Friends in masks catch up, SLOT XO traders call out and ladies in tunics hand out samples of their cooking with a smile. It's market day in Pontypool.
This once prosperous town, like so many across Wales, is looking to make a fresh start after the pandemic.
The local authority has pledged to prioritise breathing new life into the town centre and any feeling of optimism is certainly helped by the sunshine.
But how people living and working in the town view the future remains mixed.
The queue at the cash-point suggested people were feeling confident enough to spend and while, for some, the glass is half-empty, for others it is certainly half-full.
Do you focus on the empty shops and 'premises to let' signs hanging from some of the town's 56 listed buildings within the conservation area? Or do you cast an eye at the small independent traders chatting warmly with customers?
Inside the market some traders have never had it so good, such as Penrhiwgyngi Farm Bakery who began deliveries during lockdown. Others though have pulled down the shutters for good.
Pontypool's heyday - first through iron and coal, then the much-sought after Japanware and then it's rugby team's fearsome front-row - may have long gone but it is looking to reinvent itself.
The question, of course, is how.