We chat to traders and customers at Concord Market in Sedgley which after today is no more.
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00:00So yeah, we're here with Nathan inside of Concord Mock, obviously it's the last day, how's the emotion so far?
00:07A bit down at the minute, but not too bad. For myself personally, it's a bit positive because I'll be going to Royal Yule.
00:14But the other traders have been a bit down at the minute.
00:17Absolutely, yeah, it's a bit of a shame isn't it, because it's got such a long history behind it.
00:201970...
00:2248 years I think.
00:23Yeah, yeah, 48 years.
00:24That's an amazing amount of time.
00:25I know, yeah, I've been here four years now.
00:28What's the general consensus from the other shopkeepers?
00:32Jess is trying to find a shop to move into.
00:35Donna on the pets is doing it online.
00:37I know the bread stall, at the minute they're moving to the Spud Oven.
00:40They're selling all the bread there.
00:43It's quite nice seeing everyone coming together and helping out where they can,
00:46out of pack and pour, trying to find new locations.
00:48There was a bakery there in the way as well,
00:50and said that they had moved to another shop there.
00:52Temporarily moved to another shop in the town.
00:55Which is fantastic, because everyone seems to be coming together.
00:57Yeah, we're all trying to, yeah.
00:58Ever since we've been coming together, we're trying to keep everybody supported.
01:00Yeah, yeah, that's the way it's been for the past four years here.
01:04Since Covid, it's been hard.
01:06But I think it's hit every business hard.
01:08Of course, yeah.
01:09But we've all stayed together and tried to promote it as much as we could.
01:12Of course, yeah.
01:13So what's in the future for you then?
01:14So you're moving to...
01:15Brawley Old Market.
01:16I'll be there doing the butchers there.
01:17Yeah, absolutely.
01:18How long have you been in the game for now?
01:20I started when I was 17.
01:22And I'm 36 now, so what's that?
01:2518, 19 years, eh?
01:26Yeah.
01:27Quite well known in the market then, yourself.
01:30Yeah, yeah.
01:31Quite a few now.
01:33It's a bit of a shame, but obviously it's nice that everyone supports each other.
01:37That's it, yeah.
01:38It's nice.
01:39So I'm just going to stay positive.
01:42So here with Glenn.
01:43Glenn, you've been a shop here for 21 years, you say?
01:46Glenn and Quinn.
01:47Glenn and Quinn, yeah.
01:48You've been here for a shop for 21 years, wasn't it?
01:49Oh, for 21 years, yeah.
01:5021 years, yeah, since you moved down here.
01:51I mean, like, obviously it's a sad, sad day.
01:54Yeah, yeah.
01:55I do buy a lot of the secondhand books up east, which is for Raven's Rescue Charity.
01:59And I like the proper meat off the butchers.
02:01Absolutely, yeah.
02:02I was sad to miss that since Seeding Fields closed down some years ago.
02:06The other butchers.
02:07So I'm a supermarket mate now.
02:09Really?
02:10Yeah.
02:11I was going to say, what's the alternative now?
02:12Is it the supermarkets?
02:13Yeah.
02:14I've been in the oldies all right.
02:15Fortunately, we've killed it, but it was dying anyway.
02:17The market.
02:19It's a shame, isn't it?
02:20Because you can go to the supermarkets, but you don't really get the opportunity to have
02:21some face-to-face conversations that you do here with people.
02:22No, exactly.
02:23But there's a good friend, Registrar Lambert, but he couldn't afford to.
02:24So that only lasted a few, about a year.
02:25Do you think anything's caused it?
02:26Online shopping, Covid?
02:27I think it's the Brexit.
02:28Yeah.
02:29I saw it on the, I heard the radio interview.
02:30Yeah.
02:31Yeah.
02:32Yeah.
02:33Yeah.
02:34Yeah.
02:35Yeah.
02:36Yeah.
02:37Yeah.
02:38Yeah.
02:39Yeah.
02:40Yeah.
02:41Yeah.
02:42Yeah.
02:43Yeah.
02:44Yeah.
02:45Yeah.
02:46Yeah.
02:47Yeah.
02:48Yeah.
02:49Yeah.
02:50Yeah.
02:51Yeah.
02:52Yeah.
02:53Yeah.
02:54Yeah.
02:55Well, I think that's the end anyway.
02:56It's a bit of a shame, isn't it?
02:57Hopefully, obviously we all hope that the stores in here can get moved into the high
03:00streets or whatnot.
03:01Yeah.
03:02I mean, if some of these do go into the high streets, we could further these and further
03:06it, but there's still going to be shopping here.
03:10Yeah.
03:11Yeah.
03:12It's a bit of a shame, though, isn't it, honestly?
03:13It's another one of these that have died.
03:14Do you usually shop at the market?
03:15Do you usually shop at indoor markets?
03:16Yes, I prefer markets, yeah.
03:17I think everybody does, you know, face-to-face kind of interaction.
03:21A bit of a stroker as well.
03:22Yeah.
03:23A nice cop.
03:24Oh, yeah.
03:26It's a shame.
03:27Nah, it's a real shame, isn't it?
03:29Yeah, yeah.
03:30When they move to other places, are you going to keep on free-putting them when they move
03:34to, like, the high streets or...?
03:35I don't know, yeah.
03:36It'll be slow.
03:37Yeah.
03:39Righto.
03:46So, we're here with Carla.
03:47Carla, we're here in a...
03:48What's the shop called again?
03:49Ward's.
03:50Ward's.
03:51Ward's, yeah.
03:52So, you're actually moving...
03:53You said you're actually moving upstairs, aren't you?
03:55Yes, we've got our custom-printed shop upstairs, so we're actually moving our uniform provision
03:59up there as well, so that people can still come and try on.
04:03We're an online business as well, so they can come and click and collect.
04:06So, yeah, we're upstairs at the moment.
04:08Yeah, fantastic.
04:09So, just talk a little bit about the business that you said you started in an actual physical
04:12store.
04:13Is it three?
04:14No, we were online first, just before COVID, actually, in 2020, as we were going into 2020.
04:20And we actually found, as the business grew, and it's still growing at the moment as well,
04:25we found that people like something tangible.
04:28So, a lot of shopping has moved online, a lot of buyers' habits have changed through
04:33COVID, but we found that, for us particularly, as I say, people like to come and try things
04:38on.
04:39They like to be able to just pop by and pick something up when they've got time to come
04:43and collect it, and make sure they haven't got to waste time sending it back because
04:46it's the wrong item, because it doesn't fit their child, and particularly for our custom-print
04:50business as well.
04:51So, we work with a lot of businesses, large and small, to provide their custom-print needs
04:56through garments, brochures, anything you can think of that can be customised, really.
05:01Absolutely.
05:02Will there be any differences to, obviously, moving upstairs instead of being on the ground floor?
05:05Yeah, yeah.
05:06So, that's our difference at the moment.
05:08As I say, we are still growing all the time, year on year, we take on more schools.
05:13So, for us, it is a shame that this community is closing, moving away.
05:21Obviously, Nathan moved over to Bryony Hill.
05:24And so, it does feel like, after being from Sedgley, obviously, people see it as a milestone
05:30of changing times and things.
05:33So, from that respect, it is a shame.
05:36And it is a shame, because it was a nice, affordable space for people to access the
05:40high streets.
05:41But for us, as I say, we're business as usual and moving on, moving forward.
05:46Absolutely.
05:47So, this is obviously the fated last day for a lot of the traders, isn't it?
05:50I mean, what's the emotions been like?
05:53I think it's a real mixed bag, really.
05:57As I say, as I've just said, it is a shame that it's been here a long time.
06:03A lot of fond memories of people through Sedgley coming through Concord Market, and especially
06:07when they were at school and things like that.
06:09So, a lot of generations have grown up with the market.
06:12I think the problem with the people that wanted to relocate is just not having that affordable
06:19high street space.
06:20So, I think that's where the loss will occur, because there are no other places, premises
06:24for them to move into at the moment.
06:26So, obviously, I can feel their frustrations on that, because they haven't got anywhere
06:30to physically move to.
06:31It's not that they want to close down.
06:32It's not that they're not successful businesses.
06:34They are successful mobile businesses.
06:36So, that's the frustration along those lines, I guess.
06:39So, from that point of view, it is a shame to lose this facility.
06:43It'd be nice if it could be reinvested in, become a bit of a community hub as well, perhaps.
06:48That would be a great future for it.
06:52There's a lot of rumours about high street brands moving in and things like that, which
06:56is also great.
06:57We've had the Aldi recently open just around the corner, and I think that's brought a lot
07:02of people to Sedgley as well.
07:04But it would be nice just to do something a little bit different with this space and
07:07make it into more of a community hub.
07:08Yeah, especially with somewhere that's been around for so long.
07:11I mean, this is in the 1970s when it started, wasn't it?
07:14So, it's been around for over 40 years.
07:16So, turning something like this into a community space, I can imagine that being the general
07:21Yeah, well, I mean, even down to some kind of craft village as well.
07:24So, perhaps having smaller units where people can move in.
07:27And as I say, just still preserving that accessible, affordable high street space.
07:33Yeah, absolutely.
07:34So, wards, you're moving upstairs?
07:35We're moving upstairs, yeah.
07:36And we're also online, yeah.
07:37So, business as usual for our customers.
07:39That's perfect.
07:40Thank you very much.