Mum blasts £22 Christmas market's pick 'n' mix as an 'absolute joke'
A mum has slammed the prices of sweets at a popular Christmas market.
Emma Gill visited Manchester Christmas Market with her children ahead of a trip to the cinema and treated the kids to a bag of treats from the Kingdom of Sweets stall. She was appalled at the cost of 98 sweets, including tiny Dolly Mixtures, and wrote a scathing review for Manchester Evening News.
It reads: "I let my kids get Manchester Christmas Markets' pick and mix... our £22 bag was an absolute joke. This is the fear that haunts every parent at the pick and mix stall.
"With children scooping sweets like there's no tomorrow, you never know what the cost will be until the bag hits the scales. I knew the stall at Manchester's Christmas Markets would be pricey. It's a top spot and everyone knows you don't leave the markets with much change.
"I agreed to let my kids get a bag of treats from the Kingdom of Sweets stall before we went to see the new Wonka movie at the Printworks' Vue Cinema on Saturday. Cinema pick and mix isn't cheap, so I didn't think the price difference would be too big.
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"But I was shocked when the bag was weighed and it came to £21.89! Almost the same price as our three cinema tickets. They got quite a few sweets - including two jelly snakes - but you wouldn't expect to pay nearly £22.
"The signs on the Cathedral Gardens stall show it's £2.99 per 100g. But when you consider a large bag of Haribo weighs 175g, it adds up quickly. And they're much cheaper at £1.25 for a bag from Tesco.
Our bags of sweets came to £21.89 (Manchester Family/MEN)"Inside the cinema, I checked the price of their pick and mix and it's almost half the price of the markets, at £1.59 per 100g. I was shocked to find we'd only got 98 sweets - some of them tiny Dolly Mixtures. Normally, we bring our own sweets to the cinema, but I thought it would be a nice Christmas treat. I won't make that mistake again."
The prices at the markets have already caused a stir this year, with £8 sausages and £10 Yorkshire wraps on offer. Manchester City Council has said it doesn't set the prices on the stalls, reports Manchester Evening News (MEN).
Christmas spokesperson for Manchester City Council, Councillor Pat Karney, said: "We're always happy to check out any complaints that are brought to us however we don't set the prices on our market stalls. Traders do this themselves based on their overheads, along with the quality and uniqueness of what they're selling.
"Stallholders are obviously however subject to the same market forces as other retailers and if what they're selling is considered too expensive, customers won't buy their products."
When prices at Kingdom of Sweets have been highlighted previously, a spokesperson said:" Our prices are clearly displayed per 100g and are comparable with other premium location retailers. Staff are trained to allow customers to leave the purchase if their selection is too heavy or take some out to bring the price down."
The MEN has approached the company about this weekend's visit.
* An AI tool was used to add an extra layer to the editing process for this story. You can report any errors to [email protected]
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