Abingdon Street Market

Ormergod said:
Cashless market.Will not accept cash in any of the stalls or eateries so that’s a boycott from me.

Bring back the old market I say
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God

I'm with you all the way regarding cash but if I'm honest, I find myself using very little cash these days and seem to use the internet or my Debit Card for nearly everything.

It's easier just using my cards but I really should cut them all up.

You have young tradesman turning up for work with machines that accept card payment and sneering at you for asking for a discount for cash, do they not realise how stupid they are ?

The worlds gone mad.
 
I think still calling it a 'market' seems to have confused a lot of the older generation 😂 It's not a market anymore it's a food hall with stalls ran by local independent restaurants selling pizza/ burgers/ asian food etc and bars selling alcohol and plenty of seating.

I think there's going to be quite a few confused people that have heard Abingdon Street Market has reopened turning up wanting to buy some fresh fish and vegetables not knowing about the change hahaha
 
Lala said:
Cold meat from the front stall and fresh baps from the bakery stall was a standard Saturday night tea for me and mine going back 20 odd years 👍
This is much needed progress though.

I personally think it will be rammed most weekends. Looks a bit like Albert Schloss now 👌 Definitely moved with the times here and an excellent addition to the town.
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Bert Wilson's was the name of the hand carved meat store at the entrance. Ham, pork or turkey were the main choices if I remember correctly.
 
Looks very cool, my brother sent me some photos an hour or so ago. Just waiting on the opinion of the food. Something like that would be very good as a concourse under a new east stand
There are lots of these type of converted markets springing up around Spain. The one in Bilbao which is a very good market as well, converted the top floor to something similar with local operators, but after four years the landlords put up the rent driving out the local operators to be replaced by chain companies. Now just overpriced mass produced.
But a good sign of progress in the town
 
My review from the other thread.

So it's nicely done the market, bar the floor.

Now onto the experience.

So you sit at the table and scan the qr code, up comes the site with all the food venues there.

You order from there and it's delivered. Quite easy and smooth when it works.

Only issue is, as regular mobile data users at Bloomfield road will know, is that my and many other peoples phones internet is crap in crowded places, so was painfully slow.

Infact I had to use my Mrs phone and some people next to us couldn't get on so didn't order.

No cash accepted which is not great for older people etc. I don't mind myself as I can do it but this rush to digital only isn't necessarily great imo.

I went for pulled pork loaded chips with bacon and cheese from cowboy and co. It was OK. Massive portions but I wouldn't have that again tbh.

The pizzas looked great and were coming faster than other food, I'd get that next time, burgers looked great on a video I've seen and hotdogs looked decent. Didnt see much esle near me but there's some decent looking places tbf, I just wasn't that hungry, so went woth what was a snack... but ended up with a huge portion anyway.

Overall it's a decent addition.

However there was a fair bit of food coming to tables and blank expressions, so not their food. Need to iron that out.

It was very busy obviously on such a day and main opening day so you've got to let them get used to it I guess.

The tables aren't particularly comfortable and without a back support, also I got whacked a couple of times by passing people given the proximity of the tables, a minor annoyance, but tbh the jokes on them as I wear my anti vandal paint t-shirt for such people who invade other people's personal space. 😀

But again overall a positive addition.
 
Costero Poderoso said:
Looks very cool, my brother sent me some photos an hour or so ago. Just waiting on the opinion of the food. Something like that would be very good as a concourse under a new east stand
There are lots of these type of converted markets springing up around Spain. The one in Bilbao which is a very good market as well, converted the top floor to something similar with local operators, but after four years the landlords put up the rent driving out the local operators to be replaced by chain companies. Now just overpriced mass produced.
But a good sign of progress in the town
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Same in Sydney, visited my son three years ago and there were loads of them. I said at the time, we need these in the uk
 
Macseasider said:
Thank God for that because some of the posts above make it's previous guise sound like a scene from Oliver Twist.

"We used to go to the gruel stall and then after that our nan would treat us to a nice bit of coddled pig's spleen in a dripping barm".
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That's exactly it. We couldn't afford a stocked fridge so everything was bought fresh every day from the markets,Woolies and Lewis's food department.
 
Looks really good, look forward to paying it a visit👍
Used to go there to a book stall early 80s to get my Marvel comics.
Wasn’t Abingdon St market the sight of Blackpool first police station? Sure I heard a story that cells remained under the market??
 
Ormergod said:
Cashless market.Will not accept cash in any of the stalls or eateries so that’s a boycott from me.

Bring back the old market I say
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Yep it is a bit of a blow for the elderly or anyone wanting to use cash.

Let's imagine the not too distant future.

If all places are like that where you have to have a smartphone to order...

What if a family visiting Blackpool has been out all day, the phone batteries have died. Let's take the kids to get something to eat as they're knackered.

If all places were like that could have physical cash in your pocket and a card but no way of using it.

If all places go digital with phone ordering then you need to have charging stations on the tables... OK it's peoples responsibility to keep it charged, but not always easy with an older phone for eg. Having to carry battery packs to ensure people don't run out or they literally can't do anything.

I can't say I like the rush to all digital.

Or again when the stalls open up later in summer and older folk, who tended to use markets more, want some food.

How is Barry aged 75 going to scan the qr code....with his false teeth? No meal for you again Barry I'm afraid, unlucky mate, that's the future, if you can't do it you go hungry.
 
South shore lad said:
I think still calling it a 'market' seems to have confused a lot of the older generation 😂 It's not a market anymore it's a food hall with stalls ran by local independent restaurants selling pizza/ burgers/ asian food etc and bars selling alcohol and plenty of seating.

I think there's going to be quite a few confused people that have heard Abingdon Street Market has reopened turning up wanting to buy some fresh fish and vegetables not knowing about the change hahaha
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The stall are coming later in summer, 14 I think.
 
JJpool said:
Yep it is a bit of a blow for the elderly or anyone wanting to use cash.

Let's imagine the not too distant future.

If all places are like that where you have to have a smartphone to order...

What if a family visiting Blackpool has been out all day, the phone batteries have died. Let's take the kids to get something to eat as they're knackered.

If all places were like that could have physical cash in your pocket and a card but no way of using it.

If all places go digital with phone ordering then you need to have charging stations on the tables... OK it's peoples responsibility to keep it charged, but not always easy with an older phone for eg. Having to carry battery packs to ensure people don't run out or they literally can't do anything.

I can't say I like the rush to all digital.

Or again when the stalls open up later in summer and older folk, who tended to use markets more, want some food.

How is Barry aged 75 going to scan the qr code....with his false teeth? No meal for you again Barry I'm afraid, unlucky mate, that's the future, if you can't do it you go hungry.
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Mate it’s far more sinister than just an inconvenience but that’s for another thread

We all need to stop this tapping our cards nonsense or the government will take that as a green light to roll out an alternative currency
 
Ormergod said:
Mate it’s far more sinister than just an inconvenience but that’s for another thread

We all need to stop this tapping our cards nonsense or the government will take that as a green light to roll out an alternative currency
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I don't mind it as an option, but it's obviously going that way, which I'm not exactly over the moon with, but going with it I guess.

Just not very friendly to the elderly etc and has obvious issues if the mobile data isn't working, it's then chaos.
 
todayistheday said:
Well, if the current foot fall in the town centre doesnt improve it will be a failure. Maybe they can feed the homeless with the daily leftovers.
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What's wrong with the numbers? Do you have any figures, I haven't seen anything official on the town centre footfall overall, but have heard positive noises.

For eg the winter Gardens has seen a big increase, largely events led, but those people then are in the town centre for other things.

www.lancs.live

Winter Gardens' record year as 1.3 million people pass through its doors

The entertainment complex saw an increase of 91% in ticket sales
www.lancs.live

There was plenty of people in the town centre today also by my own eyes.

There'd also tons of improvements and things to encourage more footfall, like the Multiversity, works and pensions building, or even the market improvement itself, which is another good addition.
 
JJpool said:
What's wrong with the numbers? Do you have any figures, I haven't seen anything official on the town centre footfall overall, but have heard positive noises.

For eg the winter Gardens has seen a big increase, largely events led, but those people then are in the town centre for other things.

www.lancs.live

Winter Gardens' record year as 1.3 million people pass through its doors

The entertainment complex saw an increase of 91% in ticket sales
www.lancs.live

There was plenty of people in the town centre today also by my own eyes.

There'd also tons of improvements and things to encourage more footfall, like the Multiversity, works and pensions building, or even the market improvement itself, which is another good addition.
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Town was mobbed today/this evening - a bit of nice weather and it’s going to be a great season!
👍
 
Johnno said:
Town was mobbed today/this evening - a bit of nice weather and it’s going to be a great season!
👍
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Looks like he was chatting rubbish anyway.

Just found this..

Screenshot_20230524_222333_Facebook.jpg


Foot fall is way up 🙄🤣

Great news.

If this carries on, it'll be a record breaking year. 19 million visitors in 2021, 2022 visitor numbers not released yet, was Sept 2022 for the 2021 figures, but 2023 could be well past 20 million.

It could soon be approaching a third of the population of the UK visiting Blackpool in 1 year, which is pretty crazy.
 
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Stockport town centre has one of the food stall places with a smallish but proper indoor market opposite with fish,meat,bakery,haberdashery,a cool toy shop,etc.
Not tried the food stall place but it has good reviews.The problem is the town centre itself is far from enticing and not very the car friendly so many simply don’t go there, though like Blackpool they are spending a lot of money redeveloping the place with a new transport hub and apparently a plan to open up ( re expose) the River Mersey which currently runs underneath the main shopping area ( Mersey Square)
The Mersey actually starts right behind there where the Rivers Goyt and Tame converge right under the M60 before disappearing after an an hundred yards or so under the said shopping area before reappearing half a mile or so later.

Mind you Still can’t beat Bury Market for a good fun shopping trip but these sorts of developments are what are need to bring life back to town centres.
…..oh and I definitely remember going to the old Abingdon Street Market when we lived in Blackpool as a kid…felt massive at the time.
 
Far north tangerine said:
God that image of the centre bit missing from singles really dragged me back to the late seventies!
Why did they have the bit missing?
I remember having loads of the middle bits for that very reason
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The middle was missing so they could be easily loaded on a juke box
 
voyeur said:
We had them, in the cities.
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Bottom end of Leeds market has been a foodie place since before the pandemic. Loads of choice ranging from fish and chips through various nations' street food to vegan options. Shared seating areas for after you've bought.
 
Firstly, my reaction to this is largely a positive one and I agree with the o/p.
JJpool and others have been accentuating the positive for a while about all the other excellent regeneration and improvements to Blackpool.

However I am with Limechase in that I don’t think it should be called Abingdon Street Market. It’s far from that. It’s a misnomer.

I can appreciate the desire to keep the traditional name - but that makes zero sense. It’s misleading for visitors and for the unsuspecting. It’s not a market. Or it’s not primarily a market.

It was a market full of market stalls. But it’s now far from that. It’s been completely repurposed. Albeit in a very modern and positive way.
Some have mentioned Bury market. We have Fleetwood market down the road. But the Abingdon Street Market is now very much an eatery. An artisan food hall as someone described it.

The traditional markets had a plethora of market stalls and maybe had one cafe in a corner where you could get a cup of tea and a toasted tea cake.

This new venue has flipped the whole market model on its head. It’s now mainly an eating place, with a few stalls thrown in almost as an afterthought.

I don’t see the stalls being successful. But perhaps they will with a bit of luck. However it’s a brave business person that sets up a stall in there.

People will not be going there to shop in the first instance. They will be going there to eat and drink.
When they get in there, the way it operates will see them encouraged to take a seat. So the footfall is minimised by design.

Let’s be honest, if this hadn’t formerly been an actual market, there wouldn’t be any stalls whatsoever. It would just be a food hub.

But there’s this half-baked futile attempt to hold onto some of the original market concept, based on what? Nostalgia? A sense of duty to our past? It makes no sense.

So for me, the place has an identity crisis. It should be launched as a food hall 100%. It should be renamed. The additional space should be used for more seating and/or an area for artists to perform live music.

This is the furthest thing from a market. The stalls are doomed to fail in my opinion. They’ll give it a couple of years. Futile attempts to try and claw in market stall rent money. Cos that will all be factored into the financials. But they’ll eventually slash the rent. Then finally the stalls will be removed. You can bookmark this. 🤣

With regards to the seating- it’s not for me. I get back ache if I don’t have a backrest. 😮😞

And I don’t agree with it being cashless.
 
Sorry for upsetting so many with my reply. I thought it was going to be a traditional market and thats why they kept the original building. Why not just knock it down and have a Wetherspoons with some well known food outlets, subway, kentucky, costa etc.
Has anyone been and spent money yet.
 
todayistheday said:
Sorry for upsetting so many with my reply. I thought it was going to be a traditional market and thats why they kept the original building. Why not just knock it down and have a Wetherspoons with some well known food outlets, subway, kentucky, costa etc.
Has anyone been and spent money yet.
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Not sure if this is a serious post? If you look at what has opened it is artisan and craft produce which will attract additional custom to the outlets which you mention and which are already in Blackpool.
As for whether anyone has been and spent money yet the pictures from yesterday certainly looked busy.
Or maybe you knew that and this was just another attempt at being negative?
 
In todays climate just looking at it with my eyes open, not because I love this town. Some on here will jump on you if you say Lytham Rd and Central Dr are bad.
 
todayistheday said:
In todays climate just looking at it with my eyes open, not because I love this town. Some on here will jump on you if you say Lytham Rd and Central Dr are bad.
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Not sure what Lytham Road and Central Drive have to do with Abingdon Street Market? It’s all part of an overall plan The new DWP offices coming to the town centre will increase footfall massively and then the university to follow. The new tramway extension will also make that part of town busier. We all know the town has its problems which is why we should be celebrating the many improvements being made and not just being critical of everything. That’s if we do genuinely love our town.
 
Southend tangerine said:
Not sure what Lytham Road and Central Drive have to do with Abingdon Street Market? It’s all part of an overall plan The new DWP offices coming to the town centre will increase footfall massively and then the university to follow. The new tramway extension will also make that part of town busier. We all know the town has its problems which is why we should be celebrating the many improvements being made and not just being critical of everything. That’s if we do genuinely love our town.
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You think the civil servents will be spending money eating and drinking in town. Get real.
 
Malced said:
Firstly, my reaction to this is largely a positive one and I agree with the o/p.
JJpool and others have been accentuating the positive for a while about all the other excellent regeneration and improvements to Blackpool.

However I am with Limechase in that I don’t think it should be called Abingdon Street Market. It’s far from that. It’s a misnomer.

I can appreciate the desire to keep the traditional name - but that makes zero sense. It’s misleading for visitors and for the unsuspecting. It’s not a market. Or it’s not primarily a market.

It was a market full of market stalls. But it’s now far from that. It’s been completely repurposed. Albeit in a very modern and positive way.
Some have mentioned Bury market. We have Fleetwood market down the road. But the Abingdon Street Market is now very much an eatery. An artisan food hall as someone described it.

The traditional markets had a plethora of market stalls and maybe had one cafe in a corner where you could get a cup of tea and a toasted tea cake.

This new venue has flipped the whole market model on its head. It’s now mainly an eating place, with a few stalls thrown in almost as an afterthought.

I don’t see the stalls being successful. But perhaps they will with a bit of luck. However it’s a brave business person that sets up a stall in there.

People will not be going there to shop in the first instance. They will be going there to eat and drink.
When they get in there, the way it operates will see them encouraged to take a seat. So the footfall is minimised by design.

Let’s be honest, if this hadn’t formerly been an actual market, there wouldn’t be any stalls whatsoever. It would just be a food hub.

But there’s this half-baked futile attempt to hold onto some of the original market concept, based on what? Nostalgia? A sense of duty to our past? It makes no sense.

So for me, the place has an identity crisis. It should be launched as a food hall 100%. It should be renamed. The additional space should be used for more seating and/or an area for artists to perform live music.

This is the furthest thing from a market. The stalls are doomed to fail in my opinion. They’ll give it a couple of years. Futile attempts to try and claw in market stall rent money. Cos that will all be factored into the financials. But they’ll eventually slash the rent. Then finally the stalls will be removed. You can bookmark this. 🤣

With regards to the seating- it’s not for me. I get back ache if I don’t have a backrest. 😮😞

And I don’t agree with it being cashless.
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Alright Nostradamus 😆 Let's see what stalls open and see how they do before we predict impeding doom.

The stalls are closer to the Abingdon Street entrance so will have plenty of passing traffic.

Once people have eaten they can pass through there, or many will go to the food halls past the stalls once that side opens.

There's also a lot of people who say they want market stalls, so 14 stalls should be enough to meet most needs.
 
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