Within the City of Derby there are three Retail Markets (Allenton, Eagle Market and the Market Hall) a Livestock Market, and a Wholesale Market. These Markets ensure that Derby can provide fresh local grown fruit, vegetables, poultry, meat, fish, and other produce together with imported fruit and vegetables that can be enjoyed by its multi-cultured citizens.
Derby Market has offered produce from local farmers that has been a mainstay of the diet enjoyed by Derby people for centuries and in recent years this has been supplemented by the introduction of Farmers Markets, who grow and sell specialist foods within a 40 miles radius of Derby, including both organic and rare breed foods. These have been welcomed by the public who are ever more conscious of the distances food has to travel to reach the table. With locally grown food people know their weekly shopping is fresh.
Not only do the markets provide quality fruit and vegetables, the shopping public can purchase anything from toys to a three piece suit. Recent years have seen the rise of specialist market shops dealing with items from all over the world to meet the shopping needs of the community and the range of goods available increases from year to year.
Derby Market Hall was opened in 1866 having taken 2 years to build. It is a fine example of Victorian building, and at the time of its opening housed 180 stalls on the ground floor and the Balcony.
Over the last 140 years the Hall has seen two major refurbishments, one in the late 1930's and the other in 1989, which restored the Hall to its original splendour.
Today's Market Hall is a major attraction to the City and brings in visitors and shoppers from throughout this country.