Wrexham the Market Town
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Posts
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@Adam 10086 wrote:
People will forgive a naff environment if the right products are on offer… see example below:
Note the variety and quality of goods on offer. More importantly note how many vacant stalls there are.
Thanks for this. It has an excellent website and looks really good. Ours by contrast is rubbish. Rubbish stalls and rubbish atmosphere with cheap tat all over the place, with the odd exception.
@Adam 10107 wrote:
To labour the point I made previously about the success of the Market Hall, as someone who has traded in the Peoples Market, how would you sum up the key differences? On the face of it the rents appear similar and, as implied earlier, neither are particularly pretty buildings, inside or out.
What probably impressed me most about the Market Hall was the creativity of some of the stall holders. For example, the fish mongers have taken the fight to the supermarkets by offering something they can’t – they got themselves an alcohol licence and a grill and started offering a glass of wine as some freshly grilled seafood to entice passers by. Of course it still requires support and vision from the council to allow changes like this to happen..
This is the basis of an excellent debate Adam. I would say that the more traditional Market halls have a better infra-structure because they were built in a certain time. The People’s Market has an infrastructure that appears to have been built by the East Germans possibly as an open plan concentration camp. The name to match. The Butcher’s and General Markets could be really turned into echoes of a by-gone era (which is very fashionable these days). Despite its stark design, the People’s Market could easily be reconfigured and possibly made into a more modern feeling structure (but with tasteful finishing).
The management of both is in the same hands but these hands have now changed. In the past the Management was chronic. Let’s see what happens now.
As to the traders, you are quite right. The traders throughout the Markets have been slow to unite and work together whilst individually some have risen to the challenge better than others. I will let you work that one out but little things like traders offering high priced goods but having no PDQ machines does not help the success of the venture. I suspect that it should be a role of Management to help the traders to actually realise the potential of their businesses and this is where Economic Development (the department) should earn its crust. At the moment this tends to be reactive and not proactive
@Alunh 10138 wrote:
As to the traders, you are quite right. The traders throughout the Markets have been slow to unite and work together whilst individually some have risen to the challenge better than others. I will let you work that one out but little things like traders offering high priced goods but having no PDQ machines does not help the success of the venture. I suspect that it should be a role of Management to help the traders to actually realise the potential of their businesses and this is where Economic Development (the department) should earn its crust. At the moment this tends to be reactive and not proactive
Many thanks for the input Alun.
I’d have liked to have thought that the Economic Development dept would be getting on a bus to visit places such as Shrewsbury to see (and hopefully learn from) the differences for themselves, rather than employ the services of a third party consultancy firm to provide recommendations. It’s difficult to believe that the most capable people are sitting in a consultancy office waiting for the phone to ring…
Rumours are the Wrexham leader will be taking over the old café at the High street entrance to the Butchers market. If true, imho, it would be a tremendously short sighted decision by the market management team. That particular unit is the flagship (for want of a better word) of the Butchers market and the moment it became vacant should have been spotted as a perfect opportunity to begin the re-branding of the entire market. In my head it would be a smart café showcasing local produce such as those listed in the localfoodfirst brochure/website.
This all links in neatly to the other threads about increasing the appeal of the town and pulling people across the wobbly bridge. What would be more inviting to casual passers-by: a bustling café celebrating (genuinely) great local produce or a newspaper office?For me the most disappointing decision of late was not to build on the success of last year’s Victorian market. Hopefully this year will be equally successful and sway the marketing team to reconsider trialling something similar on a quarterly basis…
Just a note that the newspaper part of the business won’t be the street facing business, same as it’s not in the current location.
@Adam 10143 wrote:
Many thanks for the input Alun.
I’d have liked to have thought that the Economic Development dept would be getting on a bus to visit places such as Shrewsbury to see (and hopefully learn from) the differences for themselves, rather than employ the services of a third party consultancy firm to provide recommendations. It’s difficult to believe that the most capable people are sitting in a consultancy office waiting for the phone to ring…
Rumours are the Wrexham leader will be taking over the old café at the High street entrance to the Butchers market. If true, imho, it would be a tremendously short sighted decision by the market management team. That particular unit is the flagship (for want of a better word) of the Butchers market and the moment it became vacant should have been spotted as a perfect opportunity to begin the re-branding of the entire market. In my head it would be a smart café showcasing local produce such as those listed in the localfoodfirst brochure/website.
This all links in neatly to the other threads about increasing the appeal of the town and pulling people across the wobbly bridge. What would be more inviting to casual passers-by: a bustling café celebrating (genuinely) great local produce or a newspaper office?For me the most disappointing decision of late was not to build on the success of last year’s Victorian market. Hopefully this year will be equally successful and sway the marketing team to reconsider trialling something similar on a quarterly basis…
I had a word with Peter Scott about this and it would appear the ‘Consultancy’ firm is actually a turnaround specialist with a cost-effective track record. This might be good money spent……perhaps. At the same time I agree with you on your key points. It does make you wonder what the Economic Development team actually represents in terms of best value to the rate payer.
On a slightly different note, we have to be careful to not see another town’s markets as the silver bullet solution for our own. Any decisions on change have to refract solutions through the specific nature of Wrexham’s prism so that the different socio-economic base, the different location, the different town, the different culture, the potential spend, the available infra-structure, the available traders, etc are factored in. Markets should best mirror the communities they serve and I’m sure that any one of the MBA people who occupy the higher echelons of Economic Development can come up with an interesting way forward
Apologies if I re-state anything that’s been said before – but its great to see debate and innovation being discussed in regards to the Market and therefore Wrexham as a whole.
There is so much potential and some outside of the box thinking to reinvigorate the space would be much needed. The hiring of of an external consultancy can be good and bad, yes they have a track record, good contacts and expertise but also can be costly and often lack the “local knowledge” which can be very important in these projects.
Wrexham has a fantastic location, local food and drink from both Wrexham County and across North Wales is fantastic and has seen an upward surge – why not use the market to help bolster this? An empty unit could be used by the council as a pop-up shop where a different local seller occupies the stall on a weekly or monthly basis…people would be drawn to see who is next and it adds a sense of variety. Link this with encouraging local craftspeople to take up stalls – lowering rents for local enterprise could well kickstart this. Lower rents and actively target quality local traders which in turn encourages people to visit which in turn brings income into the area.
I agree markets should mirror the communities they represent, we have fantastic countryside on our doorstep and produce fantastic local products – showcase that and it helps not only the economy but the culture of the people and the town. With some innovative thinking, and willingness to try there is great potential there.
@Red 10157 wrote:
Apologies if I re-state anything that’s been said before – but its great to see debate and innovation being discussed in regards to the Market and therefore Wrexham as a whole.
There is so much potential and some outside of the box thinking to reinvigorate the space would be much needed. The hiring of of an external consultancy can be good and bad, yes they have a track record, good contacts and expertise but also can be costly and often lack the “local knowledge” which can be very important in these projects.
Wrexham has a fantastic location, local food and drink from both Wrexham County and across North Wales is fantastic and has seen an upward surge – why not use the market to help bolster this? An empty unit could be used by the council as a pop-up shop where a different local seller occupies the stall on a weekly or monthly basis…people would be drawn to see who is next and it adds a sense of variety. Link this with encouraging local craftspeople to take up stalls – lowering rents for local enterprise could well kickstart this. Lower rents and actively target quality local traders which in turn encourages people to visit which in turn brings income into the area.
I agree markets should mirror the communities they represent, we have fantastic countryside on our doorstep and produce fantastic local products – showcase that and it helps not only the economy but the culture of the people and the town. With some innovative thinking, and willingness to try there is great potential there.
Agree with all of this and really well put.
@Alunh 10154 wrote:
On a slightly different note, we have to be careful to not see another town’s markets as the silver bullet solution for our own. Any decisions on change have to refract solutions through the specific nature of Wrexham’s prism so that the different socio-economic base, the different location, the different town, the different culture, the potential spend, the available infra-structure, the available traders, etc are factored in. Markets should best mirror the communities they serve and I’m sure that any one of the MBA people who occupy the higher echelons of Economic Development can come up with an interesting way forward
Point taken, although we should be equally careful not to uphold socio-economic stereotypes that many of us have grown up listening to. Wrexham’s demographic doesn’t differ greatly from other large towns however the perceptions and prejudices formed when people visit the town centre (these prejudices are then extended to the community as a whole) are the result of an unbalanced assortment of shops and services that doesn’t mirror the spectrum of people who live in the area.
A well-managed, well-presented collection of markets (indoor and out) showcasing quality, local craft and produce could be the stimulus to begin the rebalancing…
@Adam 10170 wrote:
Point taken, although we should be equally careful not to uphold socio-economic stereotypes that many of us have grown up listening to.
That actually wasn’t in my thinking Adam though I think that we do have to try and calculate who it actually is who uses our Markets in 2013 and who might use them hereafter. There was a suggestion made by the Market authorities about 18 months ago that the Council envisioned a Market that was more ‘up-market’ than the present one(s) based upon comparisons with other towns. I have heard comments made that there needs to be more ‘pop up’ shops, more local produce, more student and youth associated produce, and so on.
The first rule of Marketing is, of course, not to construct the selling vehicle and the produce therein but to try and calculate the logical gaps in the Market that are currently available. In turn, one would suspect that those who operate the Markets will use some sort of calculated profile to construct a Market that makes sense. It might also make sense for the Market authorities to decide whether they see the Market essentially as a Revenue earner or essentially as a useful public facility or as a means to enhance the Tourist offer, etc.
Earlier on in the discussion you asked me whether, as a former People’s Market trader I noticed any differences between the various Markets. Interestingly, I would say that the nature of the Butcher’s Market lends it to progress better than the People’s Market as things stand. Traditionally, this Market is associated with food and locally sourced food is still linked in the public mind with a Market. There is one other thing as well. Traditionally, there have been several Butchers and other forms of food suppliers in this Market both competing with each other for trade and, as always occurs, complementing each other by developing their own niches in a customer friendly way. The traders in the People’s Market, however, have always been fixated with Covenants and are relatively hostile to operating as a competitive Market. This has lessened the dynamic here and has helped preserve inefficient businesses as well as keep out many many businesses that would have enhanced the offer. That is why there have been no bric-a-brac traders (who by definition will offend someone’s sensibilities) and why some businesses have survived to the detriment of the whole.
To conclude, whoever reviews the future of the 3 Markets really does need to come in with a radical progressive agenda that has a no holds barred approach to every aspect of the 3 Markets
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