It is tough NOW. So how are we coping

Yategirl

I agree Primrose... I do not want to only have shops such as Tesco to choose from... I like the variety of choice that smaller shops give us... Yes, Tesco has a role to play but it is fast overtaking the UK (and dare I say elsewhere) because people are flocking to the big stores. Choice is good and competition is good and yes, I can't argue price is important but not at the cost of losing all our lovely individual shops which give us choice and personal care.

tiff

I think its a little late to save the independent shops now. I think the country has bigger things to worry about.

diamondgirl78

tiff wrote: »

I think its a little late to save the independent shops now. I think the country has bigger things to worry about.

Whilst I agree that this country as a whole has "bigger things to worry about"; as the owner of a small independant shop, I'd hope that individuals would continue to support small businesses like mine wherever possible.

We always think that the small shops will be more expensive - but it isn't always the case. I guess lack of convenience is what counts against us, after all, who these days does all their shopping on the high street? If you value your local shops, now the phrase "use us or lose us" has never been more apt.

Bargain_Rzl

I know I have posted this point somewhere before but I don't think it was on this thread.

A business, to my mind, is a business. Everything has to have a unique selling point which makes it stand out among the competition.

For an independent shop, if it isn't going to be the cheapest then it needs to have better quality or more interesting stock, better customer service, or similar. Where I live, on a main-ish road in inner London, we have a Costcutter (the least appropriate shop name EVER), a 24-hour mini-market, an off-licence and a corner shop. There used to be another one but it's now closed. All sell very similar items, many of them poor quality or short-dated, at inflated prices - walk fifteen minutes down the road and you can get better quality goods for less, in shops which happily coexist with a major supermarket and sell EVERYTHING. So the premium is simply for convenience.

The ONE that stands out is the corner shop. It doesn't sell much but it's a pleasure to go there, and everybody's on first name terms with the proprietor, who runs a delivery service for elderly and disabled local residents.

We might be getting a Tesco Express at the bottom of my block. I would rather we didn't, from the point of view of opposing Tesco's expansion into every available corner, but at least there will be somewhere for "odds and ends" at a reasonable price. If we do, the only existing local shop which I would continue to support would be the corner shop. I wouldn't lose any sleep over the loss of the others, though I would rather see them raise their game and diversify into business that's actually beneficial to the community and complementary to the other local businesses.

Meanwhile I DO shop at local independent shops - local to my office, that is, rather than my home. There's a great little shopping street near here with a terrific butcher, a greengrocer, and several other shops. If we had a similar range on the street where I live, I would be supporting them, but I am not prepared to offer the same loyalty to businesses which show no imagination.

diamondgirl78

Bargain_Rzl wrote: »

I am not prepared to offer the same loyalty to businesses which show no imagination.

Very well put, I agree entirely! I think these challenging times may well sort out the wheat from the chaff, those who sit and moan but do nothing to try and improve their situation do not deserve to be in business.

We have been trying to be pro-active about the lack of trade, doing leaflet drops with special offers etc.. We don't know whether or not it will make the slightest bit of difference, but I will feel better knowing that I TRIED.

mardatha

Up here in the two towns I sometimes go to, the bakers and the butchers always have a queue right out of the door, Always. So they must be good.
I wouldnt know because I wont stand in a queue because I get too tired ! LOL

lillibet_dripping

elizabunny wrote: »

I think I'm being converted. The image you painted of the winter lawn is exactly what we have, a mud bath in winter where the dogs have slithered and slipped all over it. I usually have to re-seed a good part of it every spring -which really frustrates me. There is a decent piece of ground there where raised beds would look good and be far more productive than our battered lawn -which we never sit on anyway -and I hate mowing it. Also its in a nice sunny spot.

Elizabunny - I forgot to say that I also had a picket fence put across the garden to separate it from the bbq/patio area right outside the kitchen. That way, the dogs can't trample the veg. The cats, however, are a different problem - they keep pooing in the raised beds, so in true OS style, I have used the redundant pieces of two mini-greenhouses to make a barrier with some fleece over it to stop them getting on the beds. Double whammy because it also keeps the carrot fly away!!
Yahay....
x

elizabunny

tiff wrote: »

I think its a little late to save the independent shops now. I think the country has bigger things to worry about.

Sorry tiff -although I absolutely agree with you that this country has big things to worry about. I feel I must stick up for the independent businesses, as my parents and myself have owned one in the past. Independent shops could be saved. If their owners are pro-active, imaginative and offer a great service and consumers would just give them a chance. I am amazed at how many people on this thread and on the GC thread are going back to buying local, using butchers, greengrocers, bakers etc. I for one have recently found a great local butcher and don't know why it took me so long to buy there:o . I think it would be a great loss all round if we lost the individuality that local shops offer and hope this never happens.

lillibet dripping and Yategirl, thank you for your great tips. I have already made a start this afternoon and have put in the first lot of Broad Bean and Leek seeds (in the GH). DH and I have been discussing our first raised bed and may go for the option of chipping away at the lawn in stages -just so that we don't turn the whole garden into a muddy mess in one foul swipe.

champys

lillibet_dripping wrote: »

Elizabunny - I dug up my back lawn and it's the best thing I've ever done. I had an allotment but because I had to load the car up with tools,drive there load up onthe way back etc. etc. I found we didn't use it. I hated mowing the lawn and the dogs turned it into a mud bath in the winter anyway. A kindly neighbour dug out the entire lawn, made me 6 raised beds and I am now self-sufficient in potaotes, beans, tomatoes, herbs, salads, carrots, kale, chard, onions, garlic .... the list goes on. DIG UP YOUR LAWN!
After all, they didn't mind in the war!!
x

YES! My Dad did this, when he was in his late 40's - not because of any recession, just because he got the bug about wanting to grow some veg. He was a very neat gardener, and our entire back garden, turned into a veggie plot (with a home-built greenhouse at the back) looked loads better than the traditional lawn-with-borders ever had done. And as kids we loved it of course, picking fresh strawberries etc!
I do recall eating runner beans every week all year round, though. But I still like them and now grow them myself.
Also, remember it is never a definitive thing. In his early '60s, Dad changed his mind and did a 'design' - turned it into a flower garden again. Gardens are very flexible things.

D&DD

We did the same as lilibet Eliza,our grass never grew well anyway*we had an awful slope* so eventually we levelled it and paved it over,but my grand plan as the kids get older and don't tend to use it as much is to build some raised beds with little paths between all over it
I'm currently looking at treating myself to a new proper grownup greenhouse..it started off as being a 4 foot one and is currently up to 8' x 6' :rotfl: thats about the size of half our garden...