Shoppers are being encouraged to come out in support of Luton's indoor market in The Mall
Traders claims that the market is facing a worrying decline in footfall. A spokesman for Wellington Market Retailers PLC – which manages the market – admitted that its relationship with landlord The Mall could be better.
The Wellington spokesman said: “We are keen to work closer with The Mall. It has always been difficult to build up a good relationship with them.
“They are very protective of their tenants and they don’t like us giving out promotions and leaflets.”
Fancy dress stall Jax Dress Up Box is one of the traders who has expressed worries about a decline.
The store tweeted: “Why do people not shop in Luton indoor market in The Mall? We’ve been here since 1972, open Monday to Saturday every week.
“I don’t know if we can wait much longer. The footfall is nothing like it was in the past.
“There is no browsing and [the market] just appears to be a corridor between the car park and access to the Mall.”
The Wellington spokesman added: “We are recruiting for a new assistant manager of the indoor market.
“We’re always doing social media promotions and we have events going on throughout the year and we will be ramping up advertising again this summer.
“We had a traders’ meeting last week and one of the options was to advertise on the screen of The Mall.”
Regarding footfall figures, the spokesman added: “It always fluctuates and this is a quiet time of year. We’ve seen footfall increase back to the levels of two years ago. We’re always looking at way to get more people into the market.”
Recent events at the indoor market include a Guinness World Record creme egg eating attempt, a “Pitch for a Pitch” competition - invited local entrepreneurs to pitch their business ideas, speciality markets and pop-up stalls, as well as children’s events, music and fashion shows.
Wellington Markets added that it wishes to worker closer with The Mall and Luton Borough Council in order to advertise and possibly renovate the indoor market.