Norwalk to create a third location. Two pickups in town.
“The couple who own and run (Harbor Harvest) when I reached out, talked about the idea, they were very supportive,” Gilchrist said. “If you live in East Norwalk or more in the Westport area, Harbor Harvest is good for you, but people in South Norwalk will be able to walk to Eco Evolution.”
Harbor Harvest and Eco Evolution did not respond to requests for comment about the partnership.
Because the produce and products are collected from local farmers, some of the items available will change and be special, Gilchrist said.
One of the benefits of buying from 100 Mile Markets is the business model ensures that no food waste is produced, Gilchrist said.
“The farmers are just picking what they can get this week. Some customers are brand new. If you’re buying baked goods, it’s probably baked the day you pick it up, brew it right away,” Gilchrist said. “The interesting part of the model and the reason we do it this way, in part, is the season. We wanted to be able to change and update the research every time, but it also means there is absolutely no waste in the whole process. Customers are throwing away exactly what they ordered.”
Abigail Brone can be reached at [email protected]
