Sweet Auburn Market

Sweet Auburn Curb Market was founded in 1918 after the Great Atlanta fire of 1917. Although it was founded in 1918, the Atlanta Women’s Club fundraised for a fireproof brick building in 1924 open the market in a new building. According to a recent article from exploregeorgia.org “The market is home to thirty local businesses, including fresh produce, seafood, pharmacies, and ten of the most popular eateries in the city.” (The Municipal) The market opened its doors to all races during segregation to give a place where everyone could sell and eat food together. Sweet Auburn Curb market was not always called Sweet Auburn, it changed from the Municipal Market in the 1990s to represent Auburn Avenue.

The first time I visited Sweet Auburn Curb market was when I was leaving a doctor’s appointment with my parents. On the way home, we stopped at this old abandoned looking brick building. I didn’t know why we were there but my parents and I got out the car and we entered this building. Little did I know that I was about to enter a historic market with food from almost every part of the world and people from every part of the world. When I first entered the market I immediately recognized sweet fragrances of fresh oranges, fresh bananas, and fresh mangos. Even though the marker smell caught my attention, I was amazed at the amount of businesses that were in one building. Seafood, natural produce, butcher shop, pharmacies, Chinese, bakeries, and even gift shops. While I was there I ate cheese burgers and fries but every time I went back I tried a new meal.

 Recently I took my taste buds back to the market to try the restaurants. When I was there I realized that there were more customers than the last time I was there. That made me wonder since Sweet Auburn is downtown around a lot of fast food restaurants doesn’t it have major competition. Then I asked myself why customers prefer the market over fast food. In attempts to figure out why, during my recent visit I interviewed a manager to a restaurant. Her responses were centered around the idea that customers prefer to know how fresh their food is and where it comes from. The woman interview was named Sharonda Johnson she managed a fresh produce stand by the name of the S&H Produce shop. Sharonda believed that “The customers love to shop from here because the fresh food we get every week don’t taste the same as the other places.” This makes sense because on the burger I ate the buns looked different and pickles had different flavors from what I was used to. The pickles from the burgers were not as sweet as the pickles in a jar. The buns were almost commercial like fluffy, not greasy, could truly taste bread and not butter. “I been here for 11 years and not once have a person ever told me that they weren’t satisfied with the food. Every restaurant around here works to be better than any restaurant in the city, we taste better, were affordable, and we are a family and the people that shops here know that.”(Johnson)

Sweet Auburn market is home to thirty very successful businesses. It has customers from every race to come and shop. During the interview with Ms.Johnson I ask “why is the market still up and running, what makes it so successful” This was crucial to my investigation because the market was founded over a century ago and here today it is still successful as if it was just created. “Sweet Auburn has uniqueness, unique restaurants, unique produces, and unique tastes.” (Johnson) The statement quoted above showed how much passions they have about their market. From the website to the market itself it shows people really value Sweet Auburn.

This market was known mainly for its history but also for its authenticity and truthfulness. The managers make sure that every customer know that their food is from where it says it’s from and pulled fresh to eat. From the book Food matters an author by the name of Troy Johnson wrote a selection about how he disliked when restaurant defrauded its customers with lies about greenwashing. Johnson talked about how the restaurants lie to their customers about food and where it really comes from, but Auburn Sweet market does not. Sweet Auburn is the complete opposite and it would be in favor with Johnson thoughts. The market is truthful on where its food is from and how fresh it is. My final impression of Sweet Auburn market is that it memorable. I will always remember the food and the first time I been there, and I hope that it’ll always be as successful as it is now so I could bring more family and friends.

Photo Attributions
"IMG_6859" by Emily M Connor is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0
"IMG_6894" by Emily M Connor is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0