A bopping Leeds grandad and market trader, who just loves the sound of classic rock and roll, fancies himself a “lone ranger” as he contends with the “cut and thrust” of Leeds Kirkgate Market.
Andy Wilcox, 76, has beaten the cold, rain and snow, as he boogies beside his outdoor market stall selling musical instruments for 20 years. But there’s one threat which has been edging him out of business and slowing that spring in his step.
The online marketplace is causing havoc with his trade. The record player swerves and the music stops, as Andy shrugs his shoulders mournfully and admits business is “forever changing, people change with it or die off”.
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With the growth of online markets like Facebook Marketplace, Gumtree and eBay, fewer people are giving away old items to charity shops and selling them online. There are also fewer visiting the historic city-centre, favouring online purchases from the comfort of their homes.
Andy, who’s from Roundhay, said: “It's getting more and more difficult to get stock, instead of releasing instruments into various charity shops etcetera. People are now going online with it all. I’m not interested in that.
"This is the way I buy and sell," he adds, gesturing at his stall and the market. "It [online sales] makes it more difficult to buy stock."
"I go all over, you name it! I don’t want to retire, I like buying and selling, the cut and thrust of it. Online trade isn’t killing my business, it’s just more difficult to get stock. But that’s just the way of life. It’s forever changing, people change with it or die off. I’m a lone ranger here. I’ve been a salesman all of my life.”
Andy certainly has the feel of a lone ranger, as he trades in his debonair tweed coat, Barbour flat cap, and paisley neck scarf and shuffles around in a pair of shiny mahogany brogues.“You set your own standards in life, if you’re a bit of a scruff then that’s what you’ll get to your stall,” said the grandad-of-one.
'I'm not a musician'
Guitars are Andy’s best-sellers, along with violins. One might think the bopping grandad is a musician himself but it was only happenstance that he made a life out of selling instruments.
Andy has no musical ability whatsoever and gets by on “bluffing” his way through a deal. In Kirkgate Market, he says he's known as the 'music man', he chuckles.
Andy said: “I’m not a musician unfortunately. I used to sell old radios and record players but eventually, the four old guitars I had on the stall were selling but the record players weren’t.
“I ended up taking the old radios home and selling the guitars, I thought there’s something in this. I traded all that lot off and just concentrated on instruments.
“Generally, I can answer questions about the instruments and if I can’t, I bluff my way through. I’ve been a salesman all my life!”
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