Some of the food stalls at Ipswich market are to be allowed to move from Queen Street to Giles Circus after their takings were hit by their new site.
But others will remain in the position they have occupied since the start of the month – and are building up a good customer base among office workers in the area.
The decision to allow some traders to move was made following a meeting with borough officials after some of the longest-service stallholders warned they could have to quit because their takings had taken such a hit.
Ipswich Council leader David Ellesmere said: “We promised from the start that we would talk to the stallholders and do all we could to help them after the move.
“Some of the traditional stalls did tell us that they had lost customers who were unable to find them in their new home – and that they needed to move or they’d have to go.
“Others have said they like the new position. Their customers have followed them here and they are picking up new customers from Willis and some of the other offices around the bottom of Queen Street.
“They are quite happy to stay where they are and we are happy to support them there.”
The talks came after Jesse Pozo who runs Foxy’s food stall with his wife Melanie set up his stall on his old site in front of Lloyds Bank on the Cornhill because he was losing so much money from its new pitch. He said takings had fallen by 62% in the two weeks since the move.
He was ordered off by the council – but they agreed to the talks. It is understood he will be one of the stalls moving to Giles Circus along with Coffeelink and some others.
Only a few stalls will be able to operate from Giles Circus and borough council staff are currently mapping out where they could go – hopefully they will be able to move their for Tuesday’s market.
But as the operators of TFI Vegan, Rob and Jen Dunn, said they were very happy at the new Queen Street location because it brought all the food stalls together. It is understood several of the new stalls used social media to tell their customers where they were, helping to boost trade.
On Thursday and Friday after the weather improved there were more people using the Queen Street stalls – there were even lunch-time queues at some stalls as customers looked for sunshine.
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