Well it's been a while since I put my fingers to the keyboard and gave my tuppence worth.
To be honest it's been a bloody awful year so far, the weather has been ridiculous, we've had winds that should have stayed in the Arctic where they belonged and rain like stair rods, it's hard enough to run a market when the weather is fine, but when you have stalls being blown around like kites its gets a tadge troublesome.
I'm more than happy to chat with customers who remember the 'old days' when stalls could take £4000 before breakfast (I'm pretty sure that this may be an exaggeration), but I'm surprised at the number of people who advise me that that what the Market needs to bring back the hoards of customers that descended upon Sneinton Market like a plague of locusts every Saturday is broken biscuits.
The world has changed, customer habits have changed, and despite the last 5 years, most people are better off, Would you travel 5 miles to Sneinton Market for a couple of packets of broken ginger biscuits or digestives? I agree that what the market needs are products that are either cheaper or superior quality or that you cannot get in your local Tesco.
So that is what we are doing, I guarantee that you cannot get fresher cheaper veg in any supermarket than we supply down at the market - AND you don't have to send half a ton of packaging down to the local landfill site when you get home.
We sell Artisan bread, made locally from flour from Sneinton Windmill, and you can't get that at your local Sainsburys. We sell locally produced Kimchi, Sauerkraut,
Kombucha and Ginger Beer, you can't get that at the nearest Morrisons.
We have a new stall selling fantastic Chilli sauces and Dips, yes you guessed it, all made locally. Do you sense a theme here? We believe in local, it runs through our ethic like a stick of Blackpool rock.
So here's a message.
If you produce or sell a product that is fairly 'local' and you want to sell it or you love the community that we live it, get your backside down to Sneinton Market. Here's another thing that we believe in, its called 'Social Shopping', meet your friends, meet new friends, sit, talk, have a cuppa down at the Market Cafe stall. Spend some quality time, and if you see something you like, buy it, and then have another cuppa!
This Market is your market, its a community market, run by the community, if you want a stall to advertise a local event, just ask. If you have a new business venture and what to see if it can take off, get in touch, several of our old stall holders have now got 'permanent' premises and thriving businesses! The more the market is used by the Community the better it will be for everyone else.
Market Unit developments
Things are looking up, and progress is being made, the actual units will start to be refurbished starting in August, and when completed should give the entire area a major lift and remove that feeling of neglect, I do hope that when complete they will get rid of the tumble weed that has been blowing around for the past 10 years!
Well that's my lot.
Hope to see you all down at the Market - down Hockley!
Cheers
Market Toby
