|
The Viroqua Public Market...
Wisconsin's Oldest Public Market &
home of the Viroqua Farmer's Market, indoor season - every Saturday Morning!
Thank you for visiting here.
Viroqua sits amidst the bluffs, coulees, and small , snake-like streams of enchanting Driftless Region of Southwestern Wisconsin. This region is unusual because it has never been tilled over by ancient glaciers (three of them!). Viroqua, is also special, for it is a place now in rapid evolution... An evolution, should you visit, that you not only can observe, but indeed, participate in! And now...
Viroqua
has a city center! This town square can be found in the charming confines of the lovingly rehabbed award-wining, historic Clark/Peterson building, complete with streetlamps, benches and even a fountain. The space is a genuine public market - where local artisans, farmers and other merchants hawk their wares on the market floor. Most of the businesses sell some, if not entirely, locally made or grown items. In the public market you can discover..
...some of the most unique, high quality, hand-created items in America, all sold directly by the people who make them! This kind of entrepreneurship, invigorates the saying "MADE IN AMERICA"!
The
market is anchored by the Saturday morning Viroqua Farmer's Market, one of the best in the State! In addition the Public Market is home to GREENMAN MUSIC HALL Viroqua's premiere music, event, dance, arts cultural center and banquet facility... VIVA local fine artists' collective, Sibby's Organic Zone Ice Cream Parlor & Cafe ..... Greenman Music & Vinyl.... Artos, artisan bakery, and over one hundred other public market merchants. 
The Viroqua Public Market is one of the only Ten Thousand Villages, Fair-Trade import retail outlets in Wisconsin! This, and so much more awaits you.
If you are unable to visit us in person, you may enjoy browsing our online e-store for a bit of virtual shopping. CLICK HERE TO VISIT OUR E-STORE. The soil of our region is millions of years old, making it some of the richest in the world. We have always had a connection  to it, and it to us. An interlaced synergistic swirl of earth, humanity, and expression, surrounds us. As we move into a new era, as this evolution unfolds before our eyes, the energy of the earth and of our consciousness will blend, sustaining and enhancing our society.The Historic Viroqua Public Market... a crossroads in time, a common space to share with the world all that which inevitably grows!
-Dr. Tony Macasaet and the other managers of the Viroqua Public Market
"hands down, some of the most unique shopping in the Coulee region!" -p.k. a recent shopper from La Crosse
"Neighbors selling to neighbors - harnessing the power of our fertile soil and creative spirit"
vendor info | contact | travel info | about the area | calendar | news
MORE about the viroqua public market >>>
At the turn of the last century, one third of towns in the United States had public markets, anchoring their downtown commerce and culture. Since these times, with the advent of corporate supermarkets, mega-farms, interstate trucking and the demand for convenience over quality, we have lost this American treasure. New American Boulevard LLC, a progressive real estate developer, has rekindled this piece of Americana, in the heart of Viroqua, Wisconsin. During the spring of 2004, we witnessed the birth of the Viroqua Public Market @ Main Street Station, in the  historic Clark/Peterson Motors building. The 12,000 square feet complex built in 1912, houses a bustling 6,000 sq/ ft. public market, for local farmers, artisans, craftspeople and other entrepreneurs to sell their goods, year-round. The market is anchored by permanent Main Street retail storefronts. The interior has been completely rehabbed and designed to resemble an old-world town square, with a fountain, streetlamps and benches in the center. A large garage door opens to a landscaped common area to the rear, containing quaint residential buildings. Sun streams in from reclaimed skylights, original to the building. For more about the history of the building, click here.
But more than just a business location, we hope to foster
the creation of a place. Not simply another
location to buy and sell things,  but
also a place, in a more intangible and spiritual sense,
one that may have different meanings to each who enters.
Over time, it may be a place to meet a new friend, to
exchange ideas, or to find inspiration. The possibilities
are infinite. Main Street Station will become the town
center we lost so many decades ago. Perhaps we can even
bring the people back to downtown, from the enticements
of shopping in our “suburbs”.
The building is listed on the National
Register of Historic Places (it is listed on the
local register, as well). The front façade largely
remains unchanged. An elegant, backlit “Main Street
Station”  sign spans the brick
arch. Bold, oversized red doors welcome people in (and
so begins the adventure). We have redeployed art glass
transom windows over each storefront. In the center
of the space there is a fountain, flanked by four streetlamps,
each with its own bench. The surrounding walls have
original and faux elements to simulate little shops
and buildings, creating a sense one is standing in a
town square. The tradition retail business take up the
Main Street
side of the complex. During warmer  days, the large garage
door to the east are be kept open, for an open-air market
feel. Plants and flowers fill the space at every turn.
The sound of falling water and the music from street
musicians often hangs in the background. Energy from
the excitement at discovering a unique gift, from stimulating
conversation, or from a moment to dream, permeates the
air.
The market has the real potential to help people choose to come to Viroqua. Viroqua must become a destination. Our hope is that Main Street Station plays, at least a small part in attracting visitors to our beloved town.
One of Viroqua's greatest assets is our genuine
small town experience. That kind of experience
is impossible to create; it-must-just-exist.
A development, like the one we have created, enhances
this asset without adversely altering it (like, for
example, a water park would). Travelers from the big
city will find the charm of staying in our market complex
irresistible. It has become a means to experience less
complicated and more peaceful and balanced living.
 The Viroqua Public Market @ Main Street Station is a foremost destination for downtown Viroqua. It is one of the many reasons people choose to visit our wonderful town. The public market acts as an entrepreneurial incubator, allowing people the means to actually forge out on their own. Products are produced and sold locally (why pay a middleman from somewhere else?). We are bringing hearts and minds together in a comfortable and attractive space, in the center of downtown Viroqua.
"hands down, some of the most unique shopping in the Coulee region" -p.k. a recent shopper from La Crosse
vendor info | contact | travel info | about the area | calendar | news [return to top]
Merchant Display Case Spaces $5! |
The Viroqua Public Market @ Main Street Station
