Mary, welcomes customers to her new Oldham Market home

After 49 years trading on Oldham’s outdoor market, Mary Eleftheriou is embracing a new chapter while continuing to serve generations of loyal customers. For nearly half a century Mary has been a familiar face in Oldham town centre.

The owner of Mary’s Bedding & Towels spent 49 years trading on Oldham’s outdoor market, building relationships with customers that have lasted generations, now settled into the new Oldham Market, Mary says it is the people of Oldham who have kept her passion for market trading alive.

Mary said “It’s the interaction with the customer, you might not even sell anything to them, but you’ll have a chat with them. They’ll tell you their life history, or they’ll come to buy something and by the time I’ve finished with them, I’ve told them what size they should really be having.”

Mary’s business has evolved significantly over the years, alongside bedding and towels, she still sells cotton hankies and other traditional items, but not knickers. 

“There wasn’t a lot of profit in knickers for a pound,” she laughed. “I still sell a lot of the things that people don’t really feel are any use anymore, but people still buy them.”

The move into the new market has been welcomed by many customers, although Mary understands why some residents remain nostalgic for the old outdoor market.

“It’s been a mixed response,” she said. “A lot of people were upset because the market closed, and I was upset the day it closed. I never thought I’d leave the market under those circumstances. I thought I’d still be going, and the market would still be there.”

However, she believes customers are increasingly appreciating the benefits of the new setting,  “It’s clean, it’s tidy, it’s dry and it’s new, people can come in and have a mooch about. On the whole, everybody likes it.”

Mary has long been known as more than just a trader. Alongside her stall, her family operated the well-known Diana’s Cafe, which became a familiar meeting point for shoppers and market visitors. She recalls how elderly customers would often make their way there when feeling unwell.

“Nobody ever called it Diana’s,” she added “They would say, ‘If we can just get to Mary’s, we’ll be OK, It’s nice to feel that people have that faith in you.”

For Mary, that sense of community is what separates independent market traders from larger retailers.

Mary finishes by adding “It’s personal service, you get the one-to-one and you get to know people and their families, I had a customer in last week telling me that her mum used to bring her to my stall when she was younger. It was lovely, but it does remind you how long you’ve been here.”

“You don’t get that in the big shops! You look for somebody to serve you and sometimes there’s no smile and no conversation. Here, people know you and that’s what markets are all about.”

As Oldham Market begins its next chapter, Mary believes the personal touch remains its greatest strength.

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