{"id":458662,"date":"2025-09-28T20:09:19","date_gmt":"2025-09-28T20:09:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/458662\/"},"modified":"2025-09-28T20:09:19","modified_gmt":"2025-09-28T20:09:19","slug":"people-are-confused-the-market-is-empty-but-were-still-here","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/458662\/","title":{"rendered":"‘People are confused, the market is empty but we’re still here’"},"content":{"rendered":"

The brand new Oldham Market has been delayed – we spoke to traders to find out what they really think about it.\"TheThe brand new Oldham Market has been delayed – we spoke to traders to find out what they really think about it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a sunny weekday morning in Oldham. There\u2019s a steady trickle of shoppers plodding along the high street.<\/p>\n

But inside the Tommyfield Market on Albion Street the atmosphere is hushed.<\/p>\n

There are still some shoppers here – a gentleman drinking coffee over a newspaper at Mum\u2019s Kitchen, pensioners eyeing up the best cut for a family roast at one of the independent butchers, workers in high-vis popping in for a quick chippy lunch.<\/p>\n

But Oldham<\/a>\u2019s famous market is certainly a lot quieter than it\u2019s been over the summer months. And it may not just be because it\u2019s \u2018back to school\u2019 season.<\/p>\n

Two months ago, Oldham Council announced that the Tommyfield traders were due to move into their much-anticipated new venue next to the Spindles shopping centre this September.<\/p>\n

Placeholder(Image: Copyright Unknown)<\/p>\n

But earlier this week, Oldham Council confirmed the market is facing delays in fitting out the new units at the new Parliament Square building. Now it seems traders won\u2019t be moving until 2026 – and a new opening date is yet to be announced.<\/p>\n

Traders we spoke to had a lot of understanding about the reasons for the delay – no one wants to move into an unfinished unit, or leave their fellow traders behind. But the whiplash in announcements has caused \u2018confusion\u2019 among their loyal customers – and may have contributed to the recent loss of footfall.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s definitely confused people,\u201d said Anton Jaskiewisz, 64, a Tommyfield trader who owns The Battery Shop at the far end of the hall. \u201cThere\u2019s nought we can do about it though, is there?<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not helping because there\u2019s more people leaving [the Tommyfield market] – it\u2019s very empty here. We have no customers.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AntonAnton at The Battery Shop, a stall he’s been running at Tommyfield since he was just 17 years old. (Image: Charlotte Hall)<\/p>\n

Anton said he understood why the delay had happened. Motioning to the densely packed walls of hardware products behind him, he said: \u201cFor me, all I need is some shelving – \u00a310k and we\u2019re up and ready. But some of the traders need more specialist stuff. It takes time to install things like fridges.<\/p>\n

\u201c[The council] could have thought about that a bit earlier though, couldn\u2019t they?\u201d<\/p>\n

Elsewhere in the market hall, Elaine Rothwell, 66, who manages the Best Wishes card shop, said she\u2019d been \u2018annoyed\u2019 about the news.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were all set to put our Christmas<\/a> stuff up in the new place. They didn\u2019t give us any notice about anything,\u201d said the 66-year-old, who runs the stall along with partner Ian and daughter Nicky.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ve also taken their time announcing it to the public. People still don\u2019t know we\u2019re not moving. It\u2019s having to tell customers all the time that we\u2019re not going to move yet – and they\u2019re just as shocked as we are.<\/p>\n

\"ElaineElaine at Best Wishes, which she runs with her partner and daughter. (Image: Charlotte Hall)<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m still excited to move because I think it will be good for Oldham. It\u2019s just that it\u2019s going on and on. We still don\u2019t even know when the opening date will be.\u201d<\/p>\n

And similar feelings were echoed by Peter Haq, 86, who was manning his eponymous Tommyfield shop for his daughter-in-law, who now runs it.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a shame about the delay but these things happen. I think for me, the biggest problem is that there is this idea out there that the market is moving in September. They need to tell everyone that we\u2019re still here,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s pushing people out and less people are coming. Where are the updates?\u201d<\/p>\n

\"PeterPeter Hack, a self-proclaimed local legend, ran three successful businesses in Oldham before he retired – now he just pops into the Tommyfield to help out occasionally between rounds of golf.(Image: Charlotte Hall)<\/p>\n

Haq ran several successful clothing businesses around Oldham town centre including the Tommyfield stall and Trilby on the high-street before retiring 24 years ago. Now acting as support for his younger family members, who\u2019ve taken over the business, he says he\u2019s still optimistic about the new venue.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn terms of the move, we\u2019re ready for it. Sometimes it feels like they do things without our input – like we wanted a special counter, but then they built a different counter and it wasn\u2019t how we liked. But I think it will be good in the end.\u201d<\/p>\n

There were also those who were simply \u2018not bothered\u2019 by the delay.<\/p>\n

Mr Mahmood, 64, who runs Time Tech, a watch and clock shop, said: \u201cI can only speak for myself, but it\u2019s not really affected us. I\u2019m not really that bothered about it.<\/p>\n

\"MrMr Mahmood, who has run his unit Time Tech for more than 20 years, is just ‘not bothered’ about the delay. (Image: Charlotte Hall)<\/p>\n

\u201cOur customers still come to us in here, so there\u2019s no negativity. And hopefully it will be the same when we move over.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a technical person. I know that when you build a new building, it always takes longer – things change, materials become more expensive, suddenly there are new rules and regulations. And we still need to do our fitting.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just not really that worried about it – I\u2019m still excited to move.\u201d<\/p>\n

There are also those who are no longer present to react to the extended lease and news of delay. In the last two years, the M.E.N. has spoken to a number of stall-holders who have made the decision to cease trading when the move takes place.<\/p>\n

Many, such as Margaret and Lummy, who ran Hyde<\/a>\u2019s News Agents, have now vacated the premises, leaving a trail of empty units filled with Halloween and council displays.<\/p>\n

Placeholder(Image: Copyright Unknown)<\/p>\n

Oldham council did not wish to comment on the specific way communications were handled. A council press release claimed Tommyfield Traders had \u2018requested to move into the new market \u2026 in the new year\u2019.<\/p>\n

But the traders the LDRS spoke to claimed they had simply been informed that the lease, due to expire in October, had been extended and the move pushed back.<\/p>\n

Councillor Arooj Shah, the townhall leader, said: \u201cWork to prepare the new market is moving at pace, with traders busy fitting out their stalls and adding their own personal specifications.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe move will bring together the wide variety of stalls currently at Tommyfield Market into a modern space at the heart of the town centre. A fresh, fit-for-purpose market that keeps Oldham\u2019s proud market tradition at its heart.<\/p>\n

\"CouncilCouncil leader Arooj Shah at Crossley’s Fish Stall at the Tommyfield Market.(Image: Oldham Council)<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been working with our traders on this for months, and we\u2019ve listened to what they have to say and are supporting their decision to move in the new year. After listening to traders it was clear that keeping the market open during the Christmas period was vital, both for traders and for residents who rely on them.”<\/p>\n

Ray Aslam, Chair of the Tommyfield Market Traders\u2019 Association, added: \u201cChristmas is the busiest time of year for most of us and moving before then isn\u2019t ideal, especially as some traders have challenging fit-out requirements that take longer to complete. We wanted to make sure no one was left behind so waiting until the new year means we can all move together and make a real fresh start.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The brand new Oldham Market has been delayed – we spoke to traders to find out what they…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":458663,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8813],"tags":[748,393,4884,2465,2441,1286,14984,285,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-458662","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-manchester","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-england","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-manchester","12":"tag-markets","13":"tag-oldham","14":"tag-oldham-council","15":"tag-politics","16":"tag-uk","17":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115283740338939893","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/458662","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=458662"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/458662\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/458663"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=458662"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=458662"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=458662"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}