"You spend all month trying to make next month's rent, there's rarely anything left over for you." That's the life for Anton Jaskiewicz, the owner of The Battery Shop at Oldham's Tommyfield Market. Declining town centre footfall and rent pressure is making it difficult to get by.
One look at his stall and its easy to see why he's had so much success over the years, with every bulb, battery, and assorted oddment you could ever need for the house neatly lined up, but with the rise of online shopping and supermarkets expanding their product offering, fewer and fewer people have come to the stall in search of their household needs.
Anton said: "There's a lot less people coming through. The expenses are still the same but your takings are way down, it's hard work, trust me. You've got Amazon, got supermarkets, everything's against us. At supermarkets you can just park up for nothing and get what you need but here you've got to pay if you just want to nip in for one or two things.
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"We have a quarter of the customers coming through than we have before but we're still paying almost full rent, the council have knocked down the rents a little bit but it costs a lot to be here and I've got to take that before we make a penny. It's bloody awful."
Although Oldham Council have introduced free parking after 3pm on weekdays at Tommyfield Market, many traders haven't noticed any improvement, with several saying a number of butchers shut up shop after that time due to low footfall - meaning even fewer people come through the doors to help boost other traders. One butcher called the situation an "absolute nightmare".
It's been tough for Colin Taylor and Maggie Heap over on R4 Pets, who have both noticed a massive drop in footfall since the pandemic. They both believe people who used to shop quite loyally at the market have taken their business elsewhere since the site was forced to close during the coronavirus lockdowns - with even essential stores having to close their doors.
Colin said: "It's rubbish, the first lockdown the essential shops should have been open but they weren't and now everyone's gone to a supermarket and not come back. I'm not saying all the customers would have come out even if we were open but forcing us to close meant we had no chance.
"Even though Oldham Council closed us down we still had to pay full rent and I don't agree with that, I would have happily paid storage rent but I disagree with having to pay full rent. I'd like to see more advertising about the market too, I've heard it once or twice on the radio but why can't they put a sign on the bin wagons that go all over the Oldham area? Everyone's struggling."
Neither of them had seen a change to the business of the market since the free car parking was put into place either. Maggie said: "That car park can be full after 3pm and this place is empty but it's not a surprise, we had a lady here saying you can't even get a sandwich at that time, what good is having the parking if you can't get some tea and food? We've got no chance."
The current proposal to move Tommyfield Market into Spindles Shopping Centre came up in several conversations with traders, with many saying they didn't want to move. For a number of traders, they would rather see the money spent on ways to encourage shoppers to the town centre, rather than funding the redevelopment of the historic market site.
Maggie added: "People don't like change, especially the older people who come in. A lot of our customers are elderly and a lot of them are still frightened to come out now even though it's safe, even now we're having people come who haven't been out for nearly two and a half years. Markets aren't meant to be in a town square shopping centre, they're meant to be a bit rough and ready and have character."
It's a tough time to be trying to make ends meet. Even tougher when your income relies on the money other people are willing or able to part with. As the cost of living crisis deepens, fewer people are heading out to make any non-essential purchases, squeezing their purse strings and making it even tougher for traders to balance the books.
Janet Brelsford at Janscrafts and Haberdashery has felt the pinch, with shoppers often choosing to buy fewer supplies from cheaper lines to combat rising costs. Although she's the only craft shop stocking her items in the area, drawing customers to the store whenever they're after a specific crafting supply, customers have been spending less and less in recent months.
Lockdown was also difficult for her, as the full priced rents meant that all of the grants she received as a business owner were almost given straight back to the council in rent, making it difficult to invest in the shop to prepare for reopening once lockdown restrictions eased.
She said: "Like everybody else, it's been up and down. I'd probably say there are more people coming through now, but there's not a lot of people spending loads. I've got to stock such a lot to give people variety, from the cheaper end up to the well-known brands. I'm seeing people buy less and cheaper which is a double whammy for me.
"After three it's completely dead, people have picked up their kids and they don't want to be dragging them back out to get free parking. It'd be better if the parking was free earlier in the day so people could get up, drop the kids off at school, and come and get some shopping. It is what it is though, there's nothing you can do about it."
Outside the market was a similar story, with one business owner, who didn't wish to be named, saying trade was devastatingly slow, in part due to the roadworks that have been going on outside Tommyfield Market in recent months. Another said that the car parking offer was being taken up by people heading elsewhere, with customers bypassing his shop in favour of another.
However, it wasn't all doom and gloom as some stores were hives of activity, with staff at Blooming Dale's too busy to speak about recent trends, and other stores seeing dozens of people heading in and out within just ten minutes. Chain brands like Primark and the Card Factory were also very busy, with lots of shoppers heading into the stores.
A spokesperson for Oldham Council said: “The council continues to be very supportive of traders on Tommyfield Market. The market is incredibly important to us and we are committed to delivering a sustainable future for it as part of our regeneration plans for Oldham town centre. That is why we are creating a brand-new market within Spindles Shopping Centre, as part of the centre’s exciting transformation.
"The split-level market will feature a fantastic new food and beverage market linking to Parliament Square and our new events venue, which is being created as part of the redevelopment. Our brilliant retail stallholders will have a new home on the upper level, in a dedicated produce market linking to the main shopping mall. We are bringing the market into the heart of the town centre, which will help to support it through increased footfall, a better visitor experience and improved access to parking and public transport.
“Residents told us they were keen to visit the new market during the Big Oldham Conversation consultation and that independent traders, product choice and food and drink were the most important things to them as customers. The new market will tick all those boxes and we’re pleased that planning permission has recently been granted and works can start to transform the centre into a destination for everyone.
“In the meantime, we continue to work on new ways to support and advertise the market and this includes the recent introduction of free parking after 3pm on weekdays, alongside radio advertising and planned adverts on our bin wagons. We need everyone to support their local traders by shopping and spending locally as much as they can. We’ve had some fantastic new traders start in recent weeks, so we encourage you all to come down, do a bit of shopping and have a bite to eat.
“The Coronavirus pandemic has had a massive impact on the council’s finances over the last few years. We have had to make, and are still making, very difficult decisions because of this to ensure the funding we have available, is delivered to key services such as health and social care. We have however, continued to support our traders with rent discounts between 10% and an 80% and have also supported traders with access to business support grants.”
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