Mary Portas - Car Boot Sales

Kennyboy66

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/8952950/Mary-Portas-shopping-is-gone-bring-back-the-car-boot-sale.html


Put car boot sales on the high street ????

I can't think or a worse idea.

Liverpools main shopping street (before Liverpool 1 was built), used to have a load of market stalls selling absolute tat & fakes.

They were situated right outside M & S and John Lewis, and the council spent years and no end of money in high court costs trying to get rid of them. I reckon many people went to the Trafford Centre or Chester just to avoid what was a miserable shopping experience.

Do we really want car boot sales on the high street with people selling knock off footie shirts, dvd, perfume etc, etc ?

What do the MSE retail experts think ?

Mallotum_X

Quality markets can bring people in, but as you say car boot set up full of tat is more likely to put off people with any significant spending power.

PasturesNew

When I moved south west, one very very noticeable thing was an absence of markets. I'd been used to huge bank holiday Monday markets on disused airfields (e.g. Bourn, North Weald) - each about a whole half mile from start to end - and regular/weekly street markets throughout the year in just about every town for miles.

Car boot sales are also scarce on the ground and poor quality where I am.

Both these items are things I crave.... it used to be nice thinking "Ohhh Bank Holiday Monday .... which market shall I go to..."

lostinrates

car boots heave locally. I've only been to two, but pass one that rakes in it in near by sat and sun mornings in summer, and there is another one just four/five miles away. I think its very likely these ould haul people back into town centres you know...

Going4TheDream

What a ridiculous woman. I think every time she opens her mouth something stupid comes out.

doire_2

How much was she paid?

kabayiri

Mary, Mary,
Quite Contrary,
How does the high street grow?
With Jingle Bells,
And scented candle smells,
And market stalls all in a row.

Jennifer_Jane

We have a market twice weekly, and it's pretty well supported for the fresh food. Farm shops locally are often too expensive, too far to get to, and don't have a good range. If shops on our High Street are battling it's because:

a) Council introduced parking charges even though we don't have wonderful shops in town anyway - you wouldn't come here to shop from other areas.
b) Council rents are pretty expensive

The cafes around here are full, the town looks full. If people aren't buying here it's because online is cheaper, easier, and so on. It's nothing to do with clowns or car boots in town. There's plenty of rubbish sold in the market. Anyway, the market is taking money from the High Street then isn't it?

If I want a proper clothes shop or whatever, I'll go to the next town which is slightly bigger, and has more choice. If I'm determined to do a clothes shop, then I'll go to the Trafford Centre, where it's warm, well lit, with plenty of choice. Or Cheshire Oaks or Handforth.

I don't know what the answer is, and wonder if this isn't just the natural way of things. If shops don't adapt (but I don't know in what way) they will die. So be it.

Out,_Vile_Jelly

Farmers markets with local fruit and veg are surely a win-win in terms of helping small producers and the nation's waistlines. Supermarket veg is over-packaged and over-priced.

I personally love car boot sales. I know one person's tat is another's treasure, but I really struggle to imagine who would ever buy some of the random stuff you see. I've concluded that theatre props managers must be regular customers, as staging Hamlet in the 80s is the only reason I can think of for buying a Betamax remote control.

StevieJ

Jennifer_Jane wrote: »

If I want a proper clothes shop or whatever, I'll go to the next town which is slightly bigger, and has more choice. If I'm determined to do a clothes shop, then I'll go to the Trafford Centre, where it's warm, well lit, with plenty of choice. Or Cheshire Oaks or Handforth.

I don't know what the answer is, and wonder if this isn't just the natural way of things. If shops don't adapt (but I don't know in what way) they will die. So be it.

Handforth? I used to work in Wilmslow and Handforth was never top of the shopping pops, have they built something new there?

Errata

Mary Portas giving advice? She'll be singing a different tune when her shop in House of Fraser has the biggest January sale imaginable and then closes down.