Poulton
In Poulton, The Teenage Market transformed Teanlowe Shopping Centre into a vibrant platform for youth enterprise, creativity and community connection, bringing fresh energy into the heart of the town.
🛍️ Shopping centre energy
On Saturday 7 February 2026, Teanlowe Shopping Centre came alive with the energy, imagination and entrepreneurial spirit of local young people as The Teenage Market popped up in the heart of Poulton.
Delivered by Place For Youth CIC in partnership with Wyre Council, Booths Supermarket and Teanlowe Shopping Centre, the event created a visible, welcoming and highly accessible platform for young people to showcase their creativity and enterprise.
In total, 22 young traders took part across 13 stalls, selling a wide range of handmade and creative products including gifts, crafts, accessories and other original items. Over the course of the day, young entrepreneurs collectively generated more than £1,900 in sales and sold more than 500 products to visitors and shoppers.
The event generated a vibrant and welcoming atmosphere within the centre, drawing interest from shoppers, families and local residents who were keen to support the young traders. Feedback from visitors highlighted how the presence of young entrepreneurs brought fresh energy to the shopping centre and created a positive, community-focused environment.
“It was a great opportunity both before the day preparing and on the day. It was my first one and I made over £200! I loved meeting the other stall holders and improving my confidence in speaking to the public.”
🌱 Confidence building
For many participants, the event represented an important opportunity to develop confidence and practical business skills. Young traders reported that interacting with customers, handling sales and presenting their products in a public setting helped them build valuable experience in communication, negotiation and entrepreneurship.
Ava Rose Beniston, an 11-year-old first-time trader from Poulton, described the day as a “great opportunity”, while India Burrows, aged 10, praised the opportunity to meet new people and see what other young traders were selling.
The event also provided learning opportunities for younger pupils, with a group of Year 7 students from Montgomery Academy attending as part of their Passion Project programme. Their involvement showed how Teenage Market events can work as practical, confidence-building experiences for younger pupils, helping them move from product design into real customer interaction.
🕯️ Bloom Candles
A particular success story from the event involved students from Blackpool Sixth Form College, who launched a new candle-making business after previously volunteering at earlier Teenage Market events.
The group — Shrika, Crystal, Alicia and Blake — created their business, Bloom, after being inspired by their involvement in the Fleetwood Teenage Market. A small business grant from Place For Youth helped remove an early cost barrier, allowing them to purchase candle wax and gel to develop a range of colourful candle designs.
Their stall proved extremely successful, selling out on the day and generating more than £300 in revenue, which they planned to reinvest back into the business. Their journey demonstrated how Teenage Market events can create progression routes from volunteering and inspiration through to trading, income generation and business development.
🏫 Real-world learning
Montgomery Academy’s involvement highlighted the educational value of The Teenage Market model. The Year 7 students gained experience not just in making sales, but in understanding business processes, speaking to customers, negotiating, handling money and building self-belief in a supportive environment.
Faye Burrows from Montgomery Academy described the event as an “amazing experience” and said it was impressive to watch students transition from the product design phase to active negotiation and sales with real customers.
This kind of practical learning is central to Place For Youth’s approach. The event gave young people the chance to build confidence through doing, while connecting schools, colleges, businesses and local partners around a shared commitment to youth enterprise.
🤝 Partnership in action
The Poulton event was a strong demonstration of the partnership model that sits at the heart of Place For Youth’s work. Working with Wyre Council, Booths Supermarket and Teanlowe Shopping Centre, the event opened up an indoor shopping centre space for young people to trade, connect with customers and animate a prominent town centre location.
The indoor setting created a reliable and accessible environment, allowing the event to be planned and promoted without the risk of poor weather affecting footfall or sales. The team at Booths praised the initiative, with Nic Karran, Chief Commercial Officer at Booths, describing it as fantastic to see such a vibrant and successful event.
The success of the Teenage Market in Poulton showed what is possible when young people are given the right space and support to shine. By bringing youth enterprise into Teanlowe Shopping Centre, the event helped animate the town centre, support young entrepreneurs and create a positive community experience for shoppers and visitors.
Poulton’s Teenage Market demonstrated how youth-led activity can bring fresh energy into everyday public spaces, creating opportunities for young people while strengthening community connection and supporting town centre vitality.