Mary Portas take on dying High St's

vivatifosi

I know Dunstable relatively well too brogusblue. I have family there and living in Hertfordshire I'm not a million miles away.

Part of the problem is that Dunstable has never been a shopping destination. People from Dunstable will go to MK, Luton, Hemel or possibly Watford; but nobody from those towns would, as a rule, go to shop in Dunstable because the draw was never there.

The second issue is that driving to go to Dunstable is not pleasant. You have gridlock at the crossroads that the switch from mini-roundabouts to traffic lights has done little to solve. It's a shame that there isn't an A5 bypass that takes the traffic that just wants to go through Dunstable off of these roads leaving them more passable for locals.

The third issue, IMO is that the local government hasn't done much to attract people from elsewhere to the town. I come to Dunstable for four reasons only and only one is shopping related. 1) to visit my family; 2) to walk on the downs; 3) to visit the theatre (occasionally) and 4) to visit the one decent independent shop there, Dunstable Discounts (which for people unfamiliar with it is like visiting Costco, but with everything crammed into a pretty basic standard shop).

Dunstable Discounts is interesting. I know plenty of people who visit Dunstable to go to Dunstable Discounts. So it shows that retail can work in Dunstable. There are also lots of little units that should appeal to independent businesses, but without footfall the only way they can work is for rents to be really low. At some point, the owners of the stores in Dunstable will have to decide what to do with the money pits that they own and which are devoid of tenants. Some older units may switch to residential, some may apply for change of use, but not all can. At that point, maybe rents will start to reflect what is reasonable for someone to make a go of running a shop, cafe or whatever in Dunstable and a vibrancy will return to the place. It can't come too soon, but I think it will take a while yet.

Edited to add: oooohhh, how exciting. Just realised that I've gone Fantastically Fervent with this post.

fc123

brogusblue wrote: »

I watched this program as i live in Dunstable, Yes is a dump hardly any good shops left since that was filmed we have a few more shops... We had a nice town center when i first moved here we had waitrose, 3 butchers, 2 green grocers, 2 bakeries and lots of small independent shops but that has gone and now we have lots of coffee shops,estate agents,banks,pubs,charity shops & mobile phone shops ... It started to go down hill when asda's arrived and slowly the town started to die... Also the problem with dunstable is that its a bit here and a bit there if you park in asda's and need something i wilkinsons and then decide to have a look in aldi's and then to agros back to the car it seems that you have walked miles...

We have 2 shopping area's in dunstable Eleanor's cross which is tucked away and has always struggled to attract shops most of them are closed apart for a caf!, tanning shop and mens hairdresser.. and then is the main area quadrant center one end of it is nearly empty .. we have lost somerfield/kwik save, burger king,clothing shop,rosebys.clays the butchers,post office,florist,womens underwear shop, and then we have also lost from there stead & simpson,adams,priceless shoes,another clothing shop & Dr herb chinese herb place..

They built a new theatre complex with 6 retail units and lots of housing out the back 3 units where snapped up the rest are still empty 2 years later....

As the program said 52 shops had closed now about 55 have closed .... We are a market town well our market is rubbish they spend money years ago converting the square into a paved area complete with clock to put the market on when asda's took over the queensway hall area.. So they put the market there and the traders complained so they have moved it around the corner by wilkinsons so on a saturday when the market is busy is crammed up the side of wilkinsons and you can't move very easly... and our market has gone down hill now we have small market and then a car boot crap thing at the end... I used to work on dunstable market when it was down by the queensway hall and it was a large thriving market and it was always packed on a weds,fri & sat...

Its a shame that dunstable has declined s badly over the years... Just down the road is leighton buzzard smaller than dunstable but has a lot more going for it i shop there when i can... and then only a 30 min drive is Milton Keynes or 15 mins is Luton or Hemel Hempstead...

Reading the above, sounds like The Asda Effect finally killed off much of the town. All the £££ they take in their tills leave the area ) apart from a few min wage jobs) and how Dunstable is today was a few years in the making.

fc123

Viva is right about rents but in some areas the shops may end up with no value at all...as shops. Bit like the terraced houses in ex pit villages that used to sell for a pound.
PN posted some up recently @ £25k (post super boom price) and they had no takers as there was not enough work in the area.

An Indie trader works on far lower margins to a chain also, so the rent they can support is even lower.

lemonjelly

fc123 wrote: »

Reading the above, sounds like The Asda Effect finally killed off much of the town. All the £££ they take in their tills leave the area ) apart from a few min wage jobs) and how Dunstable is today was a few years in the making.

Similar impact appears to be happening in the midlands - as per my debate with Mr Mumble a few pages back on this thread. Thing is, it has been compounded by the out of town shopping malls situation (Westfield has a lot to answer for IMO).

Agree with Viva, the shops which always stick in my mind, regardless of location tend to be independents.

FC123 interested in your footfall experiment. I kind of do my own unscientific monitoring of the numbers of people actually carrying store bags around. I've anecdoteally felt this has been falling for a couple of years - I feel that I see a lot less people carrying shopping bags nowadays. I'm not sure whether this is due to stores charging for bags, people using alternatives (eg bags for life), or simply people are buying less stuff.

PS struggling with my "no new clothes" thing as I've seen a Marvin The Martian tshirt I really really like! Opinions please peeps!

bo_drinker

Wayne Rooneys Mrs seems to make up for others she's always in the dailys weighed down with bags and not a Primark bag in site.

fc123

http://www.drapersonline.com/news/multiples/analysis/multiples-and-indies-create-a-magic-mix/5004036.article

However, key to Bridport’s relative good health is the efforts made by its town council to maintain Bridport’s general environment and in encouraging events in its local town square, plus its twice-weekly street markets - all of which help attract footfall for the town’s retailers.

However, Bridport Chamber of Trade and Commerce president Mike Harvey says that although the town council is very supportive with food and beer festivals, there is also an element of good fortune to retailers’ successes.
“We are lucky that we have some relatively affluent shoppers,” he says. “The town has a reputation for its food and that brings people in. And the nearest big town - Weymouth - is 20 miles away,” he says.

Harvey adds: “There aren’t too many multiples, but that’s probably because a lot of the retail space is quite small and not that suitable. Woolworths closed, but you need this shake-up

every now and then because the rents get too high. But now when leases are coming to an end tenants are being more aggressive with new terms, and that’s important.”

My long time friend has a lifestyle store in Bridport....ticks over, not easy money but she loves it.

Her rent only increased a few per cent some years back so she's fine...plus he gets the small business rates relief.

fc123

lemonjelly wrote: »

Similar impact appears to be happening in the midlands - as per my debate with Mr Mumble a few pages back on this thread. Thing is, it has been compounded by the out of town shopping malls situation (Westfield has a lot to answer for IMO).

Agree with Viva, the shops which always stick in my mind, regardless of location tend to be independents.

FC123 interested in your footfall experiment. I kind of do my own unscientific monitoring of the numbers of people actually carrying store bags around. I've anecdoteally felt this has been falling for a couple of years - I feel that I see a lot less people carrying shopping bags nowadays. I'm not sure whether this is due to stores charging for bags, people using alternatives (eg bags for life), or simply people are buying less stuff.

PS struggling with my "no new clothes" thing as I've seen a Marvin The Martian tshirt I really really like! Opinions please peeps!

Pehaps I worded it wrongly...it's a Real Life experiment on footfall.

Will update at some point but, to be honest, it's blown me away.

fc123

http://www.drapersonline.com/news/the-drapers-interview/brix-smith-start/5004026.article

Just to get something positive onto this board, here is a shop that is kicking.
OK the owners have masses of experience and the partner started out Woodhouse years ago....these guys know their stuff but their shop is not in a mainstream position and they don't have great websales as they only stock branded goods.

Brix Smith-Start arrives at Start, the premium east London indie she runs with husband Philip Start in Shoreditch, like a fashion hurricane, with a shock of sexy peroxide hair and fuchsia lips. “People think I’m mad,” she says in her helium-high American voice, “but I’m not, otherwise I wouldn’t be where I am.”

Smith-Start comes into the store pushing a pram with a pug dog in it, while two other pugs walk in behind her.

Her dogs are an industry trademark, with one even appearing on the Mulberry catwalk last season. Smith-Start is a self-confessed eccentric. It is this flamboyant side of her personality and her natural sales skills which Smith-Start calls upon when running her boutique.

And I loved this quote

''I might be a bit eccentric, but my muse is Walt Disney,” says Smith-Start. “I want the store to take people out of the reality that is street muggings, dog pee and chip wrappers and take them to a happy, new retail reality.”

bo_drinker

We are going here tomorrow, see what its like

http://www.gloucesterquays.co.uk/content/home.php

fc123

bo_drinker wrote: »

We are going here tomorrow, see what its like

http://www.gloucesterquays.co.uk/content/home.php

Heeey...Gok Wan will be there.

He was in central London filming this week. I crossed the road and shoved through an annoying crowd (it's a London thing.....I am a Londoner, all busy, busy, get out of my way tourists, vistors humph humph) before I saw a furry stick being held up in the air in the middle of the huddle.
Oooops, knew there was filming going on.

Then spotted busy, bsuy researchers with big smiles and clipboards....then, there he was, talking to a plain girl.

Now, the fear hit me......the clipboard lady was scanning the crowds looking for telly fodder.

Can you imagine, my job being what it is, if she had pounced on moi? Aaaah, here's an unstylish, very plain, middle aged female who would be ever grateful to undergo the full wok experience....then the grab you and say sweetly, ''come with me';.......

Fortunately, I wasn't grabbed, ignored totally in fact...and I had to hang around waiting for someone for 30 mins too. I am going to take that fact as a personal, style compliment.

Enjoy your day out. I went to one in Portsmouth last year....very sterile on the whole but better than a derelict dockyard.
You can pick up some good buys from the discount outlets, though the clothes are all past season....and I sniffed a few stores that seemed to have 'made' some branded discount clothes especially for the discount stores. Logo tees that I have never seen in the main full price stores.