Camden Market

The North London line railway bridge over Chalk Farm Road from Camden Lock Place, a pedestrian-only road with open-air and permanent stalls, and entrances to some of the Camden markets
Former Camden Market at the water - demolished in early 2015 to be redeveloped as Hawley Wharf

The Camden markets are a number of adjoining large retail markets, often collectively referred to as Camden Market or Camden Lock, located in the historic former Pickfords stables, in Camden Town, London. It is situated north of the Hampstead Road Lock of the Regent's Canal (popularly referred to as Camden Lock). Famed for their cosmopolitan image, products sold on the stalls include crafts, clothing, books, bric-a-brac, and fast food. It is the fourth-most popular visitor attraction in London, attracting approximately 250,000 people each week.[1]

A small local foodstuffs market has operated in Inverness Street in Camden Town since the beginning of the 20th century, the only significant market in the area. On 30 March 1974 a small weekly crafts market that operated every Sunday near Camden Lock developed into a large complex of markets.[2] The markets, originally temporary stalls only, extended to a mixture of stalls and fixed premises. The traditional Inverness Street market started losing stalls once local supermarkets opened; by mid-2013 all the original stalls had gone, being replaced by stalls similar to those of the other markets, including fast food but not produce. The markets originally operated on Sundays only, which continues to be the main trading day. Opening later extended to Saturdays for most of the market. A number of traders, mainly those in fixed premises—an increasing proportion—operate throughout the week, although the weekend remains the peak period.

Since 2014 most of the markets were acquired by Israeli billionaire Teddy Sagi,[3] who heavily developed them from stalls set up for the day to permanent structures. In 2022 Sagi's company LabTech[4] offered them for sale, hoping for a price of around £1.5 billion.[5][6] Status was not known as of September 2023.[7]

  1. ^ More for less (26 October 2003). "Crashes and near misses could derail the privatised Tube". news.independent.co.uk. London: The Independent. Archived from the original on 26 December 2007. Retrieved 27 October 2008.
  2. ^ "The Early Years". Camden Market. 20 January 2016. Archived from the original on 11 July 2019.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Globes was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ "Teddy Sagi profile". Forbes. Retrieved 11 November 2023.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference forsale was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference forsalet was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Rowlinson, Liz (27 September 2023). "New homes are part of Camden Town's revamp". Financial Times.