The coordinates of the stall are N 52°31.014 W001°59.583. Today the first edition of the BCCA newsletter was available from the stall, this details the projects that the various practitioners will be working on, and some interesting background info from Monika. Click here to download. Also John Dummett, one of the other artists working on the project arrived. He is doing a project about local Tesco sites, and spaces affected by regeneration decisions - and what happens to these spaces in the interim period between decision and development. It is interesting to see another artist carrying out their project, and to see the different approaches.Once I had the coordinates for the stall I finished off the map I started yesterday. This lead to another conversation with Sonia -who I interviewed for the project.
Sonia is working on Stall 50 in the market - coordinates: N52°01.011 W001°59.574.
Sonia has only been located in the market for 2 days, but says that she loves it already, and that everyone is really friendly and really helpful.
For the interview question where I asked for an object that sums up the business, Sonia selected this shirt.I then went round to see one of the traders that I met yesterday - the man from T. Kumar fashion. I had a very long interview with him, which turned into a chat and even ended up with us going outside the market so that Mr Kumar could show me some of the problems he identifies with the town.
We discussed the difficulty for the pedestrian in navigating their way around, and how it is difficult to get to the market - and also that there are no signs telling people that the market is even there.
T. Kumar is a ladies fashion shop, they have been running for 3 years. Mr Kumar talked about the way they select stock based on their regular customers, and what those customers might like. He talked about their buying strategies - they do not buy in the cheapest goods, but prefer to think carefully about their regulars, and even offer a bespoke service - where customers at times ask them to source something. This, he said, is the secret to a successful business - developing a relationship with the customer.
Mr Kumar selected this pink top to represent his business. He said it can be seen as a good representation as it could be dressed down for casual, or up for a night out. This he said is important to his regular customers - saying flexibility is very important.
I also interviewed the lady from the fishing shop and the lady from Shree Shai Nail studio. They did not want to be interviewed at first, and insisted that the only way they would agree to it would be if I interviewed them both at the same time, so I did.
Tina from the Fishing shop did not wish to be photographed, although it was fine to photograph the stall, and she selected the maggots as the item which sums up the business.
They smelt weird, and I must say I was not too keen on them really. I asked Tina about the business and whether the developments worried her, and she said really unless Tesco has a fishing tackle section she will not be worried, as she is a specialist shop, and has very regular and loyal customers - some of whom come daily, while others come once a week. Mrs T from the Nail shop did not wish to be photographed, but said that if I come back tomorrow when a customer is in then I can photograph her working on their nails. To have a full set of nails it is £25 with decorations. I am going to have a manicure as well as doing the photos tomorrow - I have never had one, and it will be a good opportunity to have more of a chat with Mrs T. I asked if I could just photograph the Nail Shop, but Mrs T did not want the unpopulated shop photographed - she said, no it will be better tomorrow when there are people here. Very savvy.
Lunch today - I went to the Great Western Cafe, which is a traditional English Greasy Spoon.
ITEM FIVE:1 X Jacket potato with beans and cheese
1 X lilt
1 X water
Total: £3.60
The market closes early on a Tuesday and I photographed some of the closed stalls. I like the squareness of them. Above the wool shop - which I was asked about twice today.
Not too sure what Petty and Cole sell.
The optician was not open at all today.
The net curtain shop shut around midday.
And my favourite - Rita.I had planned to go along to the Caribbean takeaway on the way down the road from the hotel. So I popped along, but they did not have any vege food except for a PATTIE which needed to be cooked. Oh well.
I ended up going to another newsagent with a bag of crisps and a pear and a banana, and a big bottle of water.
ITEM SIX:
1 X bottle of water
1 X pear
1 X banana
1 X bag of crisps
Total: £1.43
I also needed to buy some shampoo, conditioner and soap for tomorrow morning's shower - so managed to find an independent £1 shop and got a weird selection of products that I would never usually choose.
1 X shampoo
a X conditioner
1 X pack of soap
Total: £3.97
Total spent today: £9
What will tomorrow bring?
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