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A local merchant who was unceremoniously kicked out of the Greater Westhampton Chamber of Commerce’s Farmers Market said this week that she intends to sue the business group if she isn’t allowed to sell her products at the weekly event.
Erin Finley, the owner of Sydney’s “Taylor” Made Cuisine on Main Street in Westhampton Beach, said the chamber informed her earlier this month that she will not be allowed to share a booth at the market with her longtime friend Steve Price, the owner of Dora’s Gourmet of East Quogue. Ms. Finley said she was told that the chamber was no longer allowing Westhampton Beach merchants to participate in the market, which has been held every Saturday morning in the spring and summer months in the municipal lot off Mill Road for the past seven years, to give those merchants who operate outside of the village a chance to participate and attract new shoppers to the downtown business district.
Ms. Finley, who decided to peddle her goods for the first time this year, pointed out that two other Westhampton Beach businesses—Holey Moses Cheesecakes and Sweet Andy’s Cookies, both on Old Riverhead Road—are still allowed to participate in the market. Ms. Finley, who is president of the Westhampton Beach Alliance of Merchants (WHAM)—a group she founded in 2009 because of her unhappiness with the chamber—believes that her decision to solicit new members for her business group at the market is what prompted her booting.
“I have to assume this is not because I am from Main Street or because I am selling guacamole,” Ms. Finley said while visiting the farmers market on Saturday. “This has nothing to do with Steve; it is all because I was handing out WHAM stuff at my station.”
On Wednesday afternoon, Greater Westhampton Chamber of Commerce President Dwayne Wagner said the chamber board decided in April not to allow Westhampton Beach merchants who are within walking distance to the farmers market to participate in the weekly event. He also pointed out that Holey Moses Cheesecakes and Sweet Andy’s Cookies, the latter of which is in the village, are not within walking distance to the market.
He also denied Ms. Finley’s allegations, noting that she never applied for a vendor spot and was never asked to pay the registration fee.
“Absolutely false,” Mr. Wagner said about the allegations. “This is an additional—not surprising—polarizing behavior that has historically occurred from this particular merchant over a number of years.”
To date, Ms. Finley was only allowed to sell her goods—which included guacamole, fresh tortilla chips, mango salsa and biscotti—on May 5, the opening day of the farmers market. After being allowed to participate, Ms. Finley said she was told the next week that she would no longer be allowed to sell there. Ms. Finley said she intended to ignore the chamber’s warning and set up shop at the market this past Saturday but backed off after being told that Mr. Price would lose his booth if he allowed her to share the space.
Mr. Wagner said the chamber decided last month to remove all Westhampton Beach businesses from the farmers market due to the growing demand for vendor space. He also pointed out that the subletting of vendor spaces violates market rules.
Hank Tucker, the owner of Holey Moses Cheesecake and a Westhampton Beach Village Trustee, said he has not been notified by the chamber of any changes to policy when it comes to village businesses. Mr. Tucker, who has been selling his cheesecakes at the market for five years, also said he has not been asked to leave.
“I haven’t heard anything official from the chamber yet, only rumors around the market,” Mr. Tucker said on Monday. “I would like to hear from the chamber first before I make any comment on the new policy.”
Mr. Tucker did note, however, that his business is located at Gabreski Airport, which is not regulated by the village. Westhampton Beach Mayor Conrad Teller said that businesses based at the airport, which is owned by Suffolk County, are regulated by Southampton Town.
Andrew Terry, the owner of Sweet Andy’s Cookies, a new business that is based in a building on the east side of Old Riverhead Road, just south of the airport and in Westhampton Beach Village, said Tuesday that he is unaware of any rule changes pertaining to the farmers market. His new shop opens this weekend.
As for Ms. Finley, she said she intends to sue the chamber in small claims court and seek the reimbursement of money that she laid out to participate in the market. She estimates spending $1,000 on market-related items, including packaging containers, displays and tablecloths that she no longer needs.
In the interim, Ms. Finley said she is waiting for the chamber to respond to her numerous requests for information about the new regulation, including a copy of the rule change that officials said was made earlier this month.
on May 23, 2012