Soulard’s New Market Master Calls Mehlville Home

Mehlville resident Carol Noel took over as Market Master at Soulard Market in early April, one week before the Top Chef competition, but the commotion of camera crews and crowds didn’t ruffle Noel. She’s handled big challenges with assurance as a former catering director for ESPN events and as a venue planner for the Olympics.

“When you execute a big event or a venue, you design a platform,” she said. “You envision the event at the end, then go back step by step and figure out how to get there.”

Noel’s Soulard platform is to bring more guests to the market with special events. “We’ll have classes on recycling for children and market tours for groups like the Red Hat Ladies followed by lunch. We’re minutes from downtown. I want to attract the professionals who live in lofts with wine classes.”

Every Saturday the market thrums with shoulder-to-shoulder crowds. Music from banjo-picked traditional tunes to the coolest jazz, the rolling cadence of vendors’s calls, the smell of hot dogs and the painterly still lifes of fruits and vegetables bombard visitors with much to see and hear.

Noel emphasizes the market is open Wednesday through Saturdays year round, and not just for fresh produce. Spices, flowers, bakery products, bedding plants, soaps and general merchandise from 149 different vendors fill stalls as well.

“Soulard produce is good value for the money,” Noel said. “The flavor of fresh can’t be beat. Plus, the historical value, the sense of the city’s past—some of our vendors’ families have had stalls here since the opening of the market.”

Noel is big on family and tradition. She moved to Mehlville seven years ago to be closer to her children. “Our home was a great value, but it needed a major rehab,” she said. Her six children, their spouses and the grandchildren all helped.

“Everybody put on safety goggles to re-make the house,” she said. “Now we have a great place to celebrate and get together. After we put in our pool, we call home our waterfront property, too.”

Her commute to Soulard from Mehlville is an easy 20 minutes north on Highway 55.  

“I see Soulard Market as beautiful, with a friendly atmosphere, wonderful shopping, excellent values—a must-see for visitors and residents alike,” she said. Noel plans to make it even more so, beginning now.