Is Accrington being dumbed down? - Page 5

Margaret Pilkington · 21-06-2006, 15:44

Seed and Gabbutts....ah, that was heaven to me. They moved to Ainsworth St, but weren't called Seed and Gabbutts anymore...and to be honest there range was not as extensive...although they would always get a book you wanted. I agree that buying books off the internet isn't as satisfying an experience....I like to flick through a book, read about the author...the other books they have published etc. The demand must not be there anymore...so i guess it is right that we get the shops that we deserve.

Tealeaf · 21-06-2006, 15:55

This is the link to the town of Hay-on-Wye. The population is about half that of Accy. Now count the number of bookshops:

http://www.hay-on-wye.co.uk/bookshops/frameset.htm

Maybe we should rename ourselves Hyndburn-by-t'Coppice so that someone, somewhere, decides its a posh place to open a bookshop.

mani · 21-06-2006, 16:15

tasteless?! its fantastic for a slouch like me - healthy fast food! *L*

but u have to consider lots of things - u need a decent premises for a decent bookshop - and that requires a decent amount of capital to start it up. with the distinct lack of a college that actually teaches anything accy isnt really appealin to any book chain store

*nb accy college is fantastic really.

there's just too many pound and discount stores and that really does sum up what retail companies view accrington as

garinda · 21-06-2006, 16:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tealeaf

This is the link to the town of Hay-on-Wye. The population is about half that of Accy. Now count the number of bookshops:

http://www.hay-on-wye.co.uk/bookshops/frameset.htm

Maybe we should rename ourselves Hyndburn-by-t'Coppice so that someone, somewhere, decides its a posh place to open a bookshop.

Since it holds one of the world's best literary festivals it's hardly suprising they have a plethora of bookshops.

It's a bit like remarking that Soho has a lot of sex shops.

mani · 21-06-2006, 16:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by garinda

It's a bit like remarking that Soho has a lot of sex shops.

and you would know alot about them wouldnt you garinda?

maybe if we opened more sex shops and hold a sex festival in accrington...

hmmmmm

Tealeaf · 21-06-2006, 16:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by garinda

Since it holds one of the world's best literary festivals it's hardly suprising they have a plethora of bookshops.

Errr.....The book shops came before the festival.....

Maybe Accy should hold the worlds biggest charity shop festival.

garinda · 21-06-2006, 16:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tealeaf

Errr.....The book shops came before the festival...

There are twenty one new books shops since the festival started seventeen years ago. The first one was funded by the winnings from a poker game.

Tealeaf · 21-06-2006, 16:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by garinda

There are twenty one new books shops since the festival started seventeen years ago. .

....And about 20 shops before it began.

Margaret Pilkington · 21-06-2006, 16:42

In Oz there are quite a number of bookshops in coffee bars.......you can browse for your book and then sit with coffee and a cake to peruse your purchase...how good is that?

mantrabooks · 21-06-2006, 16:46

One point maybe why Accrington has lost some of its charisma and disposition is because shops like Wardleworth's, Woolworth's and M&S have been extensively and down right outrageously overcharging people for their goods for far too long. As soon as some alternative completion arrives i.e the INTERNET and China's recent economy boom they soon become redundant, or become less of a prominent status. You just need to look elsewhere

...

Acrylic-bob · 21-06-2006, 16:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by mani

maybe if we opened more sex shops and hold a sex festival in accrington...

hmmmmm

Well, if we did, it might make a refreshing change from the dismal, interminable and ridiculously expensive food festivals we are currently saddled with and at least it would be something worth reporting nationally.

The trouble with this town is that the people with the power to effect change are small people and as we all know to our cost, small people think small thoughts.

To answer the originally posed question "Is Accrington dumbing down?"; considering that Accrington, as a whole, has been pretty dumb from it's inception it is hard to imagine that it could get any dumber. But then 702 of our number actually got off their backsides and went out to vote to keep Britcliffe in charge, so I have to conclude that yes, Accrington is "Dumbing down". The only question that remains to be asked is how dumb can we get?

Neil · 21-06-2006, 16:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cyfr

The closer of Wardleworths was a great loss

I think you can blame that on websites like Amazon for that. Blackburn has lost book shops as well.

garinda · 21-06-2006, 16:50

Since the busiest day in Accy is Thurday's 'flea market' day, (read tat too bad for the jumble and knock off goods,) perhaps we should hold an annual Festival of Rubbish.

Who could secure us some funding?

Acrylic-bob · 21-06-2006, 16:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by Neil

I think you can blame that on websites like Amazon for that. Blackburn has lost book shops as well.

I think that you can blame it more on W H Smith and ASDA too. I also think that HBC must shoulder a fair amount of blame for the loss by not being as supportive as they could have been, But the real knife between the shoulder blades for independent bookshops came with the ending of the net book agreement.

mani · 21-06-2006, 17:03

£3 for a paper back? not even wh smiths has books that cheap

the larger stores can afford to keep the prices that low - but in effect its so cheap i buy them - and i'm more likely to buy them rather than £10