My Market: "The Future" | What happens after the party?

As soon as the 100 candles on Pike Place Market's birthday cake are extinguished on Friday, celebration will give way to hard realities.

As the Market enters its second century, at a time it draws an estimated 10 million visitors a year, it faces several key challenges.

The greatest and most immediate is the same one it has faced for decades — how to successfully serve both tourists and locals and, in turn, keep the merchants who depend on them happy.

Already, competition from neighborhood farmers markets is siphoning away many of the Market's traditional local shoppers, with tourists largely taking over. But an opportunity exists now to nudge the Market more toward its purist roots as a neighborhood farmers market.

High-rise condominiums are going up around the Market, ushering in an upscale class of potential Market shoppers. Four luxury condo projects within a few blocks are scheduled to open in 2008 and 2009, totaling 548 new homes. Average purchase price: $1.6 million.

"It's up to the people who work at the Market to jump through this window of opportunity, and those windows can shut really quick," said Ben Craft, a produce and flower seller at the Market for 32 years under the banner of his family farm, Alm Hill Gardens.

Downtown condo dwellers have food-shopping options besides the Market. Specialty grocers such as Whole Foods in the South Lake Union area have opened. At Second Avenue and Pine Street, a yet-unnamed "urban market" is set to open in about 18 months as part of the new "1" Hotel & Residences.

These markets offer downtown condo dwellers something Pike Place Market does not — a place to shop for groceries after 6 p.m.

More pressure undoubtedly will be put on Market vendors and merchants — particularly those selling food — to stay open later to better serve the downtown condo crowd. That would mark a radical reversal in the up-early, home-early traditions of those who make their living at the Market.

And at the Market, change often is met with resistance.

The diverse mix of farmers, retailers, restaurateurs and artisans rarely agree about anything, and their relationship with Market administration has long been adversarial. Drama and anxiety are part of the character of the Market community.

Will residents of pricey condos insist that the Market abandon its gritty ways? Will the Market's administration respond by gentrifying the Market to meet a demand? And will the Market lose its character as a result?

"The Market will be around for a long time," Craft predicts. "Whether it'll stay a bona fide farmers market is questionable, though."

Upwardly mobile?

Other uncertainties cloud the Market's future.

One is beyond the Market's control: the fate of the Alaskan Way Viaduct, which will directly impact the feel and flow of the place.

Another speaks to the Market's physical condition, with voters to be asked next year to approve tens of millions of dollars to pay for structural upgrades — some of which are about as exciting as buying a new water heater.

And in 2009, a delicate accord could be revisited that divvies up table space between farmers and craftspeople — and that could affect the internal peace at the Market.

History teaches that when the Market has faced a crossroads, it has survived and often thrived. While arms flail and hands wring, the Market has managed to adapt without losing sight of its sense of self.

Tight controls and strict regulations are in place that are specifically designed to preserve the Market's unique character. Its charter prohibits chain stores, encourages unique start-up businesses and guarantees housing for about 500 low-income people.

The Market also serves as an incubator for small business, like when Ruvane Richman opened a small optical shop 25 years ago. Today, his Market Optical has grown to three locations, specializing in high-end frames but also serving the Market's low-income residents.

"The Market has to be a reflection of the people around it," Richman said. "If people around it are increasingly upwardly mobile, then you can't ignore that. The beauty is that because of the charter, the Market will never just be that."

Those who work at the Market know change is inevitable but say it must be subtle and occur in baby steps. Changes cannot be dictated by Market officials but rather must happen organically, said Cynthia Hope, who 25 years ago opened Hands of the World, a folk-art boutique in the DownUnder.

"I'd like to think small businesses at the Market will change their product mix to a small degree to better serve the locals," she said. "If they are not able to adapt and grow as businesses, then I suppose attrition will take over."

Shoppers in the condos

Past efforts to keep the Market open later have failed because too few food vendors have been willing to participate.

"I remember there being a big controversy over whether the Market should open on Sundays," recalled Craft, of Alm Hill. "Everybody was up in arms but we went ahead and did it, and now Sunday is our busiest day of the week."

Craft supports staying open later but has nagging doubts about whether condo dwellers actually shop at the Market.

"I've had people who said they didn't want to buy a flat of berries, which weighs 3 ½ pounds, because they didn't want to have to carry it up the street to their condo," he said. "Oftentimes, I wonder if the folks living in the condos and high-rises even cook. They have so much expendable income, maybe they eat out at restaurants every night."

Pike Place Market nevertheless is a big part of the marketing of downtown living.

Condo residents seek a European-style experience of walking to the Market to buy a baguette, a slice of meat or fish, and some fresh vegetables for that night's dinner, said Dean Jones, president of Realogics, which markets several luxury downtown properties.

Although they might be able to buy the same things at Whole Foods, "once they get into a car, it's an entirely different experience," he said.

Sydne Albanese, who in July 2003 opened Local Color, a coffee house and art gallery in a prime location on Pike Place, keeps her shop open until 7 in the summer and 6 in the winter. Local Color hosts an art opening the first Saturday evening of every month, and Albanese said she would like to start offering live music every Friday and Saturday night.

"I'm happy to stay open as long as people are down there," she said.

Authentic vs. functional

Political decisions over the next few years will have major impacts on the feel of the Market.

A special levy in 2008, estimated to raise $50 million to $100 million, will be pitched to voters as an investment to modernize the Market without drastically changing its character.

"The Market can be authentic and functional at the same time," said Hope, owner of Hands of the World.

But many of the expensive system upgrades wouldn't be noticeable to the public, which could make the levy a tough sell.

The money would be spent on new elevators and restrooms, as well as transforming some "dead zones" on the backside of the Market into small plazas where visitors could relax over coffee or lunch. Upgrades would be made to electrical and ventilation systems, but cooling would continue to rely on fresh air, not freon.

One possible change would be far more visible: building a sidewalk along the west side of Pike Place, running the length of the arcade.

Retail space and farmer tables could be installed, with the goal to ease the overcrowding inside the arcade and on the sidewalk across the street — making the Market more manageable for the local wanting to buy some peaches and salmon and then skedaddle.

The physical changes wrought by the levy would be nothing compared with how the feel of the Market could be affected if the viaduct is either rebuilt or torn down.

Another uncertainty that could affect the feel of the Market is more esoteric.

In 2009, Market officials and the City Council could opt to rewrite an agreement that guarantees a certain number of day-stall tables to craftspeople. That group has often felt it has to justify its right to sell at the Market alongside farmers.

"We are the ones who keep this place lively, especially in the winter," said Claudia Kelly, a seamstress with 25 years of selling at the Market, specializing in silk and velvet scarves and jackets. "We set the mood for the entire market. We are the front-line ambassadors."

If the Market starts catering more to downtown condo dwellers, that could hurt the craftspeople.

"In order to make enough money to be here, I have to cater to the tourists," Kelly said.

But Richman said his Market Optical relies on locals buying prescription eyewear. He dislikes seeing the Market become more tourist-oriented, yet has adapted his business by expanding his line of sunglasses.

Before moving to an improved streetfront location on Pike Place, Richman said he considered moving his flagship store out of the Market.

"I do have an affinity toward the Market, but the reality is my business was going down," Richman said. "If someone came in new, they would have a hard time running an optical shop at the Market."

Stuart Eskenazi: 206-464-2293 or seskenazi@seattletimes.com