Natural Size of a Market
Without Metes & Bounds

To some extent a franchise market without specified boundaries is naturally self-limiting in terms of its size and scale. The logic behind this argument is as follows:-

The size of a town’s market is directly related to the financial viability of each individual market trader. Each market trader requires customers in order to be viable. When new traders join a market, the size of the market increases and more customers may be required to maintain the viability of the trading.

If the number of traders increases without a corresponding increase in customers the volume of trade may suffer. When the level of trade diminishes a market may decrease in size as traders leave to find other markets in which to trade.

The size of a franchise market may be said to be naturally self-limiting when the number of potential customers no longer supports the existing number of traders.

The viability of trading and therefore the natural size of a town’s market are proportional to the number of potential customers. In turn the number of potential customers is related to the facilities that provide public access to a town’s market. In terms of public access, the facility most affected by the size of a town’s market is public parking. It is also apparent that the number of potential customers at a viable market is greater than the number of market traders.

For a town to function economically there has to be adequate public parking available to provide customers to a town’s market, businesses and other amenities.

Public access is a key component of a market right, as a market right confers on the public the right to access property to hold a fair or market.

In practice this means providing trading spaces for market traders and customer parking and pedestrian access to a market. If there is inadequate provision made for public parking, the public may in some way be limited in their access to a market. This may amount to a restriction in the exercise of a market property right for ‘buyers/customers’.

If the public, as both buyers and sellers, share the same market property rights, and it is apparent that the number of potential customers at a viable market is greater than the number of market traders. The number of parking spaces used by customers (buyers) may be greater than the number of parking spaces allocated to market traders (sellers). It is therefore difficult to see how public access to a market, would allow for the continued allocation of car parking spaces to market traders in a town.

It is important to recognize that the market property rights of market traders as sellers cannot negate the same property rights of customers as buyers.

The sharing of market property rights and the ratio of traders to customers at a viable market provides a basis for the allocation of trading spaces and parking provision.The natural size of a town’s Franchise Market therefore reflects the carrying capacity of a town. Ideally a town’s market is an attraction that brings extra people into a town to shop on market day. A town’s market, businesses and the public all benefit when a proper balance is achieved.