The cost of vacant market stalls (From Watford Observer)

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The cost of vacant market stalls

7:23am Saturday 22nd March 2008

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Vacant stalls at Watford Market are set to cost the town's council £269,000 in lost revenue in 2007/08.

Despite rent reductions, some traders have left the indoor market in Charter Place due to a decline in business.

And plans to redevelop the area have stalled after the council pulled out of a partnership with Capital Shopping.

A "rescue plan" for Charter Place is now being "kick-started", and the council is commissioning a survey of people who use the market and those who don't, to find out what they want.

Watford Mayor Dorothy Thornhill said: "As there are vacant stalls we're going to lose income.

"That goes without saying.

"We know rents are competitive. Even if it was free, it wouldn't get people through the doors if they're not selling what people want to buy."

The Mayor said the problems facing Watford Market were common with other town markets, notably Doncaster and her hometown of Preston.

She added: "Clearly consumers are doing things differently. We're looking at it seriously, starting with the survey to see what the people of Watford are saying and what they really want."

Councillor Iain Sharpe said: "If markets are struggling across the country, which they are, and if we want to save the market and turn it's position around, it's inevitable the price of that is a reduction in income.

"If we're offering discounts for traders to sustain their business then we take a dip in income in order to achieve that."

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Mr Elliott, watford says...
8:28am Sat 22 Mar 08

I use the market every week, always have and its a shame not to see others supporting the market. The council can throw as much money as they want at it but the traders will still leave it no one uses it !. The council cant make people go in there, its also down to the traders to see they have pound land ect on their doorstep so need to offer that little extra and compete ! I love the market cos of the banter with the traders.

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Mike Ribble, Watford says...
9:33am Sat 22 Mar 08

The council needs to develop an innovative strategy for the market identifying and building on its unique strengths and opportunites.

For example the green grocer stalls may have an edge on rivals in the freshness of their produce and might be helped to advertise the fact. Stalls could provide a start for new specialist businesses (eg arts and crafts) - something the chains don't offer. They might be encouraged with free or low introductory rental periods.

Markets elsewhere may be struggling but that shouldn't be a reason to give up on Watford when only imagination is lacking.

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Arthur, Garston says...
11:34am Sat 22 Mar 08

Whilst the Mayor and her husband seek to divert attention from the real problems facing the market, citing places hundreds of miles away, there are plenty of near by markets that are thriving.Basically it has taken this pair just six years to wreck something that is almost a thousand years old - much as they have wrecked the rest of Watford

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andy, oxhey says...
12:47pm Tue 25 Mar 08

I know Doncaster Market very well, you can not compare it with Watford. For example it has a dedicated food market for fish, meat etc (The Goose Market) which trades well, but it is true the general market, especially the stalls selling fabric and other domestic goods have declined. (why make clothes and curtains when the fabric costs more thjan finished goods in shops like Primark, Matalan and the supermarkets?)Watfor
d is still a Market town in the way that it was 600 years ago. People still come into Watford to buy and sell goods. It is just they do not do so in the same way or with the same traders. I have lived in Watford all my life, my parents use the market but I never do, nor do my brothers and sisters. I think a lot of people miss a discount supermarket in the town centre - like a Lidl type shop, - But if one opened that would probably be another nail in the coffin of the three day a week - 8 to 5 market stalls. In the ebay age, with the market seen as the refuge of the bargain rather than as a beacon of unmatchable quality, I fear its future is one of continued decline. It needs to break away from competing with the 99p store and discounters and find a new audience.

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