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 Chester Market Blog
Thursday 7th January 2010
Hello, welcome and a very happy new year to all you's out there - And thanks for clicking onto www.chestermarket.com Blog .... anyway so here goes ....
The water leaking through the botched up market roof onto stalls and soaking the merchandise just about sums up 2009 - many
traders have reported even lower sales than last yuletide, which does not bode well for those struggling for life in the
icy January doldrums .... some can only hope for a miracle !
Again it is deemed necessary to lambaste the Chester Market management for wasting thousands on Christmas TV Ads etc,
But did not do the obvious simple thing like reminding locals that the market was open on Sundays leading upto Christmas,
and it was left to traders themselves to make flyers and a sign for outside the market - so well done and a very big pat
on the back for them. Just what is the point in spending all that rare dosh on TV Ads when even if people were enthused to
Journey to Chester, they would have great difficulty in finding the market because of the serious lack of signage.
Wednesday 18th November 2009
With less than five weeks to Christmas and storms lashing the market .... on with the Web Log ....
Again to reiterate: Chestermarket.com blog reflects the feelings of Chester Market Traders at grass roots level - We dare to
raise our heads above the parapet and fight the good fight etc etc against what is felt as bad market management policies ...
such as the management plonking another market in front of our own indoor market - many indoor traders complain that their
takings are down, some as much as 100% at a time when they are already struggling.
This 'imported market' with its generators spewing out poisonous gasses is set out like a fair ground, defiling the place
which is directly in front of the town hall (our new cultural and civic centre)
and also overlooked by the Cathedral.
Other bad ideas .... This week the Market Management has just reputedly spent over sixteen hundred pounds on a dud Christmas tree
- this should really bring 'em up the isles! Also they have just spent a fortune on a TV advert, maybe the council should reflect
the fact that Chester Market webcam (before it was banned) advertised throughout the world for ABSOLUTELY FREE OF CHARGE!
One of the offending outside markets
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Thursday 5th November 2009
Now folks here are some hot tips on how NOT to run a market:-
* Put an inexperienced person at the helm
* Reduce the amount of businesses, board up and ditch stalls
* Make the market as unattractive as possible i.e. dirty floors, derelict and untidy and empty stalls - tell traders to hide their wares behinds the stalls or at the back of their shop --- or else.
* Do not under any circumstances erect any signs pointing people to the market - better still, have a market sign on the busiest street pointing to the opposite direction to the market. A good example of this can be seen on Eastgate Street Chester City Centre.
* Ensure that local buses do not drop off passengers outside the market - better still, cancel most of the buses and make sure touring coaches drop off passengers outside of town.
* Bring in multinational corporations to take over the council then bulldoze the market down and replace it with a shopping mall
.... You've guessed it! above is reality of Chester Indoor Market - if it was not so tragic it would be funny.
.... Just maybe we can embarrass the Chester Market management into positive action which is truly our intention at Chestermarket.com
This picture was presented as evidence at the Northgate Development public enquiry over four years ago. The sign still sends people in the wrong direction.
Wednesday 27th October 2009
You know we don't like to complain or be negative all the time at Chestermarket.com ... but some things are so bewildering
that you have to make a comment - take for instance the ING Information Shop (See Below) in the forum which is located just before
the Chester Market entrance - this shop has been there for about four years with hardly anyone ever going in there. If they
do, they are shown literature and a detailed plan of the Northgate Development that has been scrapped some years ago,
[remember this is not a python sketch] In fact the scheme never really got off the ground despite the millions of pounds in planning
and all the wasted time and energy, not to mention all the worry of the Chester Market traders who were told they were to be
chucked out onto the street.
It is no wonder that ING has gone down the pan loosing over 45% profits to date with parts of the main body to be split up and sold off
- god knows what will happen next!
ING Information Shop given the old "heave-ho" by the locals.
Thursday 22nd October 2009
On this bleak late October morn, Chestermarket.com relays another daft idea by the management:
If any more proof that the new market regime is off the rails look no further than the back of
the market where many traders have been moved and stalls have been ripped out reducing the size
and therefore the 'pull' of the market - the idea is to place another cafe there ... But this
will not happen until after the new year - If ever !
The Council does not have planning permission or
funding according to our sources - this leaves struggling Chester Market businesses stranded and
isolated by the void on the important run up to Christmas, boarding up and ditching stalls is illegal
by going against the councils obligation to achieve economic 'Best Value', in addition to the resulting
degradation to the market. Objections please to:
Cheshire West and Chester Council >
Wednesday 14th October 2009
Hip Hip Hurray ... Lets give credit where it is due - Cheshire West and Chester Council must be the only council
in the country to provide a large habitat for wildlife right in the town centre, even providing 'Lookout holes'
through the perimeter fence. This area off Princess Street was created several years ago as a result of
St Martins House
being bulldozed down to make way for the infamous Northgate Development.
Most Councils would have immediately developed the site as a car park to service the Chester Market and City Centre.
Wednesday 23rd September 2009
You do not have to trek far across the shop floor to hear Chester Market traders murmurings of no confidence in the Market
bosses who seem intent on carrying on with their philosophy of fostering a 'them and us' culture, employing bullying tactics
and showing little regard and respect to market traders some with over 40 years standing - many have been denied displaying their wares
to full advantage, which some say is the 'straw that broke the camels back' - with a few traders seriously considering
quitting the market.
Also high up in the top ten most talked about issues, along with the very serious overstaffing is the failure of the
management to rent out shop units and stalls - they stand idle dirty and derelict some shamelessly permanently boarded up.
This has led to an estimated loss by the Council of over £250,000 per year! - Public Please Note!
Very little has been done to rectify this by our poor thinking Council.
Compiled by Vic Button
Monday 14th September 2009
Hi you all out there - thanks for clicking on to us - you can bet your life there's always something going on in Chester Market! But where do I start,
maybe I make my first moan about the buses - this week we have seen yet more buses being axed. They are the life blood of the market and indeed the City Centre.
Local buses were diverting from outside Chester Market in lieu of the now defunct Northgate Development the feeling is that now they should all be reinstated
along with touring buses - lets get the market and City Centre alive and kicking again!
The only thing we can all do is to keep on complaining to the bus operators and
Cheshire West and Chester Council
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