By Jim Bissett
For The Dominion Post
Fairmont – Merchant Street on Fairmont’s East Side is a pretty percolating place these days.
The bustling commercial strip is right down from the Interstate 79 and the city’s Gateway Connector, and come June 2, it will be percolating even more.
Just ask Taylor McCartney.
Percolating, she knows.
She’s the founder and chief barista of Groove Coffee, the mobile coffee trailer that will be a fixture of the Fairmont Farmers Market, which launches June 2 for its 2026 summer season.
The market will be open from 4 to 7 p.m. on Tuesdays at 214 Merchant St., which is prime real estate overlooking the Monongahela River and Fairmont’s Palatine Park.
Look for fresh produce and more fresh produce, she said.
And, of course, all your favorite steaming beverages served up by Groove Coffee.
“It’s just a nice setting for the Farmers Market,” said McCartney, who grew up in Fairmont and parks her Groove Coffee trailer all across north-central West Virginia.
McCartney was one of the business people who helped keep the market going after its resurgence last year.
The Friendly City is part of her brew, she said.
She came up in Muriale’s Italian Kitchen, the city’s landmark restaurant, where she worked her way up to a manager and caterer, on her way to earning a design degree from Pierpont Community and Technical College.
Just like the old book about kindergarten, all she really needed to know about the hospitality industry and running a business, she learned at the restaurant.
“It made me who I am today,” she said of the experience.
Now she wants you to experience the width and breadth of the newly recalibrated Farmers Market in her hometown.
Visit the Fairmont Farmers Market on Facebook for all the particulars and updates this summer.
“It’s a great setting,” she said.
“We want Fairmont, and the Fairmont Farmers Market, to thrive. Come see us.”
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