Birmingham is famous for its markets….

…but none is more bizzarre than that maze of alternate clothing, accessories, piercing and jewellery …

…packed into four walls, held together with music…

…the Oasis Market


The Oasis market is located at the top end of Corporation Street near Argos and Virgin Megastore. There is an entrance on Corporation Street opposite The Square Peg and also by fighting your way through the small outdoor market accessible from Bull Street, you should be able to see the distinctive faded blue sign above the masses.

Official Address:
112-114 Corporation Street,
Birmingham,
B4 6SX,
UK

Products
The Oasis market (not to be confused with the high street shop Oasis) sells almost all types of alternative clothing. This ranges through basic band-brand hoodies; serious leather wear; gothic dresses; crushed velvet; tye die; PVC & bondage; serious footwear; porn star T-shirts; suede and everything in between. The shop is split up into what could be called 'stalls', each selling their own products usually with a similar theme. As well as clothing the market sells jewellery, knives, gothic & smoking paraphernalia (for want of a better phrase), beads and much more. In addition to products there are also two body piercing stalls, a hair salon (Bladerunner’s Salon) and an eatery of some sort (Although I’ve never been brave enough to eat anything).

Shop Layout
Nobody can describe how to get around Oasis market… I’m not totally sure the architect (if there ever was one) would be able to, it is a maze of stairs and corridors. My advice is to go in and explore, but allow at least 30 minutes even if you’re just going in for a quick look. As far as I can tell there are at least four levels to the market, two of these are at street level (unfortunately they are at two different street levels), one is above ground and one is underground. I can’t even begin to describe how the stairs work, however the walls of the stairwells are covered with flyers for all kinds of local gigs, shows and events happening in the foreseeable future. If you get lost it is important to note that there is a general flow through the shop, so as long as you keep going you’re bound to come up somewhere near an exit eventually.

Beadesaurus
Like beads?… want beads?… ever thought of owning even a single bead?…then the Beadesaurus is the place to go. Buy beads, cord, patches and badges all from this stall… and remember “don’t steal anything or we’ll set the Beadesaurus on you!”

Cloggs
Sells all kinds of footwear including a full range of Doc Martens (which I can’t seem to get anywhere else now).

The Oasis market is a shopping experience in itself, try it, you might just like it!

Getting there:
Getting there is simple as it’s basically on the edge of the main shopping area in Birmingham. Most busses going to the city centre stop either on Corporation Street itself or a few minutes walk away on Colmore Row. Trains will either take you to Birmingham Snow Hill Station where you can exit onto Colmore Row; or Birmingham New Street Station where you can go up the escalators into the Palisades then down the ramp (Keeping to the left) to the bottom end of Corporation Street.

More info at http://www.zyra.org.uk/oasis1.htm

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