The Teenage Market

How a successful grass roots initiative in Stockport is now being launched nationally. The Teenage Market was created by teenage brothers, Tom and Joe Barratt, in their hometown of Stockport, to give young people free market stalls to try out their creative business ideas. The initiative was developed with the help and support of Stockport Market Manager, Paul Downs and his team, who gave the brothers the use of the renovated Indoor Victorian Market Hall free of charge. Tom and Joe believed that there should be a specialist market designed specifically for the large population of young people in the town, which would give them a free platform to be entrepreneurial, try out a new a business idea and sell creative products.

The concept of The Teenage Market immediately captured people’s imaginations and became an instant hit with young people in the North West. The Teenage Market gave young people who were already selling online a chance to trade at their local market and inspired those who have never considered the idea of trading on a market to give it a go.

Eighteen year old trader, India Wood, said: “The Teenage Market really brings the community together and makes the town a much nicer place. It gives aspirational young people a great opportunity to start something they could be very successful in and creates a totally different view of teen culture than is normally portrayed in the media.”

As well as a creative retail offer, The Teenage Market also included a performance element, giving a much needed, free platform to local performers and large community groups, to showcase their unique skills and talents. The Teenage Market quickly gained local, regional and national media attention and received online backing and support from the Queen of Shops herself, Mary Portas, who described the event as “unique, innovative, inspiring and game-changing”.

Stockport MP and Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Markets, Ann Coffey, has also lent her support to the initiative, which she said: “offers young people an amazing opportunity to showcase their talent and a place to sell their goods.” She went on to say: “a new generation in our market place with their enthusiasm and vitality is proving a magnet to young and old and a powerful regenerative force. Every town should have a Teenage Market.”

The fusion of creative retail and live performance, created a thriving, bustling marketplace in Stockport which has acted as a catalyst to attract a new generation of shoppers and increase footfall to the market area. This achievement led to the brothers being awarded financial support for The Teenage Market from Stockport Council’s Business Challenge Fund which is now enabling them to develop the idea on a national level so that other towns can benefit from the influx of creativity, diversity and community spirit the events bring to market areas.

The brothers had received so many requests to run The Teenage Market in other towns around the country, that they came up with the idea of licensing the event and have created a toolkit from everything they have learned, which includes tips and advice as well as templates for marketing materials, which include the bright, eye-catching branding of The Teenage Market.

As well as this, the brothers have also developed an online portal which will make the management and promotion of each Teenage Market event incredibly easy. From the click of a button, organisers will be able to input the date, time and location of their Teenage Market and then use social media tools to share it online and invite traders to take part.

The national launch of The Teenage Market is being fully supported by NABMA, who are making the initiative a core part of Love Your Local Market 2014, as they look to focus on finding more ways to engage young people with market areas. NABMA CEO, Graham Wilson OBE, said: “The success of the Teenage Market is a clear indication of the positive contribution that young people can bring to markets and help secure the future prosperity of our industry”.

For more information on The Teenage Market visit www.theteenagemarket.co.uk

If you are interested in purchasing a Teenage Market licence and running Teenage Markets in your town then please email info@theteenagemarket.co.uk