Are they any outwards signs of the recession in your local town?

Really2

MrFonzerelli wrote: »

In my town the banks have became charity shops. :rolleyes::D

Shame it is not the other way round.:D

listerofsmeg_2

woolies closed, then everything else did. I think people only ever came into our town for Woolies, so now there are no customers.

However, there have been a few more 'SOLD' signs going up recently.

Running_Horse

I have heard a rumour that the job centre is being frequented by people who actually want to work. Must be a shock for staff and regulars alike.

Davesnave

My town is a World Heritage site, so there's just as many 'furren folk' around as usual; perhaps even more, due to the weak £. Those that aren't tourists are students at the Uni, probably stealing all our engineering secrets, if we have any left.

It's business as normal really.

'Genuine Roman toffee, madam? Certainly, that will be £3.60.'

geoffky

I have just dropped a friend off at Manchester airport and drove in to my town from the motorway. I was really shocked at the state of the place as i really venture down their as i live in a village..The place looks like time forgot and was a bit embarrassing.

whathavewedone

Woolies has closed, an old man's pub, (smoking ban blamed by landlord along with cost of beer), an interior design shop and a little estate agents - that's it I think. Our high street wasn't up to much anyway.

A new restaurant opened before xmas that's doing really well. Always busy even at lunchtime in the week (probably because they do a 2 course meal with a glass of wine for a tenner). The food is great and the service is fab and very friendly. Last time we went we got a call from our babysitter and they gave us our bill immediately despite being packed to the rafters. The more expensive less authentic Italian is looking a lot quieter these days though.

Well run businesses that go the extra mile will survive, the average complacent ones will go I guess.

Really2

geoffky wrote: »

. I was really shocked at the state of the place as i really venture down their as i live in a village..The place looks like time forgot and was a bit embarrassing.

If you live in the countryside they did before the recession. Elastic-Trickery is still a new thing round some parts here.:D

chika

In the suburb that I live in there are a fair few empty shop units. A new restaurant that opened about 6 months ago is doing ok but another that opened a year ago seems to be suffering.

At least of of the estate agents has shut up shops and another has split its shop in half and sold the other to a cheap and cheerful bakery. Even the once packed pubs and bars seem to be a lot quieter. One the plus side a nail bar seems to be opening up down the road.

I recently went back to my home town which seems quite bleak. I'd say about 40% of the available shops are empty, and the only ones that look like they are doing any business are the £ shops.

Ballymackeonan

A few empty shops - including Woolies on the main street, an estate agent's. and recruitment/training agencies have vanished (one replaced by a chippy!) Gift shops are vanishing - particularly off the main street, where the footfall is less. One long established clothes shop - a big one on the main street - has the sale signs in the windows - closing "for refurbishment" - if you believe that! On the up - charity shops (of course) and letting agencies.

vivatifosi

I live in a relatively large town. Recession visible so far through:

Shops: some closures - but mostly in the non-core areas or closures that were expected (Woolworths, Zavvi, etc). Low end shops (Primark etc) seem to have good footfall still, never see anyone in some of the high end stores. Pound shops booming.

Jobs: fewer jobs being advertised in agencies, or in the paper. Last year on Monster there would have been about 170 jobs in this town, today, have just checked - there are 66. Drove past the JobCentre before it opened the other day and noticed that there was a different mix of people to in the past.

Restaurants and takeaways seem to have got quieter during the week, but strangely busier at the weekend - I wonder if people are saving up for a weekend out now, rather than spreading their money through the week.

The biggest thing I've noticed is the changed patterns of the middle classes around me - mostly people like me who run our own businesses - a lot of my friends will now go to Lidl as well as Waitrose, would now be willing to trawl through the rails in TK Maxx and are buying more own brands. They are also not as willing to replace large cars like for like. I've always done these things because I am a cheapskate.