Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Hopes new indoor market will help ‘battered’ Bon Accord Centre bounce back

Bosses believe a charity-link up could be key to helping the “battered” Bon Accord Centre bounce back from some crushing shop closures.

The shopping centre has lost lost the likes of John Lewis, Dorothy Perkins, Top Shop and the Disney store during lockdown.

Now bosses have teamed with north-east children’s charity Charlie House to open up a new indoor market for about 30 independent traders – and they hope the diverse offering will boost footfall.

Curated Aberdeen will open tomorrow in the space previously occupied by River Island on the ground floor.

Small local firms ranging from craft beer companies and silversmiths to artisan food producers and skateboard designers have all been preparing their stalls today.

New hopes for Bon Accord Centre

North East MSP Liam Kerr recently said the Bon Accord Centre had been “absolutely battered” by the pandemic.

But Craig Stevenson, manager of the mall, is keen to look towards the future rather than dwell on the bruising year.

And he hopes Curated Aberdeen will help to bring people flooding back for the high street experience.

Pictured are from left, Gary Kemp of Doric Skateboards, Craig Stevenson, centre manager at Bon Accord Centre, Darren Lynch the Curared Aberdeen market manager and Sarah Bremner. Charlie House director of communications. Picture by Darrell Benns

Mr Stevenson said: “Retail is undoubtedly going through a very tough time, big names have left the high street and we are going to see a lot of change in the next few years.

“Those changes will present opportunities for new businesses, including independent businesses, to take advantage of some gaps in the market.

“Retail is going to evolve, customers expectations are constantly changing and what they want to see in a city centre does move on.

“Shopping centres in city centres need to evolve with that, and provide customers with what they want to see.

“This is a great opportunity for the Bon Accord Centre, we need to keep looking forward.”

People returned to the Bon Accord Centre last month. Picture by Wullie Mair

‘People have missed the city centre’

Mr Stevenson has high hopes for the venture following the success of a temporary Christmas market in the space last winter.

He added: “We always hoped to be able to build on that, and this partnership with Charlie House offers the chance to bring some of the best products in the area into the centre.

“Looking at it all being set up makes you proud to be part of the area, and we are proud to give these small businesses a chance to show off what they have.

“I think the city centre is definitely now opening up, people have missed it.”

The market is to be based in the centre for the long term, with stallholders regularly changing.

It will open at 10am on Friday. The first 50 shoppers will receive a special goodie bag with the opportunity to find a “golden ticket” to claim a cuddly Charlie House soft toy.

Shopping centre bond has kept charity afloat

Communications director for Charlie House, Sarah Bremner, says the partnership with the Bon Accord Centre has been “instrumental” in ensuring the charity maintained income during the last year.

She added: “Stallholder fees will be donated to us from the market, ensuring a constant source of income, which is what we need.

“We have to hope shoppers will come to enable it to be a success.”

The money raised will go towards Charlie House’s new support centre

All funds raised from Curated Aberdeen will go towards the charity’s Big Build Appeal, to raise the millions needed to create a new family centre in Aberdeen.

There will be a 3D model of the proposed specialist support centre, to be built at Woodend Hospital, in the market so that shoppers can see what their support is going towards.

‘This is a godsend’

Alan McConnachie setting up his “From Scotland” stall at Curated Aberdeen. Picture by Darrell Benns

Alan and Kim McConnachie run the From Scotland stall at the market, which they describe as a “godsend” for small businesses like theirs.

Before the pandemic, the pair were a regular fixture selling various craft drinks at events like Taste of Grampian and the north-east’s agricultural shows.

Mr McConnachie said: “Since lockdown, there’s been nothing, there has been nowhere to actually sell stuff.

“We are not a supermarket, we ended up having to sit and twiddle our thumbs for quite some time.

“We only sell through the likes of these events and markets, so this idea is a godsend for us.”

‘Buttery skateboard’ among items on sale

One of the more unusual items on sale when Curated Aberdeen opens tomorrow will be a skateboard emblazoned with the image of a buttery.

Gary Kemp runs Doric Skateboards, and designs boards, clothes and other accessories with a distinctive north-east flavour.

Pictured is Gary Kemp of Doric Skateboards at his stall at Curated Aberdeen. Picture by Darrell Benns

Mr Kemp has a loyal following and is hopeful some of his regulars will pop along.

The 44-year-old said: “I am lucky that I have been doing this for four years and have created a customer base.

“When I come to these events, they tend to come along.

“I was here for the pop-up market at Christmas and it was brilliant, so I hope this is the same.”

You can read more about Gary here, as he this week made an effort to tackle the “facade of success” on social media. 

And there is more on the Bon Accord Centre below –Â