A market stall or market booth, is a structure used by merchants to display and house their merchandise in a street market, fairs and conventions. Some commercial marketplaces, including market squares or flea markets, may permit more permanent stalls. Stalls are also used throughout the world by vendors selling street food.
There are many types of stalls, including carts designed to be pulled by hand or cycles; makeshift structures like tents, or converted tow-caravans and motor vehicles.
A tavern is a type of business where people gather to drink alcoholic beverages and be served food such as different types of roast meats and cheese, and (mostly historically) where travelers would receive lodging. An inn is a tavern that has a licence to put up guests as lodgers. The word derives from the Latin taberna whose original meaning was a shed, workshop, stall, or pub.
Over time, the words "tavern" and "inn" became interchangeable and synonymous. In England, inns started to be referred to as public houses or pubs and the term became standard for all drinking houses.
A taberna (pl.: tabernae) was a type of shop or stall in Ancient Rome. Originally meaning a single-room shop for the sale of goods and services, tabernae were often incorporated into domestic dwellings on the ground level flanking the fauces, the main entrance to a home, but with one side open to the street. As the Roman Empire became more prosperous, tabernae were established within great indoor markets and were often covered by a barrel vault. Each taberna within a market had a window above it to let light into a wooden attic for storage and had a wide doorway. A famous example of such an indoor market is the Markets of Trajan in Rome, built in the early 2nd century by Apollodorus of Damascus.
According to the Cambridge Ancient History, a taberna was a "retail unit" within the Roman Empire and was where many economic activities and many service industries were provided, including the sale of cooked food, wine, and bread.
A bazaar or souk is a marketplace consisting of multiple small stalls or shops, especially in the Middle East, the Balkans, Central Asia, North Africa and South Asia. They are traditionally located in vaulted or covered streets that have doors on each end and served as a city's central marketplace.
The term bazaar originates from Persian, where it referred to a town's public market district. The term bazaar is sometimes also used to refer collectively to the merchants, bankers and craftsmen who work in that area. The term souk comes from Arabic and refers to marketplaces in the Middle East and North Africa.
The Camden markets are a number of adjoining large retail markets, often collectively referred to as Camden Market or Camden Lock, located in the historic former Pickfords stables, in Camden Town, London. It is situated north of the Hampstead Road Lock of the Regent's Canal (popularly referred to as Camden Lock). Famed for their cosmopolitan image, products sold on the stalls include crafts, clothing, books, bric-a-brac, and fast food. It is the fourth-most popular visitor attraction in London, attracting approximately 250,000 people each week.
A small local foodstuffs market has operated in Inverness Street in Camden Town since the beginning of the 20th century, the only significant market in the area. On 30 March 1974 a small weekly crafts market that operated every Sunday near Camden Lock developed into a large complex of markets. The markets, originally temporary stalls only, extended to a mixture of stalls and fixed premises. The traditional Inverness Street market started losing stalls once local supermarkets opened; by mid-2013 all the original stalls had gone, being replaced by stalls similar to those of the other markets, including fast food but not produce.The markets originally operated on Sundays only, which continues to be the main trading day. Opening later extended to Saturdays for most of the market. A number of traders, mainly those in fixed premises—an increasing proportion—operate throughout the week, although the weekend remains the peak period.
A market square (also known as a market place) is an urban square meant for trading, in which a market is held. It is an important feature of many towns and cities around the world. A market square is an open area where market stalls are traditionally set out for trading, commonly on one particular day of the week known as market day.
A typical English market square consists of a square or rectangular area, or sometimes just a widening of the main street. It is usually in the centre of the town, surrounded by major buildings such as the parish church, town hall, important shops and hotels, and the post office, together with smaller shops and business premises. There is sometimes a permanent covered market building or a cloth hall, and the entire area is a traditional meeting place for local people as well as a centre for trade.