M&S Accrington

[Margaret Pilkington]

I really cannot see how telling the truth about a place can be seen as talking the place down.
If they all said it was 'milk and honey' think of the disappointment it would create for those who thought that Accrington could provide a half decent shopping experience.
the new bus station is going to be a marvellous addition to trade(but it will be trade elsewhere...not in the market,the Arndale or on Broadway).... it will take folk out of town to places that do provide a half decent shopping experience

[Margaret Pilkington]

Ken, Can I have a pair of those rose tinted glasses that you must wear when you walk around the market, on Broadway and in the Arndale?

[cashman]

Perhaps the fact i go down yon quite a few times a week and nearly always spend a couple of hours or more yon, makes me more likely to witness what actually does go on, Mr Moss must be one of the 3% that really has no idea?

[cashman]

Oddly enough its about 7 months since Ken Moss last posted n that was in Anything Goes, Wonder if the fact the elections are getting nearer,has any bearing on this visit?

[DaveinGermany]

Originally Posted by cashman

Oddly enough its about 7 months since Ken Moss last posted n that was in Anything Goes, Wonder if the fact the elections are getting nearer,has any bearing on this visit?

Ooh! You owd cynic!

[lancsdave]

Originally Posted by Ken Moss

Clare Cleary is in the Cabinet and portfolio holder for Town Centres, it's sort of her area to speak to M&S. The idea was to ask what their reasoning was, not to bargain with them as that would not only be monstrously unfair on other retailers but also way outside our remit as it's not even our building. It was pointless right from the word go as they had clearly already made up their minds but I don't hold with this idea of 'no point, don't try'.

.

Taken from the Observer, who no doubt have totally misquoted Cllr Parkinson;

Coun Parkinson said they will also join forces in the hope of persuading M&S bosses to make a u-turn on their decision or turn the unit into an M&S Simply Food.

He said: “Residents are deeply concerned about the closure of M&S and that’s why we will be having meetings with the Arndale Centre to see if it can be saved.

I presume by traders talking the down town, you are referring to me. I've asked a simple question, "What are the plans" ?. Our business model as you refer to it has been totally disrupted by some planks in Preston moving the bus station, and the local council & MP leaving them to it. When we ask what the plans are we get told "We THINK it's going to be a car park". So basically it's still in the thinking stage, and we have to wait and see.

97% of people in a 3,000 person survey think the town is in decline. That may be perception, or it may be fact, but it's what people think. A lone trader being negative hasn't made them all think like that, jeez I probably hardly know any of them that answered the survey.

[accyman]

a new bus station designed to keep people from town center and a new train line to take the rest to manchester even faster than before and more regularly

things are looking up dave i dont see your problem

oh .. you have a shop in the center of accy and are trying to earn a living i see

all i know is if that i was a trader in accy and the council saiid it had my back id buy a stab proof vest like the police wear

[lancsdave]

Originally Posted by accyman

all i know is if that i was a trader in accy and the council saiid it had my back id buy a stab proof vest like the police wear

Lots of town centres probably in the same boat. If all their councils think the answer is to stand up and tell everybody not to be negative then I'll concede I'm in the wrong.

There's a reason I don't want in work in marketing, advertising or politics

[lancsdave]

Here's a quote from the leader of Rochdale Council in December

“Like a lot of industrial northern towns, our town centre has been hit hard over the past 20 years. We’ve got to do something. It’s not good enough for policy-makers and councils to sit there and watch the gradual decline of the town centre.

Here's the full article in case any councillor thinks I've omitted to quote the part where he said traders are to blame for talking the down town

Rochdale Council slashes business rates to boost town centre - Telegraph

Not quite sure how they have managed to reduce the business rates unless the council are subsidising it

[accyman]

Originally Posted by lancsdave

Lots of town centres probably in the same boat. If all their councils think the answer is to stand up and tell everybody not to be negative then I'll concede I'm in the wrong.

There's a reason I don't want in work in marketing, advertising or politics

dont be negative is political speak for we havnt got a clue what were doing or what we should do

you point out their mistakes and your been negative

you suggest ideas they get ignored

you ask a serious and relative question and you get ignored

basically dave politics is been able to ignore and put the blame on to others for your failings

its a bit like me kicking you in the nuts and telling you not to be negative when you howl in pain.There is no bright side but i expect you to find one

[Barrie Yates]

Originally Posted by cashman

Oddly enough its about 7 months since Ken Moss last posted n that was in Anything Goes, Wonder if the fact the elections are getting nearer,has any bearing on this visit?

I think it was in December that I suggested we would soon be having the politicians back on here posting again - an election is in the air

[DtheP47]

Originally Posted by Ken Moss

Then maybe my view of the world is just different to yours. Personally speaking, I like shopping in Accrington and can see all of its positives. I can also see that shopping habits have changed and there is no miracle cure which will see the streets paved with gold as they apparently were in the 1970s, despite what certain would-be MPs are saying.

So here's the question: how are commercial decisions the fault of the Council?

Traffic problems on the M62 today and Mrs Garmin routed me through Heywood and down to Junction 2 on the M66.
Heywood what did I know about the place other than it's home to the excellent Phoenix Brewery?
The main road through, A58 what a revelation. Plenty of shops and not too many empty derelict eyesores. Blackburn Road Accy or Union Road Ossy not.
I don't know if there's a link to Rochdale council and they are benefiting from reduced rates as mentioned by lancsdave #84 but it was bright and bustling.
Our council burghers need to get up there to see for themselves and find the USP by talking to their Heywood counterparts.
Don't think they are served by the railway and pretty sure there's no bus station but people were very much in evidence.
Just a thought finally, why do we need a bus station smack bang in the centre surely a dropping off point somewhere strategic would suffice?

[Less]

Originally Posted by Ken Moss

Clare Cleary is in the Cabinet and portfolio holder for Town Centres, it's sort of her area to speak to M&S. The idea was to ask what their reasoning was, not to bargain with them as that would not only be monstrously unfair on other retailers but also way outside our remit as it's not even our building. It was pointless right from the word go as they had clearly already made up their minds but I don't hold with this idea of 'no point, don't try'.

That said, the Councillors aren't doing enough to keep Accrington alive either so it seems.

What surprises me more than anything else is that we have traders in Accrington talking the town down themselves and blaming everything on the Council. God above, never mind the acumen of Councillors, where's your business model? Bad advertising for the town ain't going to bring people flocking to the town centre.

If more people accentuated the positives instead of constantly saying how crappy everything is then more people might actually come here. I shop there every week and wouldn't go anywhere else.

And for the record, Blackburn's road system is a nightmare. For all those who have said how much better it is than Accrington just try driving there on Saturday.

Welcome back Ken, I do hope you can stay a while, at least, as cashy pointed out until after the next elections!
We've all been running around like headless chickens for such a long time without your & our glorious M.P.'s guidance.
Oh how popular I feel, after such an absence you choose one of my humble posts as an example for you to set the record straight.
Meanwhile forgive me, my memory may be a little out of skew, but wasn't one of your last posts telling us how the mighty had fallen,
the site going to rack and ruin? We are still here, will you be after May? I do hope that as well as us the folk in Great Harwood have seen through your and our glorious 95% M.P.'s thin veneer of BS and look closely at whom they next vote for,
I know I will.

[Ken Moss]

Just idle curiosity while looking at discussions about Accrington on the net. Lo and behold, a link for Accyweb is in there and what a surprise to see that the same old faces are saying what a terrible place it is, a dying town, why can't we go back to the golden age of the 1970s etc etc.

Strangely, I see the same comments on forums about Blackburn, Darwen, Preston, Chorley and probably anywhere else if I cared to look. The truth is that certain people in every town just enjoy a jolly good moan day in day out, never enjoying a single gasp of air and refusing to see the world as anything other than a place created by vile politicians who live in big houses and claim expenses. They trot out the same little homilies over and over, quoting and misquoting to suit their miserable little diatribes whenever the (bad) mood suits, never venturing beyond their own front door and then wondering why 'no one ever listens to me'.

I am not sorry for one moment that I enjoy living, shopping and socialising in Accrington and I read all the comments online half-smiling and half-pitying because it seems painfully obvious to me that quite a few people have all lost the ability to see anything positive. As an example, in the past 12 months I have ventured into shops, pubs and even a smashing little tea room then told people how good they are.

I may well be considered to be wearing rose tinted glasses but I at least it keeps me spending money in Accrington and if I can persuade just one person that they should do the same then it's good advertising for the town.

Listen to yourselves, you're taking the Mickey because I'm trying to talk the town up!

[Margaret Pilkington]

No Ken, not talking the Mickey, but just telling it how we see it.
I am only prepared to give my own true opinion of a place......how I perceive it.
This is not necessarily how you will see a place as our needs(because we are individuals) are different.
If you think that Accrington has improved in any way over the last few years then I fear that you are deluded.
The outside market is a ghost of what it used to be.....and of what it could be.
The Arndale is littered with empty units.....but hey soon we will have a bright shiny bus station, which will make everything alright....Except it won't because it is in the wrong place, it is unnecessary because there will be nothing to get the bus into this town for
That is MY opinion......I suppose you consider me one of the doom mangers, the usual suspect because I cannot see the Accrington that you see(despite going into the centre almost every day of the week).