Brixton Village/Granville Arcade indoor market, Brixton

[editor]

No, no. Allow me to apologise. I thought you were publicly exposing a pair of strangers on a public forum for no good reason. Again. My mistake.

I made no such accusation, as well you know. But just to repeat: I have not "accused" or "exposed" any individuals for not buying vegetables from Brixton market.

And I really can't believe this argument has got so ridiculous that I've had to make a statement like that!

 

[DJWrongspeed]

I buy from everywhere but certainly use the market alot more now. This is partly because I'm so fed up with the saturation of mini supermarkets e.g. Tescos. I miss the 2nd hand clothes and bric brac stalls from years ago.

 

[editor]

I buy from everywhere but certainly use the market alot more now. This is partly because I'm so fed up with the saturation of mini supermarkets e.g. Tescos. I miss the 2nd clothes and bric brac stalls from years ago.

I only wish more people shopped like you. It's almost hard to remember how big the Station Road market used to be - it even had its own cafe (Johns Cafe, now the ice rink shop).

 

[Crispy]

There's several cafes on station road

 

[editor]

There's several cafes on station road

I'm on about where the old Station Road market used to be, which is past Pope's Road running along to Valentia Place. John's cafe was for the traders and their customers.

http://www.urban75.org/blog/lost-brixton-brixton-station-road-market-and-johns-cafe/

 

[newbie]

I sometimes despair of the poor quality and range of produce in Brixton Market. It's great for plantains, yams and Scotch Bonnets. It's very hard to find decent quality fresh seasonal British produce in Brixton at all;

I concur. I was in Ridley Road in Hackney last year sometime and was struck by how much better both range and quality were than either Brixton or East Street. Focussing on how cheap everything is compared to the supermarkets only covers part of the story, which is why I remain of the view that we, the punters, would be better served if the 'farmers' so called market mixed it with the rest rather than being ringfenced on their own.

 

[Crispy]

Ah right, I getcha.

I have just noticed that Brixton Village is now included as a notable interior space on google maps, like train stations and major museums. Market Row + Reliance are not.

 

[editor]

I have just noticed that Brixton Village is now included as a notable interior space on google maps, like train stations and major museums. Market Row + Reliance are not.

It's been listed like that for quite a while. Those interior Google Maps are bloody clever.

 

[editor]

.... which is why I remain of the view that we, the punters, would be better served if the 'farmers' so called market mixed it with the rest rather than being ringfenced on their own.

That seems like an interesting idea....

 

[Winot]

Ah right, I getcha.

I have just noticed that Brixton Village is now included as a notable interior space on google maps, like train stations and major museums. Market Row + Reliance are not.

View attachment 32862

Has Lab G moved or is the map wrong?

 

[TruXta]

The map is wrong - Kao Sarn is shown as being outside of BV entirely.

 

[Winot]

<snip> I remain of the view that we, the punters, would be better served if the 'farmers' so called market mixed it with the rest rather than being ringfenced on their own.

I wouldn't have a problem with that, but I predict that if it happened there would be protests about gentrifiers pushing out established businesses.

 

[Winot]

The map is wrong - Kao Sarn is shown as being outside of BV entirely.

And Dagons now sell handbags.

 

[editor]

I wouldn't have a problem with that, but I predict that if it happened there would be protests about gentrifiers pushing out established businesses.

Well, there would be valid questions to be asked about what would happen to displaced traditional traders, and rightly so.

 

[TruXta]

And Dagons now sell handbags.

Maybe they're made of shark-skin?

 

[Monkeygrinder's Organ]

I wouldn't have a problem with that, but I predict that if it happened there would be protests about gentrifiers pushing out established businesses.

I wouldn't think the stalls at the farmer's market would have much interest in coming more regularly anyway. They usually go to a few markets across the week don't they?

 

[editor]

I wouldn't think the stalls at the farmer's market would have much interest in coming more regularly anyway. They usually go to a few markets across the week don't they?

Some drive a fair way to get here too, so I suspect they wouldn't warm to the idea of a permanent presence.

 

[ffsear]

Question is, what would you do if you had a market stall?

Stand around and complain about gentrification? Or would you innovate?


Weather you like the people or not Brixton is thriving!! The fact it, there is a huge amount of business activity and passer by trade to be had down there. Demographics are constantly changing and have been since the being of time. Every business person should know this. Innovate or die.

 

[Winot]

Question is, what would you do if you had a market stool?

Stand around and complain about gentrification? Or would you innovate?

If I had a market stool I'd probably sit down and complain about gentrification.

 

[ffsear]

ha! edited

 

[editor]

Question is, what would you do if you had a market stall?

Don't want one, thanks.

But seeing as you asked, I currently provide a free website for people to chat about Brixton issues, I co-run a free website listing and promoting local events and I also run free live music nights in Brixton, so if I was compelled to run a market stall, I guess I'd try to run something that benefited as much of the community as it could.

It probably wouldn't make any money though and would be swiftly taken over by a Champagne, Barbour and Rolls Royce franchise, or something.

 

[uk benzo]

Question is, what would you do if you had a market stall?

Stand around and complain about gentrification? Or would you innovate?


Weather you like the people or not Brixton is thriving!! The fact it, there is a huge amount of business activity and passer by trade to be had down there. Demographics are constantly changing and have been since the being of time. Every business person should know this. Innovate or die.

I disagree with you. You say Brixton is thriving. The only financially thriving businesses that I can see are the big chains. So explain what innovative steps a market stall holder can do to compete with these corporate chains, without having to give up being an independent market stall holder.

 

[ffsear]

Well, i think one of the key issues is the way in which people pay for goods these days. Cash is no longer king. I hate carrying cash around with me. IS there no way market traders / association could pool together to get some kind of system in place and accept card payments?

 

[editor]

Well, i think one of the key issues is the way in which people pay for goods these days. Cash is no longer king. I hate carrying cash around with me. IS there no way market traders / association could pool together to accept card payments?

So you think that providing credit card payments would reverse their decline? How would that work, exactly?

 

[ffsear]

Because people tend to not carry much cash on them these days. If they accepted card payments more people would head to the market and make impulse buys.

 

[editor]

Because people tend to not carry much cash on them these days. If they accepted card payments more people would head to the market and make impulse buys.

Do you often pay for £1's worth of spuds with a credit card then?

 

[ffsear]

I make £3-4 and above purchases on a card regularly.

I think cards would encourage people to spend more

 

[newbie]

That seems like an interesting idea....

I've said it before on FM threads, but I wasn't really thinking about a permanent presence, merely that their day should be in competition (proper market conditions) with the regular stallholders.

My point being that a fair amount of cash is kept til sunday for spending with the few quasi monopolies that brand themselves 'farmers'. Having decided to buy on sunday there's not then a lot of choice other than those few stalls. So they get an almost guaranteed income and the main market suffers.

tbf that's changed a bit since the initial FM threads, as more traders are now open on sundays and more pitches are used on other days, particularly fridays and saturdays.

The more general point remains, though, that the range, price and quality of fresh (local, British) produce on sale in the main market is not great when compared with other London street markets. That's the game that needs upping.

 

[Boudicca]

Admittedly quite some time ago, but when I had a shop in Granville, a lot of the fruit & veg stalls were owned by one very big wholesale importer. Is this still true, I wonder?

 

[Rushy]

What happened to the Brixton Market recipe book someone was going to put together to encourage Brixton Market shopping?