The Voice of Spalding and South Holland
Owners of a town centre shop are hoping Spalding will be “jumping” this Saturday with the launch of a new flea market.
Sisters Anna Avery and Jane Fletcher, partners in Flowers ‘n’ Things in Red Lion Street, are itching to get started with a new project, which will see the pedestrianised area outside their premises turned over to stalls selling a range of second hand goods.
It is hoped the weekly flea market, which will be in addition to the town’s general stalls, will attract more people into the centre to shop.
Anna said: “Jane and I had been talking about ways of increasing interest in the town centre.
“Spalding has some nice shops and we all do our best to make it an attractive place but even a lot of local people don’t come into town to shop.
“We can’t do anything about the empty shops, but Red Lion Street has always had market rights so we approached the council with the idea of a flea market and to our surprise they said yes.
“We just hope it will be one more reason for people to come into town.
“We believe that it will be a great opportunity for people who may be considering dabbling in market trading to give it a go in an environment where everybody is new to it.
“We are offering to pay for one of stalls to be a charity stall for a few months and Cancer Research is doing a vintage clothing stall this week.
“It won’t be the same as the rest of the market, it won’t be fruit and veg or anything like that. We are thinking more along the lines of bric-a-brac and antiques and collectibles, or maybe second hand books and clothes.
“We hope it will attract shoppers who want to have a bit of a rummage round for a bargain.”
The flea market will only have three or four stalls to start with and will be run by South Holland District Council. A one-off stall will cost less than £20.
Anyone interested in booking a stall can go along to Flowers ‘n’ Things, or call 01775 769306.
