Brand Wrexham in the post-Market town era
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Wrexham does not give a compelling reason for consumers and investors to come to Wrexham. Consumers go where they can get a better offer, and businesses go to places that are business friendly and offer opportunity.
Wrexham has become a dormitory town, and people go out of the county to work and shop, and for recreation.
Wrexham is naturally a market town, and this model works very successfully in towns across the UK when the model has been sustained through good times and difficult times.
It appears to be that rather than business having the freedom to flourish and to work in the market conditions that the economy naturally creates, that a lot of social engineering is going on which creates a false economy driven by public monies
I think we really need to reflect on what made Wrexham a Market Town – it certainly wasn’t the Monday Market, Peoples Market, Butchers Market or Butter Market – it was the Beast Market which has long since gone. When the Beast Market existed then Wrexham was truly a Market Town which gave it the Charter. Many hundred’s of extra people came with farming families for miles around coming to do their shopping once they had sold or bought their beasts- cash in pocket.
The development of the Butchers Market and Butter Market were as a direct spin off to sell the added value products that came with the abertoir- fresh meat and dairy products direct from wholesale market to shop. Or individuals buying their chicken/turkey taking it home live to be killed ready for Christmas or special occasions.
The term Beast Market was then transferred to the very large open air markets operating in various parts of Wrexham – the last really large ones being held in what is now Eagles Meadow.
The relocation to Queens Square occurred with the mass growth in the very many £1 shops with the competition being so intense many of the traditional market traders took up space in places like the People’s Market.
The town is always evolving even Tesco is now on its fourth site since it first moved into the High Street all those years ago.
We cannot keep aspiring to the ‘good’ old days lets make the future the good days by embracing change and as Wxm points out it is consumers and retailers that determine whether an area will thrive or not. Retailers know before they open a shop what the expected retail turnover will be as there is so much data available on predictability that they base commercial decisions on market data and trends.
Why have invester just sent £millions in Broughton — because their number crunchers have worked out the expected footfall boost — much of this ‘new’ footfall will be unfortunately taken from Wrexham.I think when people refer to wrexham as a market town they mean the size and general feel of the town rather than the fact it actually has a market or not.
Personally I think wrexham could have retained the small town “feeling” and still expanded if it was better planned, as it stands it just smacks of badly planned disjointed ideas thrown together. Badly.
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