Edible Food Find: Market on Brussels
Photos by Adam DeTour
With tiny plastic spoons at the ready, Marle Towne doled out samples of her award-winning Bali Marle Indonesian black sambal to a group of four curious customers.
“Oh!” one exclaimed. “That’s what it does to ya!” Immediately, Michelle Hamilton purchased two.
Nestled amid a handful of sturdy brick buildings from a bygone era, local residents and small business owners laugh, smile and buy. It’s the weekly Market on Brussels outside the M.J. Whittall Mills on Brussels Street in Worcester, and everyone’s having a blast.
“Love it. Absolutely love it,” says Hamilton, an Auburn resident. “Each week we’ve brought different people, and everyone’s excited to bring more.”
On this particular Sunday in late July, there are meats, mushrooms, vinegars, fruits and veggies, baked goods, pressed flowers, wood art, cutting boards and much more from 30-plus vendors. Towne looks forward to setting up shop here biweekly.
“This market is amazing with amazing people,” says Towne. “They really support small businesses and appreciate our hard work.”
The Market on Brussels emerged after the success of a one-day, mid-October farmers market last fall where more than 500 people visited it on Exchange Street. Julia Moriconi, who also owns Mrs. Moriconi's Ice Cream, took on the market from Stephanie Ramey, who organized the fall “proof of concept market,” and chose to move it to private property outside her business in an otherwise sleepy area. Ramey remains on the market’s five-member leadership committee.
The first Market on Brussels attracted more than 2,000 people. About 1,000 come each week, but larger crowds are expected in the fall, including Holy Cross students on a regular shuttle.
“I think it’s done so well because people wanted this market,” Moriconi says. “We had to make a destination for people who want to get into their cars and drive here.”
Turn into the Brussels Street complex just off Interstate 290, and ushers direct vehicles into an expansive lot with a view up the hill at Holy Cross. Behind a yellow-sided building and through a driveway lined with commercial vehicles, more than 20 vendors set up each week.
One of those weekly vendors is Just For Fun Microgreens and owner Owen Chase. He participated in the one-time market last fall. The consistency of a weekly market in Worcester helps his business build a regular customer base. “It helps with exposure,” Chase says. “You’d rather have every week at 70% or 80% compared to one [single] day at 100%.”
Moriconi’s total vendor list numbers more than 50, plus there’s a waitlist. The goal: a full open-air experience with everything you’d need from your grocery list. In addition to the vendors, the market hosts live music. The Courthouse Brew Co. and Acoustic Java spaces adjacent to the market draw extra traffic each week.
Mark Gawlak, co-owner of Courthouse Brew, says Worcester summers are notoriously “pretty bad” for the food and beverage industry. Not anymore, at least not on this day of the week. “Our Sundays now are what we got in a (whole) weekend before” Gawlak says.
Kate Stillman, owner of Stillman Quality Meats in Hardwick, has worked farmers markets for more than three decades. In addition to selling raw meat, they grill up burgers fresh to order.
“We absolutely love this,” says Stillman, as she gives directions to a customer on the best way to grill sausages in their natural casing. “We do well. It takes time to build relationships, everyone acknowledges that and are ready to do it.”
For vendors like Towne, Market on Brussels offers ample opportunity—whether it’s making sales, building relationships or just getting out in front of the community.
“Here,” she says, “it’s always a good day.”
marketonbrussels.com
Sundays 11am–3pm through October 26
This story appeared in the Fall 2025 issue.
