Bury Market generated £1.1 million in annual surplus by staying traditional while others added wine bars and craft beer. Now they're building a £33 million Flexi Hall. What happens when you finally follow the playbook everyone else is using?

While Crewe, Altrincham and several other town markets have transformed into food halls, Bury Market has remained the same. 150,000 weekly visitors. 70% of customers have been coming for over a decade. No Instagram moments. Just a traditional market.

But demographic reality has caught up. Their core customer base is ageing, and in autumn 2026 their new Flexi Hall will open to younger crowds.

In this episode, I explore what Bury Market protected while everyone else transformed, the 10-minute queue that built customer loyalty nobody else valued, and the uncomfortable question facing every retail professional: when following the obvious route means losing what made you valuable in the first place.

Key Topics:
- Why Bury Market stayed traditional while competitors modernized
- The friction that creates customer loyalty vs. the friction that kills it
- Coach tourism strategy nobody else wanted
- Demographic reality no amount of loyalty can solve
- What "retailtainment while retaining independent spirit" means

Did anything resonate with you from today's conversation? I'd love to know. Do you love a market too?

Get the full show notes with all frameworks and resources mentioned at https://wheresyourcustomer.com/12

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