The new £1.8m Northwich Market opened on 18 September with every stall taken. Here is the full trader line-up, the opening hours and how to get there.
Northwich has its market back. The new one at Barons Quay opened on Friday 18 September with all nineteen stalls trading, and the council says every one of them is let.
The ribbon was cut by Northwich Mayor Councillor Robert Cernik and Deputy Mayor Councillor Rachel Waterman. The council puts the gap at sixty years since the old market opened. Northwich Market’s own site puts the investment at around £1.8 million, the biggest since the 1960s.
That closes a gap we reported last month. Trading at Weaver Square ended on Saturday 29 August, and the town went nineteen days without a market. Our earlier story on the Weaver Square closure has the background on the move and what happens to the old building.
Who is trading
The council says four traders signed up shortly before opening, which is what took the market to fully let: Betty Lemon, Hide & Hands, Sweet Northwich and Thimblewick Gifts.
Eight of the nineteen stalls are food and drink:
- Bean & Cole, coffee, tea and pastries
- Casa de Sal Bar, a Spanish themed bar
- Habib’s Shawarma, Lebanese shawarma
- Loco 4 Tacos, Mexican-style tacos
- Spuds 4 U, loaded jacket potatoes
- Sweet Northwich, desserts and sweet treats
- Thai by Thai, Thai and oriental street food
- The Chicken Hatch, buttermilk fried chicken
The other eleven sell goods, services and produce:
- Beauty Wow, hair and beauty products
- Betty Lemon, gifts and home accessories
- Candy Bay, a sweet stall with a freeze-dried range
- E Phones, phone, tablet and tech repairs
- Hide & Hands, leather goods and watch straps
- oneministore, Japanese stationery and dried flowers
- Pop Specs, an express eyewear concept
- RetroFits, vintage clothing and retro sportswear
- Steve’s Cheese, artisan cheeses
- The Style Hut, a ladies’ fashion boutique
- Thimblewick Gifts, personalised gifts made while you wait
The council says many of the traders are from Northwich or have traded in the town before.
When it is open, and how to get there
The market is at Barons Quay, 31 Leicester Street, Northwich, CW9 5LG. It is shut on Mondays and Tuesdays, and open late on Friday and Saturday nights.
The market says parking at Barons Quay is free, and that the building is level and fully accessible, with accessible and baby changing toilets and free WiFi. The bus routes it lists are the X29 from Winsford, the 4 to Barnton, the 2 to Rudheath, the 1 to Weaverham and the 82, 82a and 82b from Chester.
One event is already booked in the centre: a children’s crafting event at Barons Quay on 30 September.
The old sign, and fifty fish
Two things from the old market made the move. One wall carries the sixty-year-old “Indoor Market” sign, restored. Above the seating area hang fifty fish mobiles and a large white-clawed crayfish, made from recycled plastic and inspired by the River Weaver.
Eleven local primary schools worked on that art project: Little Leigh, Whitegate CofE, Witton Church Walk CofE, Hartford Manor, St Bede’s Catholic, Byley, Antrobus St Marks, Weaverham Academy, Weaverham Forest, Charles Darwin and Winnington Park.
What it means for you
If you shopped at Weaver Square, check the days before you set off. The new market is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, and it stays open to 10pm on Friday and Saturday nights, which is when the eight food and drink stalls come into their own.
If you are coming from Chester, the 82, 82a and 82b run to Northwich, and parking at Barons Quay is free. If you are driving, the A559 through the town is being resurfaced overnight until 25 September, so an evening trip this week needs the roadworks and travel page first.
If you traded at the old market and did not move, the council says the new one is fully let. There is no waiting list published.
The Weaver Square building is still due for demolition. The council and ION Developments plan around 200 homes on the site, with public realm, flexible event space and a proposed bus hub.
Sources
- New Northwich Market now open, Cheshire West and Chester Council, 18 September 2026 (the ribbon cutting, the nineteen stalls, the four late signings, the full trader line-up, the restored sign and the schools art project)
- Northwich Market, the market’s own site (the £1.8m investment figure and the Barons Quay crafting event)
- Northwich Market: Visit Us (opening hours, the CW9 5LG address, free parking, accessibility and the bus routes)
- Our earlier report on the Weaver Square closure and the nineteen-day gap
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