Quilt show squabble: Sisters vendors, merchants at odds

It’s crunch time for Sisters businesses as the year’s biggest weekend approaches. The weekend quilts blanket downtown, and thousands of tourists flock to the small city.

But this summer, shop owners are also gearing up for a battle over turf and business.

“To me, I feel like they’re dropping a Walmart to the middle of town,” Sisters business owner Kate Aspen said Thursday. “They’re basically poaching off all the hard work the stores have done all year long.”

From Deanna Brainerd’s downtown location, she can see the tents going up across the street.

“Every business will feel this,” Brainerd said. “Temporary vendors come into town to ride on the coattails.”

It’s a relatively new street fair called the Artist Marketplace that has many downtown business owners in a tizzy.

Sixty vendors from far and near will set up shop for the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show. And festival organizers hope to host events all summer.

“Coming during the Quilt Show makes business sense,” said Artist Marketplace sponsor Celia Hung. “Everybody should be able to come in and follow the rules and do their business.”

But the city rules are exactly what the brick-and-mortar shops hope to change. Many want to limit when and how roaming vendors can operate. They especially don’t want them at the quilt show.

“That’s the biggest day of the year,” Aspen said. “That’s when most of the businesses here make a big portion of their money to get through winter. We’re not rich.”

Artists Marketplace promoter Richard Esterman argues vendors will boost profits for everyone by giving tourists another reason to stick around town.

“On quilt show day — on Saturday — it fizzles down around 1, 2 o’clock, and then everybody leaves,” Esterman said.

And besides, he said — not everybody likes quilts.

“We want to give them something else to do, run it until 7 at night, have live entertainment, a beer garden,” Esterman said.

The question now — can Sisters’ biggest weekend get bigger, and still spread the wealth?

The Sisters Planning Commission will attempt to explore that very question at a public hearing on Thursday, July 17th at 5:30 p.m. at city hall.