Red Brick Vintage: from raw cakes to reflexology

Red Brick Vintage

Getintothis’ Jane Davies takes a trip to the newest market on the block in the ever burgeoning Baltic Quarter.

Billed as the ‘Mini Camden” of Liverpool, it was interesting to see how Red Brick Vintage shaped up in comparison with the famous North London market

Unlike Camden, the Red Brick Hangar is sandwiched between watering holes reminiscent of the types of ‘show bars’ at theme parks, involving pirates and television studio sets. A sort of Pleasureland meets the old Granada studios tour with a huge Irish styled bar appended to the side for good measure. In Camden, ironically, the original sort of bars once plentiful in Liverpool abound; the public houses with signature ceramic tiling on the exterior.

If you can see beyond the afternoon drinkers on the cursed stag and hen party trail, you will recognise an embryonic 21st century Quiggins taking shape. Heavily reminiscent of the original alternative scene hangout, a second hand emporium co-exists next door; a portal into a world of pre-loved furniture and clothing of decades gone by and a living history lesson for my bemused children fascinated by 1960’s telephones and hefty type writers.

One advantage over Camden is that the Red Brick Hangar is an indoor market. Come inclement weather, there will be no rain dripping from canopies however; the stalls are sturdy wooden, walk in structures with a proper shop feel about them as opposed to the adhoc collapsible, traditional nature of the outdoor stands at Camden. The Red Brick Hangar is also spacious with more ample room to manoeuvre between stalls.

The Red Brick team, along with the owners Jan Mian and partner Deborah Steggle are passionate about keeping the local community strong. The venture is twofold; a market and a platform from which the local start-ups and newborn businesses can grow.

Site Manager, Chris Day explains: ‘The next chapter in the Red Brick story is to create a hub for new independents and emerging businesses giving them a platform to transform their passion into a blossoming business in a safe fuss-free environment where they can feel part of the thriving community.’

The market is brimming with a multitude of eye catching stalls with everything from vegan and raw cakes, massage and reiki treatments to original photographic prints, food, vinyl record stalls, t shirt shops and antique traders. Keen local market goers will be pleased to reunite with some of the traders who have been displaced from former market premises in Liverpool city centre.

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It’s a much more ordered environment here than at a bazaar type offering with its presumed and expected haggling. You pay the price that it says on the tin here. Some people will be inevitably disappointed that there are no suspect Gucci belts and hand bags or suspicious Hermes printed scarves on offer. As a regular of the long gone Stanley Market, I stand culpable of buying questionable designer t shirts for clubbing.

Walking through the market, you are drawn to the sweet creations at The Nakery confectionary stall which offers vegan and interestingly phrased ‘raw cakes’. Keen to learn more we asked founder Natalie about her business which started as hobby from home 3 years ago.

So how does a raw cake differ to the average mass produced cake? ‘The cakes are completely raw, vegan, refined sugar and gluten free, but do all contain nuts‘ she tells us. ‘A raw cake is made using a food processor from things like nuts, dates, cacao, and coconut oil and then it is cold-pressed and set in a freezer for a number of hours. We don’t use any ovens. This is good because it saves on power consumption and also preserves the vitamin & mineral content in the cakes.‘

Natalie has advice for would be entrepreneurs, thinking of starting their own business empire at the Hangar: ‘It’s definitely not for everyone, and it’s not something you should do if you’re not sure what else to do for a job. It takes a lot of hard work and determination, both mentally and physically. I think the Hangar is a great place to set up your business as it’s affordable and you can become inspired by surrounding yourself with other business owners.

Just make sure you take into account that building a business is going to take a lot of patience and big wins don’t happen overnight. You have to be able to promote your own business and become accountable of anything that happens within it. I’d like to thank the management at the Hangar for all the support they have given me, I’m really glad to be a part of the Red Brick Hangar and look forward to the future.’

One of the most eye catching stalls on the market is the gothic themed Penny Dreadful residing in a faithful reproduction of a Victorian living room. It was the intention of its founders to create something that resembled a gothic Victorian space that would aesthetically transport people within its surroundings. The result is a sort of sensory time capsule that is unlike anything else around.

The stall offers a multitude of services from traditional bakery goods, an independent gothic photographer, a dark-folk illustrator, numerous independent local authors and artists and other unique gifts and items.

Alternative health and therapy stalls are market staples and Therapeutic Love Holistic Therapies offer a wide range of services. After recovering from a rare and life threatening infection in 2014, owner Natalie looked into alternative therapies as a means of pain relief for herself. She is now a qualified and insured holistic therapist with a desire to help people with the way they live their lives and health issues, explaining “I believe holistic therapies along with prescribed medication can improve the lives of those living with a huge number of health issues. I was previously working in accountancy, so this is a big change for me but it’s definitely what I love and will do for the rest of my life.’

Red Brick Vintage

A wide variety of therapies are on offer at Therapeutic Love including: Aromatherapy, Reflexology, Swedish Massage, Bamboo Massage, Reiki, Crystal Chakra Healing, Indian Head Massage and CBD Oil Massage. A simple guide to meditation is available for those who wise to try it for the first time.

The stall also stocks Crystal starter kits which contain The Little Book of Crystals as well as bath salts made with essential oils, incense sticks from Gold Bee, chakra crystal sets, essential oil perfume and heart crystal neck chain and various other types of crystal jewellery. Natalie makes the essential oil roller perfume and bath salts herself.

Natalie has found the Red Brick Hangar Market a great place to set up business; ‘This is the first time I have ever experienced trading at a market and I am enjoying it a lot. I love my unique bohemian vibe treatment room set up as it is completely different to the average treatment room in a salon or spa,’

Advance booking is recommended to avoid disappointment but walk ins are available 7 days a week.

The Red Brick Hangar offers an ever evolving range of stalls offering diverse products not widely available on the high street. It would be nice to see further street food stalls which would complement rather than compete with the often sold out offering at the Baltic Market. It is encouraging to see a new market carrying on the legacy of all those that have ventured before: Quiggins, The Palace and Grand Central to name but a few.

Now we are on countdown to Christmas, why not come and do your Christmas shopping?

The Red Brick Hangar is open seven days a week at Stanhope Street, Liverpool, L8 5RE, from 10 am until 6pm, Monday to Saturday and Sundays 10 am to 4 pm. Late night Thursday shopping until 8pm will be on offer up to Christmas.

Images by Getintothis’ Peter Goodbody