City centre food market 'closed all weekend' as website and social media vanish

A city centre food market has been “closed all weekend”. The GPO Food Market and Bar opened in the Metquarter shopping centre in June 2021 offering international food and drink stalls from independent traders.

Located on the site of the old General Post Office, the stalls included Jailbird Nashville Fried Chicken, Thai 25 and SK Little India all housed in the street-food style venue which was described as offering "eight global kitchens, a café and a bar all under one roof".

But today the shutters were down on the premises during what should have been a busy lunchtime rush period. A post on the Instagram page of fellow Metquarter business Transalpino described the GPO as being "another victim of a steadily decreasing high street" and claimed it was "closed with immediate effect”.

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When the ECHO visited the shopping centre on this afternoon (November 10), the food hall was closed despite its opening hours stated as 12-6.30pm on Sundays. Signs were still up outside advertising bookings for Christmas parties but the GPO’s website and social media pages have all disappeared online. It is still listed as one of the Metquarter's open venues in a sign inside the shopping centre.

Some staff working in other shops throughout the shopping centre claimed the site closed last week. One staff member at Fairytale Endings, who asked not to be named, said: “It closed last Friday. I have no idea why though." Another worker at Say It With Diamonds added: “It closed last week. It’s strange. It seemed popular.”

A third staff member who works at Cricket said: “It closed on Thursday. It’s surprising to see.” Others had no idea that the shop was closed today. One woman working at MQ Flowers said: “Really? I had no idea. I’ve just sent two people there. They were looking for Little India. They’re probably really confused now. That’s a big shock.”

Meanwhile a staff member at The Art Quarter said: “I didn't know it had been closed. I’m shocked. That’s a real shame isn’t it? Hopefully something replaces it.”

One customer who visited the GPO recently told the ECHO: "I went to the GPO on Saturday night a few weeks ago and it was absolutely dead. There was a hen party that came at about 8pm and I felt a bit sorry for them that it wasn't matching their energy."

GPO was given a mixed review by Guardian food critic Jay Rayner in August 2021. He argued that GPO had a promising offering but criticised its use of an app to order food. He said: “There is the potential for one here; it just needs some fine tuning, and maybe one of those stern meetings at the app developers’ office to which no one brings Danish pastries because that would undermine the seriousness of the message. Statement of the bleeding obvious: this model of eating out is not aimed at grey-bearded, artificially hipped old sods like me.

“It is for those younger people with tighter budgets and rising hormone levels, the ones who do not want to be constrained by a single menu; who wish to roam bits of China while one mate spanks the burger list and a third goes all Middle Eastern. A special word for the unobtrusive playlist: Earth Wind and Fire, Prince, Barry White. It’s boisterous and fun, which, when it gets its act together, the GPO could be, too.”

The ECHO contacted the Metquarter for comment.