Stafford - Mix of independent shops & big chains in town?

Franklin_Delano_Roosevelt

Franklin_Delano_Roosevelt

Well-Known Forumite
Stafford - Starting to becoming more like Totnes?


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-20947162

The attached article was on the news today, it does seem that those High Streets that thrive are those that offer independent choice with a few chains mixed in. In Stafford we have had a number of independents open recently such as The Front Room, The new Creperie, Cafe Roma and a few others including bigger ventures like The Post House - OK it is only a start and more is needed but perhaps it is all part of an encouraging trend...?
 
Franklin_Delano_Roosevelt

Franklin_Delano_Roosevelt

Well-Known Forumite
Yeah it is an interesting development. For years we have been told that you need the big stores and the big chains as it is them that provide the attraction and the footfall in towns - but then people have grown tired of "identi-kit" towns with all the same shops, offer all the same stuff. Meanwhile many of the big shops have moved to out of town retail parks where access and parking is often easier. Those towns that have failed to adjust to this have rotted whilst those like Totnes that embrace the local concept thrive.

I think probably you need a healthy mix between the two, some big name, "big hitters" to get people in but also a range of local shops to provide choice and a sense that the town isn't just a souless copy of any other town
 
G

Gareth

Well-Known Forumite
I'm with Franklin, the likes of Mark & Sparks and the other big name who have supposedly signed a contract (rumored to Primark) virtually as close to town as you get with the I think free parking and the same with Morrisons the other end. WIll be interesting to see how that could develop.
 
Dabbler

Dabbler

Well-Known Forumite
I agree with Franklin, I think we do need to have a mix of retailers in Stafford to attract and retain shoppers in the town. We definitely shouldn't, in my view, become another identikit high street, and I think that all retailers need to start and work out what it is that will attract people into their physical shops, rather than sitting at home and buying off the internet. Proper customer service springs to mind here - for example I bought a camera from Peter Rogers because of the time and trouble they went to to explain it to me (without making me feel stupid!), but i know I could have bought cheaper online.

Landlords need to consider whether their premises are the right configuration for retailers - national and local, and be prepared to make changes that are affordable.

The other thing that I would like to see in Stafford is a Totally Locally type initiative - as is happening in Stone and (I think) Eccleshall, where people spend money with local retailers. That does of course mean that local retailers have to stock things that people want to buy!

The nature of retail will certainly change in the future, but i believe that stafford could capitalise on that change and make it a change for the better, but it may call for some radical thinking and action.

Is there a vision for the town centre - so that we know what we want it to become?
 
rbellamy

rbellamy

Well-Known Forumite
Dabbler said:
but it may call for some radical thinking and action.

Is there a vision for the town centre - so that we know what we want it to become?
Click to expand...

It is the consumer who will have to think and act. No-one else can, and while the masses continue to patronise and 'worship'
the likes of Tesco and the big out of town stores, there will be no demand for the high street I think we all desire. Market forces
drive supply and demand. The high st we have today is the product of what the consumer demands today.
 
littleme

littleme

250,000th poster!
Dabbler said:
I agree with Franklin, I think we do need to have a mix of retailers in Stafford to attract and retain shoppers in the town. We definitely shouldn't, in my view, become another identikit high street, and I think that all retailers need to start and work out what it is that will attract people into their physical shops, rather than sitting at home and buying off the internet. Proper customer service springs to mind here - for example I bought a camera from Peter Rogers because of the time and trouble they went to to explain it to me (without making me feel stupid!), but i know I could have bought cheaper online.

Landlords need to consider whether their premises are the right configuration for retailers - national and local, and be prepared to make changes that are affordable.

The other thing that I would like to see in Stafford is a Totally Locally type initiative - as is happening in Stone and (I think) Eccleshall, where people spend money with local retailers. That does of course mean that local retailers have to stock things that people want to buy!

The nature of retail will certainly change in the future, but i believe that stafford could capitalise on that change and make it a change for the better, but it may call for some radical thinking and action.

Is there a vision for the town centre - so that we know what we want it to become?
Click to expand...
I watched a clippet on the news the other day on a town/village where they had developed their own currency for use in local shops selling local produce, an local cafes etc.....seemed like quite a good idea.
 
rbellamy

rbellamy

Well-Known Forumite
littleme said:
I watched a clippet on the news the other day on a town/village where they had developed their own currency for use in local shops selling local produce, an local cafes etc.....seemed like quite a good idea.
Click to expand...
This wouldn't happen in Stafford.
 
Dabbler

Dabbler

Well-Known Forumite
The high st we have today is the product of what the consumer demands today.
Click to expand...

I disagree with this statement. I think the High Street we have today is the product of what we wanted in times gone by. If we were starting from scratch, I think (rather, I hope) that we would design a very different type of town centre. I would hope we would create somewhere where people wanted to spend time, not dash in and worry about overstaying their parking ticket. It would have a thriving market, independent shops alongside national chains, bars, cafes, restaurants and a varied leisure offering.

Don't get me wrong, Stafford has lots of those things, but I think there is so much more that could be achieved. I'm still not sure what the vision is for our town centre, or whether the public has been asked what it would like to see?
 
Admin

Admin

You there; behave!
Staff member
This is an excellent point of discussion, and one that passed me by due to the thread title, so I hope you don't mind, Franklin_Delano_Roosevelt - I have taken the liberty of changing the thread title and moving the original one to the body of your first post.

Thanks. :)
 
Franklin_Delano_Roosevelt

Franklin_Delano_Roosevelt

Well-Known Forumite
Admin said:
This is an excellent point of discussion, and one that passed me by due to the thread title, so I hope you don't mind, Franklin_Delano_Roosevelt - I have taken the liberty of changing the thread title and moving the original one to the body of your first post.

Thanks. :)
Click to expand...

Fine with me, you are the boss!
 
Sk84goal

Sk84goal

Well-Known Forumite
I think the big difference between more successfull places and Stafford is they have a simple view of who is a customer. They view a customer as anybody who could make a purchase. In Stafford, if you are too young or too old, have a disability, look a bit different or God forbid have a dog you are treated like you have the plague! A quick question :- Independent coffee shop /cafe in Stafford that is dog friendly? In Dartmouth I could name three. The conservative nature of retailers in Stafford is what is and will continue to kill the town. Wake up! You no longer have the luxury of choosing your customers. Why can I not take my dog into the guildhall? In the shopping centre in Llandudno for instance not a problem. Why do most of the independent coffee shops not open till 9:30! I am standing here with money in my pocket wanting to spend it! I do not shop at Tesco's. I will not buy my coffee from McDonalds, Starbucks or Costa. I will not shop at Boots. I like independents but unfortunalty the independents in Stafford don't seem to like me.
 
loveatfirstbite

loveatfirstbite

Well-Known Forumite
i love the idea of trading between businesses - i can only speak for bakers but we're always sharing stuff and loaning each other ingredients/helping fix each others machinery etc. i'm sure i've spoken before of a town in switzerland i went to - where you could drive through the highstreet, they only let people live above the shops as opposed to empty office blocks, and all the shops supplied each other. it was so nice, i really think stafford could have this! why not!! i hope that as all the big boys leave town for their own of town retail parks, the rents will drop and independant businesses can open in their place. but i do agree we also need big shops like a debenams/john lewis etc to get folks into the town in the first place
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top