South Coast Makers Market Move to New Home in The Avenue
The popular South Coast Makers Market has moved from the first floor of Bobby’s in Bournemouth Square to The Avenue on Commercial Road on Bournemouth’s high street due to continued renovation works at Bobby’s. The Avenue, owned by Verve Properties, a patient investment company that also owns Bobby’s, reopened its first floor which previously housed Sports Direct, on Thursday 12th October.
The owners of the market event, Jo Foy and Adam Brierley, arranged for all the existing artists to move over to the temporary venue and welcomed additional artists on the 1st November, as Adam explains: “We’re really excited to be in this new space, none of us can believe this used to be Sports Direct, it looks so different now! The atrium’s a lovely focal point, and we have plenty of space, so we’ve invited some new makers and local businesses to join us too.”
Jo adds: “As well as our usual array of artists, crafts, gifts, and workshops, we’ve organised for local artist Mirek Lucan to create some artwork and he has his own exhibition opening up in the space on Sunday the 29th of October. We have a craft workshop programme coming out very soon and Flaming Nora’s will be hosting a Stay and Play area for children near the coffee shop and seating area.
“We have changing rooms now too, so we have some vintage clothing stalls joining us, all in plenty of time for our Christmas Market which opens on Saturday 18th November, which just happens to be the South Coast Makers Market’s 5th birthday too, so there’ll be lots to celebrate!”
The first floor at The Avenue is also home to a large and flexible event space open to the community, the venue’s first event was a fun, family-friendly Mexican Day of the Dead Celebration on 28th October 2023 which included arts and crafts workshops, face painting, short film screenings, dancing, and art exhibitions.
Jo continues: “Another new addition for The Avenue is our very popular pop-up record shop complete with listening deck. Our preloved vinyl sales are by Eats n Beats who DJ’d for us on the 18th November plus we had Funky Choir come along to sing which was a fantastic way to celebrate our 5th birthday and the start of the festive season here at The Avenue.”
The move of the South Coast Makers comes as Bobby’s installs an additional lift, a 26-week project set for completion by summer 2024, as Ashley Nicholson, Director of Verve Properties, explains: “While most of the work we do here at Bobby’s and at The Avenue is about restoration, there are many parts that are about updating and renewing.
“To accommodate all our visitors, and to ensure easy access to all floors of the building, especially those that’ll be open beyond our usual opening times, we needed to put a second lift in. To do that, the lift installers require regular access via the lower ground floor and one other floor. With Bobby’s Beauty Hall on the ground floor, GIANT gallery on the second, the third floor getting ready to move Gozney in, and The Botanist on the fourth floor, the first floor was our only option. So, for now, our wonderful makers are moving over to The Avenue.”
The South Coast Makers Market is open seven days a week on the first floor of The Avenue in Bournemouth with gifts, workshops, coffee shop and pop up markets and events, for more information visit www.theavenuebournemouth.com.