STALLHOLDERS at Shrewsbury’s thriving indoor market could open up for an extra day as part of a sixweek trial period, it has been revealed.
Some 28 per cent of stalls are open in the Market Hall on a Thursday, but joint managers Jones Lang LaSalle and Shrewsbury Town Council are gauging reaction from stallholders on the idea of more of them opening. This is likely to start next month to coincide with the launch of the Market Hall’s new website, complete with Facebook and Twitter.
Kate Gittins, site facilities manager, said one of the key reasons for the change was to cater for an increase in the number of visitors who come to the town on Thursdays and who are ‘disappointed’ to find it is not a full trading day.
There are about 50 stallholders in total ranging from flowers to fresh produce, picture framing and clothing, among others. At present about 14 stallholders open on a Thursday and if adopted, the trial would see other stallholders open on the day from 8am-2pm.
“The market is thriving at the moment,” said Kate. “One of the things we’ve found is that a lot of visitors actually come to the town on Thursdays on coach trips. Any visitor coming to the town wants to come to the Market Hall and obviously they are disappointed to find it is not a full trading day.
Vintage clothing
“We would like to consider running a trial period and if it is successful then we would roll it out throughout the year, so that we eventually trade five days a week.”
She added: “We are doing well and we have got lots of new stallholders and they are very innovative and have got lots of fresh ideas.
“We are currently maintaining footfall and hope by adding all these new exciting elements to the market we can increase footfall and make it a really exciting visitor destination. We are
immensely grateful to our regulars who come here all the time and who support the market on a continual basis, but we want to attract young customers too.”
Aaron Brown, of The Bird’s Nest, and Gemma Jones, of Vintage Gem’s, told the Chronicle they would belaunching a flea market on May 26-28 with help from other stallholders from Birmingham. It will run from 9am-5pm.
There will be a wide collection of vintage clothing on sale, as well as arts and crafts and furniture. Gemma said it was hoped the flea market would run once a month during the summer. Meanwhile, her stall Vintage Gem’s will open up on a Thursday for the first time today.
“Currently customers are a bit confused about when the Market Hall is open and when it’s not and the more stalls that open on a Thursday is going to benefit everyone really,” she said.
By Charlotte Hester