Hapeville is home to a new fresh produce business located in the heart of the city. Sherry’s Produce, located at 3451 Dogwood Drive has taken up residence in the former Perk Place Café building owned by Laura Murphy.

The fresh market provides a vast array of fruits, vegetables, meats, breads, jams and hot sauces.

While driving through the city one recent day, Sherry Harris happened to see that the building she had admired for years was vacant.

“I’ve always liked this building, my dad had a farmer’s market on the other end of town 27 years ago and it looked just like this,” said Ms. Harris.

After speaking with Ms. Murphy, she said she knew that Hapeville was in need of something like a fresh produce market since there is not grocery store in the city.

With more and more people getting into the habit of buying fresh fruits and vegetables, Ms. Harris wanted to provide the community with a close, affordable place to purchase them.

The market has been open a month, and while business has been relatively slow — mostly due to the cold weather — Ms. Harris said it picks up daily and has grown customers mostly through word of mouth.

“I think it will be good, it just takes a little while to build it,” she said.

Ms. Harris is not too worried, as she has successfully run another farmer’s market in Tucker for the past 11 years.

That business, located mostly outside, is closed during the cold months, so she will split her time between both locations as spring rolls around.

To keep her products fresh she makes sure to buy enough just for each day and gets her produce locally from Georgia, Florida and outlying states.

Prices vary from day to day, but are comparable to what many can find elsewhere.

The market accepts all forms of payment: cash, credit, debit, check and EBT. Hours are Monday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Ms.?Harris said her goal for the market is to offer quality produce to residents and visitors.