#CommunitySpirits: Altrincham Market.
#CommunitySpirits is a series of interviews with businesses that have been helping local people during this difficult time.
In today’s interview, I speak to Gail, Nick and Jen from Market Operations, about their work at Altrincham Market.
Let’s talk about the history of the market.
G: One of the UK’s original market towns, Altrincham’s charter goes way back to 1290 when Edward I allowed the town to hold a weekly market. Back then though, a trip to Alty Market wasn’t about shopping, or eating; the market held a Court Leet to sort out disputes.
But while the market may have started life as the bustling hub of the town, later, after the ‘stack ‘em high, sell ‘em cheap’ boom of the 1980s, came decline. Back in 2010, Altrincham had one of the highest proportions of empty shops in the country. One in three were unoccupied, with online shopping and out of town retail parks held to blame.
Today, though, things are very different. The rate of shop vacancies has fallen by three-quarters and Alty’s once empty streets are now busy. Last November, Altrincham won ‘Great British High Street of The Year’, while this year The Sunday Times cited it ‘The Best Place To Live in the UK’.
And most would agree that the beating heart of this renaissance is Altrincham Market, situated on the town’s Greenwood Street.
How has the market changed since then?
G: Run by Nick Johnson and Jen Thompson of Market Operations, the same company behind Mackie Mayor in the Northern Quarter, and Macclesfield’s Picturedrome, the idea behind its resurgence was creating a place based on how people want to interact. Of course, the changes didn’t happen overnight.
J: When Nick and I took over the running of the market, we were working with some traders who had been at the market for donkey’s years. Everyone was afraid of change, but a few were willing to give us a chance because they agreed the market was in decline. They are not only happily still with us, but their businesses are now flourishing.
The last five years have seen our small team curate a strong base of high quality and talented “core” traders. They sit alongside the weekly changing roster of brilliant, creative day traders that we handpick from dozens of weekly applications to make sure the quality remains high for the benefit of our loyal customers.
G: While online sales are increasing, the human element is still a big part of what the customer wants and expects when shopping in-store. Nothing beats interacting with staff who genuinely care and want to help. And Altrincham market’s stallholders know their products inside out – in many cases literally, as they’ve made them themselves. Because of this, they can offer product insights or stories that help to bring the item alive.
So how has lockdown affected Altrincham Market?
N: Following lockdown, we had to act quickly and decided that as we were such an important part of the community we had to try and keep running. Traders in non-essential goods have all been ‘mothballed' and the focus now is on fresh produce: hand reared meats, British cheeses, butter and bread.
We have furloughed over 300 staff across our three food operations but some of them are now volunteering to ‘marshal' the market and help put together boxes of fresh produce. We have signage and operate an intelligent queuing system to restrict numbers. We have reduced queueing times right down through a pre-ordering system.
We’ve had a lot of compliments about how safe we’re making people feel and we’re also lucky that the weather is on our side as we work under a covered outdoor space which somehow feels better in these times! We think it’s vital to keep the community spirit alive, albeit with some very different ground rules at the moment.
What impact do you think it’s having?
N: The response has been brilliant. Our customers are a loyal bunch and continue to come to the market on the three days a week it’s currently open. They have also been ordering home deliveries from our traders which is absolutely fantastic. After all, we couldn’t do any of this without them. Of course, it’s not ideal but I think everyone would agree that it’s a system that’s working well in a challenging environment.
Thank you to Gail, Jen and NIck for finding the time to talk to me whilst still running a market! What seems clear from this interview is that regardless of restrictions, this business is maintaining their high quality of goods and customer services - providing award winning food to their community, whether it is in store or by home delivery. Do support them by following them on Instagram (@altymarket) and checking out their website here.
