Opinion: Market Value

My local Market, in common with other Markets all over the country, is facing challenging times. Why should anybody care?

With changing shopping and working habits on one hand, and changing employment expectations on the other, the role of Markets in our communities is changing, and arguably diminishing. The stories I hear on a weekly basis bear this out. Stallholders report difficulty in finding or retaining staff, largely due to the early starts, which can be as early as 2.30 am, for fresh food stalls, or to the nature of the weather. When stallholders retire, they struggle to find people to take on the businesses, which results in the loss of a stall.

Markets officers, who I talk to every week, are constantly struggling to fill vacant stalls, and the Market Traders’ Federation Rep says the situation is the same across the country. Members of the public, in turn, complain that Markets don’t offer the range of products and services that they used to, and that they now have to go elsewhere to get what they need. Add to that the perception of inconvenience, compared with other modes of shopping, and it is easy to understand decline.

Why should we go out of our way to reverse the decline? Since the decline of services such as milk rounds, and community shops, Post Offices, and pubs, etc, we have far fewer strings tying our communities together. Our Markets are one of those few strings. Stallholders get to know their customers, and notice when a regular doesn’t show up. They will ask other customers that know them if they are okay, and if they know the address, will often pop round after closing, to check that the person is okay.

Stallholders are also community experts. They often cover more than one market in their area, and get to know the towns and communities they serve. This enables them to advise customers on where and how their other needs might be met, sometimes even extending to them taking orders for items sold by other vendors at other markets they attend.

Markets also meet the social needs of a community, bringing together all sectors of society in an informal setting, which encourages community cohesion. Sitting at the Burger van, on a weekly basis, eating my Deluxe Vegan Burger, I have a chance to meet and talk with publicans, MPs, Councillors, Bank Managers, Stallholders, Shop keepers, the entire staff of my Bank, Dustmen, unemployed people, etc, in an open, non-threatening environment, and this freedom forges new friendships and stronger community bonds. This will all be lost if we do not support our local Market.