West Bromwich market traders are hopeful after move from ‘smelly’ site delayed

West Bromwich’s Indoor Market at Kings Square Shopping Center has seen its best days long ago and the remaining traders are struggling to find customers in a building well past its sell-by date.

Sandwell Council is working on a new site for the market – with a site earmarked on West Bromwich High Street – but progress has been slow and hampered by delays.

The market is home to a handful of traders, selling clothes, cosmetics, jewellery, pet and African and Caribbean clothing and food, and they say the council’s recent rent reduction has helped in some ways, but it still came in too much Late.

One trader, who chose not to be named, said he regularly counted the number of paying customers on one hand when closing the day’s trade.

“Some days are better than others,” she said. “But a lot of times it’s a struggle. There’s no step around here, so we don’t get a lot of passing trades, and we have to rely on a few regulars who know we’re here.”

She relied on regular customers to survive and battles with the council to improve the market, and the delayed move had left her impatient.

“We’ve been trying to get rid of the smell for 15 years,” she said of the fishy stench that hangs over the market — a smell that would put off the most ardent of regulars, let alone passers-by.