Beyond the Big Cities: Running a Food Hall in Blackpool
At Abingdon Street Market, we’re building a food hall in a town with a strong identity, a rich history and a very different set of opportunities and challenges to the UK’s major cities.
Since we took on the lease of the building we've had the challenge of bringing a new vision to this historic town-centre space. What followed has been a learning curve in what it really takes to run a food hall in a secondary town: from building trust with local audiences and supporting independent businesses to finding our place within Blackpool’s wider regeneration story.
In this article, our Food & Beverage Manager, Alycia, reflects on what we’ve learnt along the way, why the approach that works in a major city doesn’t always translate to a town like Blackpool, and what it takes to build a food hall that feels genuinely connected to its community.
Food Halls in a secondary town
Written by Alycia Armstrong, Food & Beverage Manager at Abingdon Street Market
Since we’ve opened Abingdon Street Market, we’ve learnt a lot. Opening a venue like ours in a secondary town like Blackpool is very different from the same concept in major cities. We’ve learned that our success doesn’t just come from what we do in our venue, it’s about understanding our community, building local relationships and creating something that genuinely belongs to our town.
The national picture shows both the opportunity and the challenge. Research published in 2026 found that the number of trading UK food halls grew by 31% in the preceding 12 months, increasing from 114 to 149 venues. However, average annual revenue was reported at £5.6 million for major city food halls, compared with £1.8 million for those outside major cities. These figures highlight how differently the same concept can perform depending on its location. Source: Restaurant Online, 2026.
At Abingdon Street Market we’ve learnt that what works in major cities like Manchester, London and Birmingham won’t necessarily work in a town like Blackpool. We’ve had to rethink our approach, understand our local audience and find ways to encourage people to visit, interact, return and become part of their routine.
Introducing a concept of a food hall into a town with such a rich history wasn’t easy. Changing locals' perspectives took time and we've had to demonstrate that modernisation and regeneration does mean losing Blackpool's identity. It means building on our heritage and creating new opportunities for the future of our locals.
Local pride is at the heart of what we do, we champion local businesses and strive for every vendor in our venue to grow not only independently but alongside us. Their success is our success and we want to provide an environment where local independent businesses can develop, reach new customers and build a future with us.
One of the real beauties of our local hospitality scene is how interconnected we are, we rely on one another to generate footfall. Local events such as festivals like Rebellion and Magicians weekend hosted by the Winter Gardens, local gigs and shows hosted by Bootleg social and other music venues. This creates opportunities for the whole town, bringing visitors not only to our door but neighbouring businesses too. We build relationships, understand each other's challenges and recognise that supporting one another helps create a strong town centre for our customers.
Ultimately, there is no universal blueprint for a successful food hall in a town like Blackpool. Secondary towns have different audiences, challenges and opportunities. For Abindgon Street Market it means more than sales figures, it means supporting local independent businesses, bringing people together and contributing to Blackpool's future. We aren’t just operating in Blackpool, we are building something the town can be proud of and I am so excited to see where we can take it.
