DEVONSHIRE SQUARE MARKET – THE STORY SO FAR
We held our first market in December 2022 with the ambition of attracting more shoppers to the high street and since then it has gone from strength to strength!
Our aims for the market are to:
Provide an opportunity for local crafters, makers and food traders to sell their products and act as an incubator for retailers who might want to take a shop on the high street in the future
Bring the community together in this new communal space, to listen to music, shop eat and drink
Attract more people to the high street who will come for the market and then visit other shops in the area
We have run the market fairly regularly and we have been overwhelmed with interest and demand for stalls.
We try to have different traders each time, ideally local and who don’t have a retail premise so they can use the market to test their products.
The market has already started to bear fruit. Following their presence at our Spring market, Muswell Hillbillies held a successful popup taproom at Arbeit Studios and they are actively looking for a permanent spot on the high street.
Totswap, who traded with us in September will be hosting a pop-up at the former Fentons on Green Lanes from 30 October 5 November, again with a view to a longer pop-up residency and hopefully a permanent spot on the high street.
There are other opportunities in the pipeline which our trader target team are pursuing too so watch this space!
The markets are powered by volunteers and we are grateful to our sponsor, Philanthropy, who provided some funding to support marketing and promotion of the markets. Their sponsorship arrangement has come to an end, so if you are interested in sponsoring our markets please do get in touch.
We have also been working with Arbeit studios to see what else we can do to further develop the markets and Devonshire Square more generally. Thank you to everyone who submitted ideas, we are looking at how we can take these forward including a regular monthly spot for People’s Pantry for all your refill needs which starts on Saturday 21 October.
Our next market is on 2 December and we look forward to seeing you there!
