Artisan stalls can save town centre shopping in Bolton, says the creator of the markets.
The artisan street fayre is made up of independent businesses around Greater Manchester to support business that cannot afford high rents.
On Saturday, August 12, the Artisan Street Fayre came to Bolton’s Market Place Shopping Centre, with independent stallholders selling things like handmade soaps, jewellery, drink bottles, plants, and cotton candy.
People browsed the wares as they passed by the market, which will now run every second Tuesday of the month.
Robert Knowles, who first started the markets in 2015, says this could be the answer to Bolton Town Centre’s dying trade.
He said: “They get their products out there and their skills out there, and this is our second year in Bolton, and it gets communities out into towns rather than shopping online all the time.
“Bolton is very up and down because it’s out the way and there are a lot of shops that are failing and shutting down so footfall from the town is depleting.
“We are trying to do this to make the cost lower and bring people back into towns and spend money in town, so hopefully less shops will disappear.”
The Market Place shops also support the event, and come out and talk to traders, while the market in return tries not to put a stall on that will conflict with their businesses.
Wendy Hung brought her clothing brand, Lazy Fashion for the first time to Bolton.
She said: “It’s a big space, I can fit more clothes in here, and a lot of people walk by.
All of our clothes are from Korea and Japan, and people can get the K-pop style.
“I hope that people can come and find their own style looking at our clothes.”
Another stall holder, Dawn Newlens, was selling customised drinkware, with a barbie theme taking centre stage.
And Samantha Marsh had her home-grown plants on display as a new business from Wigan.
Robert added: “People do still come and say they did not know this was happening but no matter how much advertising we do, they are not always reading things to know, so it is word of mouth.”
The Artisan Street Fayre will be back next month.
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