Afflecks is a building housing an indoor market located at the junction of Church Street/Tib Street and Dale Street with Oldham Street

Oldham Street

Oldham Street is in Manchester city centre and forms part of the city's historic Northern Quarter district. The Northern Quarter dominated by buildings that were built before World War II....

 in the Northern Quarter of Manchester

Manchester

Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...

 in England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. Dozens of independent stalls, small shops and boutiques operate in the one building. The building was once occupied by a department store called Affleck and Brown, hence the name.

History

Affleck and Brown was a long-established independent department store but was acquired by Debenhams

Debenhams

Debenhams plc is a British retailer operating under a department store format in the UK, Ireland and Denmark, and franchise stores in other countries. The Company was founded in the eighteenth century as a single store in London and has now grown to around 160 shops...

 in the early 1950s who owned it until 1973. It had a good reputation as a credit draper and was known for a good range of cloth for home dressmaking.
Affleck's Palace first opened in 1981,the brain child of James and Elaine Walsh, the ethos being a safe environment for entrepreneurs to start out with affordable rent and no long term contracts. Unit holders operated under a license agreement which allowed them to pay for space on a week by week basis. The relaxed atmosphere and colorful maze-like layout led to Affleck's becoming a mecca for alternative culture. Both Elaine and James remained devoted to Afflecks Palace throughout its 25 years and stayed fiercely independent. Through their tenacity the establishment was able to bounce back from two building fires and overcame many obstacles. James and Elaine shied away from the limelight preferring to let Afflecks be the star, sadly this has led to their hard work and dedication going largely undocumented.

During the 1990s 'Madchester

Madchester

Madchester was a music scene that developed in Manchester, England, towards the end of the 1980s and into the early 1990s. The music that emerged from the scene mixed alternative rock, psychedelic rock and dance music...

 Summer of Love' period – when local bands like the Stone Roses

The Stone Roses

The Stone Roses are an English alternative rock band formed in Manchester in 1983. They were one of the pioneering groups of the Madchester movement that was active during the late 1980s and early 1990s...

, Happy Mondays

Happy Mondays

Happy Mondays are an English alternative rock band from Salford, Greater Manchester. Formed in 1980, the band's original line-up was Shaun Ryder on lead vocals, his brother Paul Ryder on bass, lead guitarist Mark Day, keyboardist Paul Davis, and drummer Gary Whelan...

 and Inspiral Carpets

Inspiral Carpets

Inspiral Carpets are an alternative rock band from Oldham in Greater Manchester, England formed by Graham Lambert and Stephen Holt in 1983. The band is named after a clothing shop on their Oldham estate...

 were at the height of their popularity; Affleck's Palace was a fashionable spot to get oversized flared jeans and tie dyed t-shirts and 'Eastern Bloc' was a popular record shop as it dealt in all the latest underground dance

Dance music

Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement...

 tunes of the time.

On 31 March 2008 Affleck's Palace ceased trading. It re-opened on 1 April 2008 as Afflecks under new management. Afflecks will be managed by Northern England

Northern England

Northern England, also known as the North of England, the North or the North Country, is a cultural region of England. It is not an official government region, but rather an informal amalgamation of counties. The southern extent of the region is roughly the River Trent, while the North is bordered...

 property developer Bruntwood when the current management stand down following several months of negotiations between the founder Elaine Walsh and building owner Bruntwood concerning the future of the building after the expiry of its 25-year lease in June 2007. It had been previously suggested that Bruntwood would redevelop the building, possibly leading to its closure as a market, with many traders having feared that closure would be likely and that notice could have been given as soon as the end of January.

Following the change in management a representative of the property developer is quoted as saying:

Never in our 30 year history have we bought one of our customers' businesses but Afflecks is a Manchester icon that we wanted to protect. We aren't however expert in managing markets, so will look for a suitable long term owner.

External links

• www.afflecks.com Official Site