West Asheville Tailgate Market to reopen with new safety guidelines

The West Asheville Tailgate Market will officially reopen on Tuesday, April 7th at 3:30 p.m.

Letter from West Asheville Tailgate Market:

To our incredible community,

We have been working very hard to establish Emergency Safety Guidelines in order to open and operate during the COVID-19 pandemic.  It’s important for all to remember that we are able to be open because we are an open-air grocery store and not a social gathering.

While many of us love that we get to see friends and socialize while shopping, we urge you to keep the required 6 feet of space and shop swiftly so as many people as possible can pass through the market. Failure to follow the protocol could result in market closure.  No one wants that.  When we’re allowed, there’s going to be so much embracing and lingering we won’t be able to bear it.

Until then, lots of love but absolutely zero hugs,The WATM Team

GENERAL CHANGES
No customer or vendor exhibiting symptoms will be allowed to enter the market
Children must be closely supervised by an adult.
No pets allowed.
Food samples are not allowed.
Church restrooms will NOT be available to vendors or to customers to avoid exposing church members.
More strict guidelines and changes may occur at any time.

BY THE NUMBERS

The market begins at 3:30pm.  No one is allowed to begin shopping/selling before 3:30pm.
There must be 7′ between vendor canopies.
There must be 6′ between all people at the market ALL times.
No more than 1 customer is allowed at each vendor tent at a time.  Any others must wait to be served 6’ or more away.
The total number of shoppers will be limited (50 max.) by market staff.
Customers will be asked to wait in their car if the market is full.

PRODUCTS + PAYMENT

Products should be pre-packed or bunched before the market.  In cases where that is not possible, customers can describe or point to the product that they want and the vendor will put it in a bag for them.
“No contact” payment forms such as Venmo or Paypal are preferred.
Vendors may accept credit cards, at their option, but must handle cards with dedicated gloves if accepted.
The market will still use SNAP tokens and disinfect them weekly.
Cash will not be accepted at WATM until further notice.

DISINFECTION
WATM will provide hand-washing stations and hand sanitizer for customers and vendors.
Vendors must sanitize surfaces before, during, and after the market
Staff will sanitize public surfaces before, during, and after the market.
This implies both vendors and the market must use cleanable surfaces.
Gloves are highly advised and should be used if handling customer credit cards.

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