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Shoppers make a purchase at the new market on Georgia and Peabody. Photo: Tanya Snyders

Monica Green’s wish has come true.

A few months ago, she polled neighbors to see whether they thought a farmers’ market or a flea market with fresh produce would succeed on Kennedy Street, in the area between Third and Seventh streets. She got favorable responses.

But someone else beat her to it. Just a few blocks away, in a parking lot at 5949 Georgia Ave. NW, Sandra Douglas opened Unified Markets on Columbus Day weekend.

Douglas’ vision is for more than 100 vendors to sell art, furniture, clothes and electronics, as well as fresh fruits and vegetables. She imagines a car wash, a face-painting booth, health screenings, a barbecue stand, Jamaican food … But for now, it’s all in her imagination.

In the first couple of weekends, only two or three vendors came out to the parking lot – mostly relatives of hers. She admits that “rain and lack of vendor participation has slowed our start,” but she promises, “We are picking up momentum.” She says about 20 vendors – from Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland and the District – have expressed interest. But so far, no farmers.

For now, she’s charging $20 per vendor. That buys one parking space.

“This is a great opportunity for our uptown residents and DC metro area patrons to experience a marketplace atmosphere from yesteryear,” Douglas says.

She plans for Unified Markets to stay open year-round (weather permitting), operating from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday – by far the most ambitious schedule of any area farmers’ market. Given the positive feedback she’s heard from Brightwood residents eager for an open-air market “uptown,” Douglas says she plans for hers to be “one of the premiere markets in the city.”

But she acknowledges she needs “the support of the community to make this market a success.”