Blackburn MP Jack Straw has once again proven why he is completely delusional by comparing the newly built and revamped Blackburn Market to that of Bury’s “World Famous” offering.
Speaking to the Lancashire Telegraph Jack Said:
‘you’d be hard pushed to find a better market anywhere else in the country’. We pitted the new Blackburn Market against Britain’s ‘best’ in Bury.
Bury’s Market has 250,000 visitors on average per week form people all around the country and separate to that 25 coach loads of visitors from as far afield as Liverpool and even Wales! After 500 years of top rate service and facilities, along with none of the 370 stalls empty (along with a long waiting list for vacancies) Bury has quite rightly been given the slogan as the “World Famous Market”.
19 Miles down the road there is a new wannabe... that of the new Blackburn Market! Costing £8million, only a third of the size of the Bury Market and being branded as the “Next Generation of Markets” it is a complete overhaul to the previous offering which in the latter year of its life was looking dilapidated, abandoned and in good need of a paint brush and a steam cleaner!
Traders in the new market have branded it a “world away” from the tired old market they have moved out of. In fact they were involved in the design of their bespoke stalls, which have been fitted with the latest technology, and grouped around themes. The new market is modern and part of the newly revamped Blackburn shopping centre and interestingly, traders have stated that there has been an increase in younger customers since moving, many of whom have just realised the bargains on offer.
The new market offers a similar range of goods to some of the main food stalls in Bury and of a same standard, yet comparing it to Bury’s long, established offering is ludicrous!
One stallholder at Blackburn Market said:
“Looking at Friday’s trade it has been brilliant.
"It is getting better. I was in the other market and this is a lot better.
“The old market was out on a limb, but now we are in the hub of the town.
"People are beginning to get used to the new opening times because it was only a three day market in the old one.
“But this market is nothing like Bury. Bury is advertised more and they get coaches of people going.
"People in Blackburn know about the market, so we need to advertise we are here to people outside the town.”
The reality is Blackburn has suddenly turned into Leeds and that isn’t necessarily a good thing. Groups of youths covering every diameter of the town centre and quite frankly turned into a modern town which has made Blackburn lose all its charm and personality. I used to go into Blackburn on a regular basis and now I cannot remember the last time I was unfortunate enough to find myself in the newly revamped town centre. Jack Straw is delusional to the extreme if he thinks that Blackburn Market is a true competitor to that of Bury. In-fact I would go as far to say as Bolton Market is better! Bolton is in need of a lick of paint but at least it has a long lasting charm and is what I would consider to be a market. I would not consider a modern warehouse to be that of a traditional English Market! Blackburn Market lacks any form of personality, the ambiance is offputting, the layout is unclear, the stall holder’s rents are far too expensive and it is simply trying to be something it isn’t! The separation of food and housewares etc. is the only thing it has going for it. Other than that it is nothing more than a building attached to the rear of a shopping mall.
Bury Market is historic, friendly and genuine. You know what you’re getting and you trust the stallholders and what they are selling. 
I certainly cannot see anybody wanting to organise a coach trip to go to Blackburn. Even though some stallholders at the new market are acting like the cat that got the cream when one person went to the new market she asked a stallholder, “is this it?” his reply was, “Unfortunately yes!” the trouble is the entire thing has been completely over hyped.
These days you’re lucky if you find a market which is traditional, elegant and cheap. Bury manages all that and more, it wins every time! There doesn’t seem to be support for the new market and quite frankly it was better off in the shack it originated from... such a shame these councils can’t seem to grasp that small things are certainly better. Now they have ruined the towns market by going in all guns blazing and creating a modern version which I would consider to be the market equivalent of the Taj Mahal... nice idea, nice look but with no substance, meaning and entirely pointless, simply there as something nice to look at with not much actual use!
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