Summer is the time to do as much as possible outdoors, even shopping.

Making the most of that summertime mood, two sisters from Roselle have taken it upon themselves to start and manage an outdoor market on the village’s Main Street.

This will be the third year Julie Puntch and Amy Reuter will manage Roselle’s Main Street Market. The first market ran for six weeks in 2006, Puntch said.

The market is in the newer section of Main Street, between Roselle Road and Prospect Street. Besides produce, vendors sell a variety of goods, such as baked items, flowers and candles, stated Puntch.

“And this year, we’ll have live music every week,” said Reuter. “It will be a great opportunity for neighbors to gather.”

Last year, the Main Street Market ran for 13 weeks, but Reuter and Puntch saw attendance dip in June and July because of vacations, swim meets and other sporting events, said Puntch. This year, the market will run nine weeks, from August to the middle of October, she stated.

The whole idea of an outdoor market came from Reuter, Puntch said.

“My sister and I used to go to Wheaton’s French Market,” Reuter said. “And we liked the small-town opportunity to gather and the unusual items it offered.”

Their entrepreneurial spirits kicked in, and they wrote up a proposal for an outdoor market for the Roselle Village Board, Reuter said.

Trustees had a positive reaction to their idea.

“We said to ourselves, ‘All right, they accepted our proposal. Now we have to do it,’” Reuter said.

“We didn’t have experience with farmer’s markets before this,” Puntch explained, “But we both have extensive experience in customer-related businesses and with being entrepreneurs.”

Reuter is a librarian for Benson Primary School in Itasca and also has worked as a fifth and second grade teacher. Reuter has experience running craft shows, and she used some of the ideas from that endeavor for the Main Street Market, she said.

Reuter also was able to network with some of the same vendors, she added.

The job of advertising the market takes a lot of time and energy, Reuter said.

“Fortunately, we have huge support from friends and family,” she added.