Arrgh!

Atarah · 09-09-2004, 15:33

Have just heard Glen Mill carpets is going out of business. Shame if its true!

WillowTheWhisp · 09-09-2004, 17:34

Are there any carpets going cheap?

Perran · 09-09-2004, 18:26

Nice to see your concern for yet another long established local firm biting the dust Willow. There are fewer and fewer of these firms as they are pushed out by faceless multiples who care little for service and more about profit. People will complain when they are all gone, sit and remember the good old days of small independent shops and the personnal service they gave. You will to....

Ceejache · 09-09-2004, 18:29

I'm not surprised they are going out of business - it cant be easy when you have been the victim of two arson attacks in the space of four or so years. I also noted today that CBS on the Eastgate retail park was being boarded up...or so it seemed to me.

WillowTheWhisp · 09-09-2004, 19:05

Are you confusing Glen Mills with Glyn Webb? Or have there been arson attacks on Glen Mills too?

CBS has had a closing down sale for a while now but that hasn't even been open all that long.

I'm afraid I am very cynical about small firms continued existence and the shock value went long ago. In some cases it's simply been that the owner has decided to retire with no-one to take over.

I was sorry to see the demise of the Stanhill pickle factory following a couple of take-overs and miss shops such as Wardleworths where you could actually order a book you'd heard of and they would send away for it for you.

Unfortunately it's no good bemoaning the loss of shops etc because the sad fact is that the majority of people prefer to shop at the larger out of town stores. If the small local shops were a commercial success they wouldn't be disappearing but how do you change that? There was a scheme a couple of years ago to try to encourage people to shop locally and collect points. Whatever happened to that?

We used to have a lot of local corner shops selling all manner of things but about the only ones which remain now are the off-licences. Yes of course I wish they were still there. It was a lot easier to pop round the corner for a few odd groceries than to have to go into town but sadly people must prefer to shop at the supermarkets because the local shops don't do enough business any more.

One small shop I do miss isn't even in Accrington and it wasn't all that small. It was a grocers/post office and the only shop in Crag Bank. Yet despite that fact it too is now gone and has been converted to a private residence because the local people must prefer to shop in the supermarkets.

It doesn't mean that I like the idea but it's just the way things are going and have been going for a long time. I don't see how the trend can be reversed.

Mik Dickinson · 09-09-2004, 20:28

I think it all boils down to prices now anyway.The small shops can not keep up.The service is friendlier but do you not always go where its cheaper.As for goods i prefer to shop on the internet.As an example :-

my 2 girls each wish for an England away shirt with names and numbers on it for xmas.I priced them in the locakl shops here and got a price of € 70 that is about 50 pound with no names and numbers.On the internet from a shop on there in England i can get the things for € 26 less with names and numbers on it.Save about €24 each shirt with freight costs.
Even the Bayern Münich shirts are cheaper in England than they are here.

Perran · 09-09-2004, 22:56

I agree that in many cases the small shops cannot keep up in terms of bulk buying discounts offered to the larger stores and thus cannot compete on price. However i feel there is a demand for smaller shops or should i say more individual shops. Many people have bemoaned the decline of Accrington as a shopping town and can only agree. I feel the main cause of this is our town councils dogged belief that we have to compete with the likes of Blackburn and Burnley by trying to attract multiples to the town. If we encouraged a wide variety of individual independently owned shops it would create a diversity and a reason to visit the town. After all people from Blackburn are not going to visit Accrington just to come to Burtons or New Look etc They already have them and so does every reasonable size town in the country. If people actually had a reason to visit this would make the town busier and more vibrant which in turn would attract more businesses including the multiples so loved by our council! I hope everyone can see my point here.

Mik Dickinson · 10-09-2004, 07:35

The other advantage for the multiples is that they bring work with them thus employing people.I still see the need for local shops though.I remember there being one in Green Howarth where that was the only shop there, and Renee made a réally good business out of it.Anyplace closer to town would have been unviable as people tend to go to the cheaper places.

WillowTheWhisp · 10-09-2004, 07:51

I wonder how many people actually shopped at the shops they wish hadn't closed? Presumably if the business was good they would still be there. It's too late once the shop has gone.

There used to be a specialist bakery in Willows Lane. They made some wonderful bread, different types on different days. I used to buy my favourite there but didn't buy there every day because some days they didn't make anything I particularly fancied and on a regular basis it was cheaper to buy "ordinary" bread from the supermarket. That shop is now closed. Maybe if I, and others, had broadened our choice a little or bought from there regardless of cost in preference to a wrapped and sliced Warburtons or something then the shop would still be open.

What I'm trying to say is that if there is enough demand, even if the goods are expensive, the supply will be there.

How many of us bought carpets from Glen Mills? We bough two I think but then carpets aren't something you buy very often.

pendy · 10-09-2004, 09:21

We have a great corner shop in Ossy, Ossy General Stores, which is not an off licence because the owners (two brothers) are Muslim. They have a good range of stuff, they are open from about 7 in the morning until 10 at night, and I make a point of shopping there - if you don't use it, you'll lose it. I know I can buy cheaper at the Co-op or Asda, and there's a bigger range, but these lads try hard to give a good service, they are friendly and pleasant, and it's always nice to shop there.

I agree about the carpets, mind you, it isn't something you buy often, and they are so expensive that you do have to shop around for the best bargain you can get.

WillowTheWhisp · 10-09-2004, 10:02

We have a corner shop and the owners are Muslim, it also sells alcohol. The one thing I wish it did sell but doesn't is the non-alcoholic lagers. We buy some things there but the range has unfortunately dropped dramatically since new owners took over. I don't just mean there aren't different sorts of the same product, there are very few products now.