The stalls are expected to trade until 3pm, according to organisers North Lincolnshire Council.
We are heading off for a look shortly (10.30am Saturday).
12.45pm: We had a good look round, chatted to some interesting folk - not all Brigg people by any means, picked up quite a few snippets of interest and took some photos to share with you later on Brigg Blog. Good weather goes hand-in-hand with a good farmers' market and the rain held off. But let's not forget the general market. This is here EVERY week and we were pleased to see the stalls being visited by many shoppers. And, last but by no means least, our permanent shops, food outlets and pubs. Where would we be without them?
This message was well put today by Kennedi Boutique @kennediboutique which said on Twitter: "Come and visit Brigg today! Lots of fab independant shops and its Farmers' Market."
Brigg & Goole MP Andrew Percy (Conservative) held a Brigg surgery at The Angel, while Labour had a stall in Wrawby Street, featuring Labour candidate Jacky Crawford.
(Brigg Blog, as ever, stresses we have no political affiliations and remain neutral).
Various comments are emerging re the opening of Wetherspoons.
ReplyDeleteSome retailers, particularly those with, in some degree, competing with Wetherspoons have been heard to say that their businesses has been somewhat adversely affected. These comments are often tempered with the notion that the 'honeymoon' attraction will decline in due time and that trade should eventually return to it expected levels....
Shop owners in the locality of Wetherspoons have indicated that footfall in that area of Brigg's high street has discernibly increased. Certainly, a number of retailers have indicated that such footfall is the result of new, or outsiders visiting Brigg for the first time and/or on a more regular pattern.
Overall, this empirical study would suggest that opinion is still divided and only time will establish whether, or not Wetherspoons is catalyst for stimulating retail benefits and growth to the rest of the high street.
However, one observation is that few retailers have actually exploited the increased footfall potential in the area. For example, the E-cig shop has strategically moved its advertising sandwich board to increase its impact on the increased number of passing visitors perambulating to and from Old Courts' car-park.
Where are the entrepreneurs who could be exploiting the situation by, for example, distributing information of the advantages of shopping in other parts of the town?
Is it possible to establish the origin of these 'new' visitors and how Brigg per se could benefit/influence/entice such folks into the broader retail sphere of the town?
It would perhaps be very cost effective to employ a few low-tech devices to encourage this new footfall to return to Brigg for a variety of reasons - Simple flag poles with advertising banners promoting everything from the Pump-Dressing, Beer Festival to Briggstock would immediately inform new-comers that Brigg is not just Wetherspoons....