Victoria Park Markets

I really enjoyed the new Victoria Park markets, held on Saturday mornings. Lots of artisan crafters, specialty bakers, florists, jewellery, clothing, music etc. Loved the gorgeous cakes from Baker & Co, ate my first Kraken crumpet, browsed the stalls, had lunch with friends. Totally going again.

Great to see that VPM is back in business but shame to see its full of tacky stores and market fare. This could have been such a great artisan food hub (like La Cigale). But never mind.

The re-​opening of this Auckland icon was heralded for the weekend of 15 – 16 November 2015. We went along for a nosey and had high expectations. Previous attempts at rejuvenating VPM have been pretty abysmal so this had to be better.
All we can say is «ho hum». The design is nice except they have failed to allow for crowds of dawdling people. Bi-​fold doors open out on to the walkways, restricting access for people, and large pot plants add to the already narrow access.
The shops/​stalls are not really anything new. There are still empty shop spaces. The stall holders were all looking desperately at the meandering crowds who had little use for their handmade wares. I predict that many will not return.
There was not enough food for sale — we arrived at about lunchtime — and unbelievably the sushi shop had a practically empty cabinet and hungry people were walking in and out again. The remaining food outlets: a couple of cafes, were ill-​equipped to cope, slow and struggling to serve the throngs of people! This, on the opening day of a market that had so much promise but seriously failed to deliver.
Such a shame. Someone with a mobile coffee caravan could do a roaring trade down at VPM — coffee can soothe the savage breast and much can be forgiven when you have a good hot coffee fix in your hand!
Good luck to them for the future — I really hope they succeed…

I love the old brick exterior of the Victoria Park Markets but to be honest I think they have had a bit of a whoopsie with the interior renovation. Rather than complimenting the rustic brickwork they have decked out the interior shops with what looks like plastic joinery and a whole lotta stainless steel.
Interior aside, the majority of the shops that have gone in here are a bit knick-​knacky (think tourists stores and duty free perfume/​sunglasses). The exception is a couple of restaurants and cafes and of course Nike Platnum. It’s disappointing because the space had sooo much potential!
That being said, I still am a fan of the bars/​restaurants that run along Drake St, such as La Zeppa and Libertine — the view from both their decks on a clear night is beeeautiful! AND the downstairs space is definitely legitimate for event and exhibitions — I recently went to Winter Warm Up (boutique wine festival) here and I thought the small empty shop spaces were perfect for different vineyards to host small wine tastings.
I still holding on to hope that when the rest of the retail space is filled it will create a better atmosphere and magically transform into the shopping destination is has the potential to be!

My wife often raves about this place years ago — she said her Dad used to take her here all the time when she was young. She said it was a bona fide market back then with stalls and all the rest. Nowadays, they are doing it up and apparently turning it into a major indoor market complex. I heard that over a year ago and I was there recently and not much progress appeared to have been made. There are a few shops here alright but they are mostly souvenir shops or novelty shops — such as the one selling pipes for dope smoking. Walking through the markets makes you feel a bit weary — there’s not many people around and the staff in the shops seem equally bemused with it all. I don’t quite know what it would take but perhaps if you returned here in about 5 years, the place would be thriving. We live in Hope.

Victoria Park Markets are in the middle of a $ 20 million refurbishment. Thank you Auckland taxpayers!
The site actually used to be a refuse station, and the chimney was used for burning the city’s rubbish. It’s amazing what you can learn about things. The brick buildings have all been painstakingly restored to their original glory. I gave this complex four stars based on its potential, at the moment it seems to be taken up by a random mish mash of shops, some which have been there for a while and some exciting new additions. The ones that have been there a while really don’t offer that much in retail action, there’s pipe dreams, that specializes in pipes of course, a honey store, an African braiding store. The collection is rather bizarre. I think a little care in attracting some interesting, big names in retail could do a lot for bringing more people into the area. It always seems to be rather empty when I’m here, which I think is sad.