Meet Rob Clarke, he’s a trader in the Butcher’s Market and has been there for 11 years which is a great advert for being an independent trader in Wrexham.
Rob is married with two small children and he makes his living selling DVD’s and Blu Ray’s from his shop “Mad4Movies” which caters for all ages and tastes. He also sells some DVD’s online although this is not his main business as he prefers the face to face contact with his customers.
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“One big department store”
So why does Rob like trading at the market?
“Wrexham people are very friendly and I get to meet a lot of them who are always happy to stop and chat. There’s also a great community in here as everyone helps one another and the traders get on really well. We’re just like one big department store really.
“Trading in the Butcher’s Market is great and I wouldn’t consider moving as that would affect my costs. People know where I am and I know my business so I’m able to help them when they can’t quite remember the name of a film.
We asked him what advice he would give to a new trader
“New traders can learn a lot from all the traders in here. When I first started I received help from the Council’s Businessline Team which really helped and I also listened to the advice of the older, more established traders. New traders also need to be prepared to put the hours in and to get to know their product so they can sell it with confidence.”
We also asked Rob if he had any advice re advertising. This is what he had to say.
Social media is the trader’s best friend for advertising
“I haven’t had to use costly advertising and I have been pleasantly surprised at the power of social media, particularly Facebook. It’s free and is the trader’s best friend for advertising and relatively easy to build up an audience who will soon start interacting with you. A lot of my customers fine me online and ask if I have certain movies for them so it’s really useful for them.
A quick visit to Rob’s shop soon shows why his business has remained popular for so many years. His neatly arranged shelves offer a wide range of DVD’s from, perhaps his most memorable title, “Attack of the Lederhosen Zombie” to a large variety of “Carry On’s” and from new releases to old westerns. He is also happy to source DVD’s for customers when he doesn’t have a particular title in stock.
We have some stalls available at the Butcher’s Market and if you are interested in taking the first steps to become a market trader take a look at our previous article:
“Fancy Trading in the Butcher’s Market?”
If you’re thinking seriously about becoming a market trader call our Markets Team now on 01978 292545
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