Should we be letting supermarkets/chainstores establish in our town? - Page 2

spinner · 26-04-2007, 21:23

[quote=Cyfr;416101]
I had the delight of wandering around the North Quarter (or at least thats what I think its called) in Manchester. There were a lot of independent shops all selling unique things that I hadn't come across before. It was really interesting unlike the countless clones of chain stores in Manchester town center.

the Northern Quarter is a hip end of town cyfr. shops selling that sort of stuff would be more likey to set up there. accrington on the other hand is a mainstream family town where most people are seem to trod off to the supermarket buying products they are familiar with. i hate the uniformity and the trash those supermarkets bring but we havnt much choice in accy. the only reason supermarkets spring up is cause peoplego to them

MargaretR · 26-04-2007, 21:42

wholesome organic foods are available for delivery on the internet -just need freezer space so you can buy bulk to offset delivery charge.
A tank of petrol lasts me 2 months or more because I only need to leave the house to socialise.

andrewb · 26-04-2007, 21:55

I dread to think what sort of social and economic consequences there would be if everyone started shopping online for everything. There'd be pretty high unemployment!

cashman · 26-04-2007, 22:00

was talking to an old friend this aft,who had the sewing stall inside the market hall, shes been trying to sell the buisness for last 2 years, i asked her if she had finally sold,she replied NO it was better to WALK AWAY. thats a sad indictment of buisness life in accy centre i think.

MargaretR · 26-04-2007, 22:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cyfr

I dread to think what sort of social and economic consequences there would be if everyone started shopping online for everything. There'd be pretty high unemployment!

Delivery jobs will expand - 1 van delivering 20 parcels will leave a smaller 'carbon footprint' than 20 people visiting a store. More jobs will be created for staff at parcel depots and will be occupied more productively than shop assistants hanging about waiting fo a customer to walk through the shop door

mani · 27-04-2007, 00:22

end of the day the northern quarter has a market of customers to support it

ppl go there far and wide to look at those quirky stuff - afflecks palace is an institute for that

BUT

start something in accy like that and it'll close down within a few months

as shown by the many quirky places that were started up and shut down eg in the arcade there was that shop that wud sell wooden furniture

Eric · 27-04-2007, 00:48

When the big stores move in the little guys fold. We have one Walmart and another is planned, all the big grocery stores are chains: Loblaws, A&P, Loeb, Food Basics. And then the box stores move in. In the Riocan centre we have two stores selling electronics, Best Buy and Future Shop (both owned by the same company). And the only two restaurants in the place are Montana's Cookhouse, and Kelsey's (both owned by the same company). After a while, service and quality take a dump and prices go up. Many of these companies are American, so there is a move on amongst consumers to shop Canadian ... like Rona or Canadian Tire instead of Home Depot; or Giant Tiger instead of Walmart. Unfortunately this does little for the little guys who have been forced out of business.

Problem is, Walmart, hated tho it is by customers and staff alike, still has the best stuff at great prices; and their aftermarket service is top notch.

mani · 27-04-2007, 01:33

i think yes - its inevitable so we shud just go with it

the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages adn if the small product wants to exist it can as many items are from such a range.

also they're cheap

andrewb · 27-04-2007, 06:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by [email protected]

Delivery jobs will expand - 1 van delivering 20 parcels will leave a smaller 'carbon footprint' than 20 people visiting a store. More jobs will be created for staff at parcel depots and will be occupied more productively than shop assistants hanging about waiting fo a customer to walk through the shop door

Buying online I assume you mean from tesco online etc.

Your telling me that transporting food/goods around the country/world is less carbon polluting than going to your local market where produce is from the local area and has travelled the least distance?

I highly doubt that there will be a positive impact in terms of employment. Lets say 1 person can deliver 20 peoples shopping in under an hour. How many people would be served by how many people on tills in that hour? Parcel depots will just become more reliant on technology leaving less and less room for workforce if they have such a huge influx of profit from high growth.

MargaretR · 27-04-2007, 07:07

<Buying online I assume you mean from tesco online etc.>

I mean absolutely ANYBODY on line. I have bought herbal remedies from a small store in Colne! A hat from a woman in Southport! - If you have time to look for it, you will find it

andrewb · 27-04-2007, 07:14

Well replace tesco with anything really. And if you have to buy several things from several locations online that could be near each other in a local town, you're increasing your carbon footprint 10fold!

MargaretR · 27-04-2007, 07:24

The goods have to be shipped in by those local stores before locals use fuel to go to see them - except farmers markets, which I agree are very economic. More and more farmers are setting up internet supply businesses -good news!- better food to more people -and cuts out the middleman (which is what shops are)

WillowTheWhisp · 27-04-2007, 07:34

I agree that it's sad that we are losing the individual character of towns with small local shops closing down. Jut look at all the empty shops in Accy.

Yes places like Affleck's do well in Manchester because people go there because they know it's there. Accrington could do with a complete shake-up and start attracting people to come here to shop. They used to once. People actually used to travel into Accrington on buses to shop in our market and town centre. Now all we seem to do is drive retailers away by putting up rents and drive shoppers away by creating a poky market where you can't get past anyone who happens to have stopped at a stall. Woe betide someone in a wheelchair trying to get past a young mother with a pram!

I would love to see the centre of the town redeveloped imaginatively, making use of our natural assets. It is still possible to do food shopping on the market without it taking too much time - butchers, fish stall, grocers all there and then bakers not too far away in Broadway or Peel St.

As for interesting shops/stalls - well we've still got Moonstorm in the market and the Glory Hole in Warner St but wouldn't it be great if we attracted more visitors to the town to shop and had more of the unique and quirky kinds of shops. Standish St in Burnley used to have a few interesting shops but last time I went even they weren't as appealing as they used to be.

I know redevelopment takes money but it also needs imagination and the courage to do something more than marble benches and chrome bins on Broadway.

MargaretR · 27-04-2007, 07:48

I visualise than within the next 50 years town centres will not be shopping centres but will be social centres. Restaurants, salons, street cafe s, theraputic treatment clinics, opticians, - all the businessess which need personal attendance +social gathering venues.

We used to be called 'a nation of shopkeepers'-- we will eventually be 'a nation of delivery drivers'

WillowTheWhisp · 27-04-2007, 07:54

Oh but you can't browse the same online or impulse shop the way you can in a shop full of character. It will be a sad loss. Think of the smell of freshly baked bread which inspires purchase. You just don't get that with your virtual Tesco shopping trolly.