From the medieval market stalls in the High Street to the farmers' markets of today, Bristolians have enjoyed the bustle and haggling of the marketplace. Wholesale or retail, buyers could get what they needed from the general or specialist markets. Specialist markets included ones for cheese, leather, wool, oysters, geese, corn, fish, coal and Welsh goods. Most are long gone but survive in a street or place name: Cattle Market Road, the Wool Hall, the Horse Fair, the Hay Market, Old Market and Corn Street.

In the middle ages, fairs and markets were the places for householders to buy cloth for clothes, pewter dishes, pottery jugs and all sorts of trinkets. The markets were also the place where the merchants traded, wholesale and retail. From the middle ages until 2005, there was a cattle market in Bristol. Farmers from Wales and Ireland as well as from the local area brought their cattle, sheep and pigs to the market to sell to local butchers. The elegant covered St Nicholas Market opened in 1745 and is still running.

Today most of the wholesale markets have gone, but several farmers' markets have opened to supply customers direct.