Saturday, November 05, 2005
Continental Market
King Street goes continental!
A further splash of colour has been added to King Street to coincide with the opening of Waterloo Square, a "continental market" is lining both sides of the pedestrianised main shopping area.
I have to compliment the local Council in it's efforts to provide something different to attract shoppers into the town centre and help prevent the drain of custom away to out of town retail parks, but I do have some reservations. We had a taste of the continental market last year, but this event is on a larger scale with more participants. There are a larger variety of goods and produce available including Dutch pancakes, German bratwurst and frikadellen, Italian wines, Spanish Paella, Tunisian fruits, nuts and couscous, fish from France, chinawear, leather goods and textiles.
Despite pouring rain during my visit yesterday I found lots of interest and plenty of shoppers having a look, but it appeared that there wasn't a lot of money changing hands.
The traders themselves were made of sterner stuff than those who normally populate the Friday market (many of whom couldn't be bothered to turn out in the rain) and they made rather more effort than British market traders in decorating their stalls and presenting their goods in a very attractive fashion, there are some lessons to be learned here!
For those looking for something a little "different" for a Christmas gift perhaps, they might well find it here, however, for those just looking for a taste of continental foods they might well have been put off by some rather steep prices. The wines available could be purchased for half the price in your local supermarket or off-licence and if you were looking for some garlic you would be unlikely to be wanting a whole bag (pink or smoked) for GBP 5.00, when a single bulb of garlic at Asda costs just 25P.
Herein lies the crux of the problem - the adventurous spirit is there, but it isn't quite tailored to suit the needs of the local shopper! A little further market research would show us what our shoppers are looking for in November, Christmas gifts for family, friends, and children!
Perhaps for future years we could consider a Christmas market in King Street and the Market Place, rather like the Victorian Market in Grassington, North Yorkshire. In Grassington, the Victorian market takes place on every Saturday in December, traders, shopkeepers, and local children all dress in Victorian costumes and Christmas gifts with an "olde worlde" feel and character are on offer. The tiny village is thronged with visitors and coach operators running excursions are generally fully booked by the end of September.
Should we consider such a venture, market traders could be offered a discount on their site rental for agreeing to appear in period costume, the King Street Traders Association could be persuaded to participate and local schools could be encouraged to add to the festive atmosphere.
The main focus could be moved towards "Christmas shopping with a difference" and we would be offering something that people in South Tyneside and other local towns would want and appreciate. Yes it would involve a great deal of planning and project management, but I think the rewards would be very worthwhile and do much to combat the effects of the Metro Centre and Eldon Square
Continental Market pictures - click thumbnails to enlarge
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Curly Born in 1956
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