The UK’s the cost-of-living crisis and the move towards sustainability looks to hue having a profound effect on clothing retail. A new report reveals clothing market stall numbers have significantly outperformed store growth in the past five years.

Data from UK tech finance firm SumUp shows the number of clothing stalls surging by 26.5% between 2020 and 2024, whereas clothing stores only saw a 2% growth by comparison.

Citing a clothing retail industry in the UK estimated to be worth £47.7 billion in 2023, up 8.6% on 2022, SumUp’s analysis claims the clothing market and stalls “are an increasingly popular driving force behind industry sales in recent years”.

It noted that Google searches for ‘clothing markets’ have risen 81% in the past year, with a particular interest in ‘vintage clothing markets’ which have increased 89% in the same time frame, supporting SumUp’s study.

The report shows Yorkshire and Humber is home to the largest increase in clothing stalls and markets in the UK, with a 50% increase since 2020. In the region, the search term for ‘market stalls’ is up 25% over the past 12 months.

However, London also witnessed a 33% increase in the number of clothing stalls and markets between 2020 and 2024. 

And Google searches for ‘London clothes market’ have seen a 50% increase in the past year, “highlighting a potential shift in the capital’s shopping habits”.

The West Midlands, covering cities such as Birmingham and Coventry, has also seen a 33% increase in the number of clothes stalls and markets since 2020. Searches in the area for ‘market stall’ are up 100% in the last 12 months.