Glasgow market traders forced to close businesses at The Forge

Around 35 business owners who trade from the Market Village in The Forge Shopping Centre were unexpectedly told on Monday night that they wouldn’t be able to open their stores the following day.

It is understood that the company that operates the market has gone into liquidation.

Geoff Paterson has been trading since the day the market first opened in 1989 when it was known as the InShops.

His business, Jen’s Haby and Fancy Dress, sells a mixture of costumes, accessories, and haberdashery.

The 49-year-old, from Baillieston, said: “I’ve been there for 33 years. It used to be called the InShops and when that company folded it was a seamless transition into the Market Village.

“I had already left on Monday night, so I found out from fellow traders later on, they were all phoning me.

“I went in on Tuesday morning to learn from the manager, which is certainly not his fault, he’s out of a job as well.”

Despite the shock announcement, Geoff said he wasn’t “overly surprised”.

He added: “I’ve felt that there’s something been wrong for quite a while now, just things like not doing repairs when they should be, and toilet paper not being replaced.

“It wasn’t a big surprise, but it was pretty devastating. It’s your whole livelihood.

“It will affect me massively. Effectively, it has made me unemployed in one day. I'm going to have zero income all of a sudden.

“It was a very horrible way of closing. There was no correspondence from the owners. Not even a letter or presence from the owners to tell us. I mean, after 33 years, you’d expect better.

“Other people are probably in a slightly worse situation as they’re expecting a big turn for Christmas, whereas I don’t get overly busy at Christmas.

“My busy period has just passed, Halloween. If this happened four weeks ago, for example, I wouldn’t be as calm.

“It just so happens I’ve come through a busy period so that helps me slightly, but I'm still unemployed and left having to find somewhere new to sell my products.

"I do have an online presence, but it’s small.”

Geoff, who is hoping to relocate within the centre on a temporary basis, has praised the management at The Forge for “doing what they possibly can to help”.

It is claimed that the traders were told they had to empty their units by 2pm on Tuesday, less than 24 hours after the closure announcement.

But some still have thousands of pounds worth of stock that they can’t get access to.

Aleena Lippiatt, the owner of Aleena’s Boutique, told how traders were seen crying.

The 34-year-old, from the East End, has been trading at the market for five years.

She said: “I had to go in and clear all my stock out. I got all my friends to help, I had people helping with vans and stuff.

“There were people crying, people were stressed. Some traders didn’t even have a car so couldn’t get their stock out.

“There is a lot of uncertainty. We still don’t know what’s happening really as we’ve not had any contact from the owners. This is people’s livelihoods, and we are in limbo just now.

“Christmas is my busiest time, and I know a lot of traders will have spent a fortune on Christmas stock that they won’t be able to sell now.

“The Forge has been really helpful; they’re trying to set up temporary stalls for us to get us by Christmas.”

Meanwhile, Paul Currie, owner of Charlie's Butchers, said he was “shocked” when he was told the news.

He added: “I was absolutely gutted. I’ve been there for 26 years and have a very successful business, and now I’ve got no business.

“It came as a shock without a doubt, I’m devastated.

“I’m not as concerned about the customers, but if this had happened a few years before the pandemic I would have been really concerned.

“When the pandemic struck at first, the Market Village closed, so for 16 weeks we were shut and then when we opened back up almost every single customer came back.

“I’m hopeful if we’re just shut for a week or two then the customers will come back.”

Paul said he is also working hard to temporarily relocate elsewhere within the shopping centre.

A spokesperson for The Forge said: “This came as a shock to us also at 5pm on Monday. The centre is working hard to house as many of the retailers as we can and as quickly as we can to have these traders open for the Christmas trade.

“There is a lot of work going on behind the scenes at the moment, and we hope to be able to announce where these retailers can trade from in the coming days.”

The Market Village was contacted for comment.