Salt Fork is the one-stop shop open for one day a week in Springfield

October 30, 2025
Oscar
Fruits
0

A new shop for farmers from across Illinois to aggregate and sell their products all in one spot has opened up right in the heart of downtown.
The store is only open for one day a week.
The business is a follow-up to the Bloomington location, Martinelli’s Market.

SPRINGFIELD – A new shop for farmers from across Illinois to aggregate and sell their products all in one spot has opened up right in the heart of downtown.

If you’ve driven past downtown the last few weeks or stopped by the Old Capitol Farmer’s Market, you’ve probably seen a new face to the Adam’s Family corridor: Salt Fork Food Works and Food Hub.

Here’s what to know about Springfield’s one day a week local grocer.

What can I buy at Salt Fork?

Strolling inside, the storefront has a weekly rotating ingredient supply of fresh breads, fruits, vegetables, eggs, cheese, dairy, meats and tasty treats like gelato or even pumpkin butter. The food hub operates as a way for farmers to get their goods into a farmers market without being there in person.

The business relies on aggregating, or producers dropping off products to be sold fresh throughout the week, for Salt Fork to deliver inventory to clients.

Champaign-based owners Jeffrey and Lauren Brokish have partnered with The Farms of Illinois founder Clint Bland to bring together close to 40 farms to co-work and supply the project. A full list of farmers partnered under Salt Fork can be found on their website, or the Farms of Illinois webpage.

The business, which takes up the old space of Ad Astra Wine and Tapas Bar which closed earlier this year at 308 E. Adams, is a unique concept store concept and technically could be considered the first grocer in years downtown, even if the business is only open once per week.

Yes – Saturday, during the farmer’s market from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Brokish said the hours of operation are actually the key behind the success of Salt Fork.

“One of the largest operating costs for any business is labor,” Brokish said. “If we are open multiple days we are cutting labor, staffing one day a week allows us to staff appropriately, we have all of our customers come in on that one day and we’re not spreading everybody so thin using multiple long business hours to stay open.”

Brokish said she has no doubts about the longevity for the project, and has signed a 20-year lease with the building. The trust the pair puts into the store comes from what they say is a strong and healthy farmers market downtown with character they wish to invest in.

However, when winter comes around and the farmers market downtown comes to a close, the store will continue operating year-round.

First of its kind?

Not quite. The first edition of the farmer market food hubs is in the downtown Bloomington Farmers Market, currently operating as Martinelli’s Market at 212 N. Center St., Bloomington.

The Brokish family owns a slew of other business ventures across the state, which work as drop-off and delivery areas for farmers. The food is then delivered throughout central Illinois and the greater Chicago and St Louis communities to commercial kitchens.

The Brokish family run their own farm businesses, producing Illinois-made goat cheese to running a local coffee franchise.

“The bakehouse serves as our distribution vehicle for our locally crafted products,” Brokish said. “As well as partners like Clint to locally aggregate local foods here in Champaign but also aggregated by others outside our geographic area.”

Source link