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18/08/2008, 1:10 PM lemoncakes Joined on 09/06/2008 Weston-super-Mare Posts 264 Orchard Meadows poll and the empty shops I find it interesting that 59% of people think the shops are 'outdated' in Orchard Meadows - I've just completed the beginning stages of a directory looking at the shops of that area, it's basic but I can already see that there are some nice shops down there for a mixture of ages. Some examples of shops I personally like down Meadow Street (link goes to photo) include: Serendipity (gifts/vases,home decor) http://lemonvision.blogspot.com/2008/08/serendipity.html The Play Ground (teen / skater clothing) http://lemonvision.blogspot.com/2008/08/playground.html Rose and Amber (chinese silk purses glass / crystal jewellery) http://lemonvision.blogspot.com/2008/08/rose-and-amber.html Cross Patch (craft supplies) http://lemonvision.blogspot.com/2008/08/cross-patch.html I took a really quick 'mug shot' of most shops down Orchard Street & Meadow Street after reading (in the Merc.) that there are about 30 empty shops down there, sounded like the primary reason for this is the high business rates, which the council replied that they can do nothing, they are just collecting it on behalf on the government.  - Problem with a finality statement like that to a question is, it does not solve the problem of getting the shops filled does it ? I know the main focus is on the Pier at the moment, then the Tropicana & Birnbeck , yet it kind of looks like the old part of Weston got a bit of a raw deal with the last town inprovement scheme (big lamp corner - for which they got a pole), and with renewed vigor being generated since the unfortunate events on the seafront, I don't think it takes that much more effort to consider other parts of town too.  The Hight Street is fine, has all the 'kit' that many other High Street's accross the country have, but it's the smaller shops off a town's main shopping centre that can give a place it's individuality, so I think there should surely be somebody at the council that looks at national grants and scheme's or even some sort of lottery/ private venture funding or European initiative that could offer a solution to filling up these shops?  - A thriving selection of charity/secondhand shops would be better than boarded up shop fronts for example - so why aren't they there, are there reduced business rates/ consessions for charities ? would / do other shop keepers resent the idea that in order to get the shops filled charity shops might be a good idea or some slack for people starting out - paying less for a 12 month period (for example) if some form of grant became avaible to start-ups that paid a proportion of their business rates in exchange for a profit share ? Just ideas - thinking of ways to prevent the 'ghost town' really becomming a reality - there are parts of Bridgwater that are so derelict with abanoned shops it's spooky - but REAL. How do small shops down "the lanes" in Brighton keep going ? - is it really lack of people shopping in Weston - or lack of people knowing that Meadow Street & Orchard Street are there in the first place ? Is there anyone actually thinking about these things ? Example I can give where a new start-up could possibily make an impact - In the local paper there is a shop property to lease at £100 a week - with the possibility of a 1 year rent free period in exchange for doing the place up - there is another one for £50 a week with the same offer - I can only imagine that the business rates must be REALLY high for such an offer not to be snapped up - I haven't looked into all the rules - but surely if a property was shared between say 4-6 self-employed people - the rates would be more manageable ? - if that's a no go there are other business avenues like the well respected http://www.tarpon-uk.com/ Where a group of contractors can work as employees of a parent company and have their taxes and accounts done by the company - and get employee benefits. So maybe we should be asking the question where are the people, rather than just the council. I'm a Video blogger and an Internet Thingy too! You can twitter me: @lemonknickers    Report

18/08/2008, 1:45 PM AllMouthNoTrousers Joined on 21/02/2008 Weston Posts 373 Re: Orchard Meadows poll and the empty shops Blimey - you must have a lot of time on your hands! But I like the Meadow Street area. It's true that there is not the range (or even quality) of shops there that there used to be, but there are still a few individual shops and a nice cafe or two. I have a browse quite often, and think there's enough of interest there to warrant other people doing the same.    Report

18/08/2008, 3:46 PM aza Joined on 20/05/2008 WsM Posts 75 Re: Orchard Meadows poll and the empty shops The shops in Weston are of a POOR Standard. For example, If you are a young bloke and not a Chav where do you shop for clothes? I went to Cheltenham Christmas shopping last year for the first time. WOW. I think the main reason is all down to social class and disposable income. Cheltenham is obviously a very up market town where property prices are high, as the inhabitants have a higher amount of disposable income then more independant shops can afford to stay open. The problem here is that a massive proportion of Weston's population is either on benefits/income support etc, or are on a low wage. The people within these groups generally bulk shop to save money, So all of the Independant Clothes shops/ Crockery Shops etc just open up then close down within 6 months as there just isn't enough business.    Report

18/08/2008, 4:10 PM The Green Knight Joined on 23/02/2008 Weston-super-Mare Posts 57 Re: Orchard Meadows poll and the empty shops There are a small number of specialist shops for the discerning young fashionista but they are hard to find and immorally expensive. The abundance of charity/cheap shops is partly due to the number of people on a low income but also the fact that Weston is reknown across the bridge in Wales and up Bristol way as a centre for cheap shops so draw crowded coaches full of elderly ladies on a daily basis. The blue rinse brigade is one of Weston's major incomes both from visiting and residential. Those who would like Weston to become another Brighton will buy at the crockery and clothes shops but unfortunately they are out numbered by the drug rehab and convalescent residents. It is so much simpler and no doubt a more pleasent experience for them to drive to Bristol, Cheltenham or Cardiff for the better brand name stores than to try and cobble together something here. We would do well to encourage someone like Debenhams to come to Weston but, their own conditions aside, the council have to contend with an ageing population that wants everywhere to remain victorian and geared towards them not the youth that are going to replace them. Properties are unusually high here too but not because of a wealthier population but because they are being bought by companies wanting to convert to rehab centres are care homes. The Green Knight    Report

18/08/2008, 11:47 PM CazInZumerzet Joined on 02/08/2008 Weston super Mare Posts 184 Re: Orchard Meadows poll and the empty shops I'd almost echo all of that except to say that there are good and reasonably priced shops along Meadow/Orchard Street(s), so not all overpriced.  I still find the traffic and pavement relationship a tricky and sometimes dangerous one and wonder what happened to the pedestrianisation idea advocated for by many of the traders.  I do enjoy the small specialist shops and cafes.  One major issue though is the High Street itself and until that gets sorted then it's my belief Orchard Meadow can't progress.  Too many charity shops, far too many chuggers and researchers and people trying to sign us up to mail order, god, and petitions supporting/condemning supporting good/bad/mediocre causes.  I for one avoid using the high street because of all of the nuisances we encounter, and therefore don't use the other smaller streets either, or for that matter the Sovereign.   I don't come to town to be plagued.  On that subject people selling things don't seem tyo be nearly so much of a nuisance as the other sort.  The young woman selling stick-on tattoos for instance seems to do a roaring trade and attracts lots of young people to her stand, clearly selling something people want at a price they can afford, and that's the secret isn't it.  Not rocket science. The link between the two shopping areas is really very dirty,  difficult to negotiate, very often populated by people the worse for wear and offering nothing of interest or attraction except two really nice small cafes in the shadow of the 'Bog-Brush'. Brighton is certainly isn't but those wanting Brighton go there, they don't come here, do we have the town centre we deserve...?        Old Westonians never die, they go out on the tide...    Report

19/08/2008, 8:33 AM AllMouthNoTrousers Joined on 21/02/2008 Weston Posts 373 Re: Orchard Meadows poll and the empty shops I wish Weston had an HMV. If you want music, you're limited to the most mainstream stuff - I have to go to Cribbs to buy CDs.    Report

19/08/2008, 9:41 AM aza Joined on 20/05/2008 WsM Posts 75 Re: Orchard Meadows poll and the empty shops  AllMouthNoTrousers wrote: I wish Weston had an HMV. If you want music, you're limited to the most mainstream stuff - I have to go to Cribbs to buy CDs. Indeed, an absoloute joke, even when we had a Music Shop I think it was next to Spar it was TINY, we are a large town, I think the services that we have available to us is disgusting. I pretty much have to go to Bristol every time I go shopping for anything other than food. Of course the Council can't lower rates as their hands are apparently forced by the Government. With the Pier as it is this is the moment the council should be working double time to sort out the whole town, giving us the functional, useful and pleasant town we deserve.    Report

19/08/2008, 10:10 AM AllMouthNoTrousers Joined on 21/02/2008 Weston Posts 373 Re: Orchard Meadows poll and the empty shops To be fair, in this instance I don't think it's down to the council - it's that the retail units in Weston simply aren't big enough to appeal to the Debenhams or John Lewises of the world. How many shops have a big floorspace in Weston? Marks and Spencer, Wilkinsons, maybe Woolworth or Boots. How many of them have bee on the market in the past 20 years? Just Wilkinson, when they bought it from C&A. Aside from them, the only sizeable places are the out-of-town spots on the Winterstoke Road estate - and it's hardly a Debenhams-type spot, is it? I think the only hope to draw some of the big retailers into Weston is when the Southern end of town - the Dolphin Square area - is redeveloped. Plan for a couple of big outlets there, and revitalise that whole end of town.    Report

19/08/2008, 10:38 AM The Green Knight Joined on 23/02/2008 Weston-super-Mare Posts 57 Re: Orchard Meadows poll and the empty shops I hate to sound all contentious and modern but,who buys cd's in shops now? Most new acts don't bother making cd's anymore, they know that most buyers will purchase downloads. In fact, they now generate more income from gigs and major tours than record sales. I think you will find the chances of buying cd's will diminish in the future regardless of outlets. You can't buy them if they aren't being made. That said, the movement of supermarkets into specialist retail areas ,such as music and gardening, hasn't helped the industry in anyway. Mass buying power means the consumer is left with a limited choice. The old record stores, that you could browse through for rarities, were vital to encouraging a diversity of music styles. That sort of store and more like it would have kept Orchard /Meadows going. Sadly, the super powers have pushed them all out of business. The Green Knight    Report

19/08/2008, 1:10 PM The Green Knight Joined on 23/02/2008 Weston-super-Mare Posts 57 Re: Orchard Meadows poll and the empty shops  AllMouthNoTrousers wrote:   I think the only hope to draw some of the big retailers into Weston is when the Southern end of town - the Dolphin Square area - is redeveloped. Plan for a couple of big outlets there, and revitalise that whole end of town. Just to make a point, Dolphin Square has a record store inside the market itself., Martian records. Revolver Records is opposite the Old Courthouse on the centre. Both are, as you pointed out, at the south end of the town. Perhaps if people wandered a bit further afield occassionally they might find these gems. The Green Knight    Report

19/08/2008, 1:22 PM lemoncakes Joined on 09/06/2008 Weston-super-Mare Posts 264 Re: Orchard Meadows poll and the empty shops Maybe some of these street vendors that are being banned from the high street could club together for rented space in the empty shops ? as I still think it's a waste & unsightly having these boarded up shop fronts. Going off on a tangent or two... I'm Impressed with the replies to this thread , I think the Merc. forums could become the unofficial town council :) I just need to find some sort of government grant that offers innovation/start-ups in the countryside some sort of finanical help. Other "more deprived" areas of the South West qualify for more aid to encourage regeneration of town centres, employment in rural areas & all that kind of stuff (Cornwall, Devon, Wales, Scotland as examples) - North Somerset /Sedgemoor seem to be lumped together as the poor neighbours/extremities of Bristol - M5 / M4 / Bristol International Airport  give us access to 'the grid'  (or gold corridor) in the same way Chippenham, Swindow, Reading etc. so where are the Enterprise companies to create new forms of business and retail down 'ere then ? - off-line shopping always seems like a bit of a novelty to me personally as rather than trek up to Bristol I buy most things I need on-line, other than food or anything in poundland ! and the only things that I buy on-line tend to be cheap digital goods, like software, web scripts or domain names... But I don't think it need be the end of off the off-line shop (in Orchard Meadows or anywhere similar), it's a case of adapting or specializing more. For example when I lived in Suffolk for a short while, I used to go to Newmarket occassionally & remember a gift shop there that had a small inventory of their stock on-line via eBay, just cheap knick knaks like fridge magnets, key rings, overstocks, old stock  - things that were popular with other on-line sellers, I purchased a few sample of goods in store then went home and added their ebay shop to my on-line favorites - as there is something more trustworthy about a web shop that also has an off-line store to me. Another shop I thought used it's off-line shop well together with an on-line presence to advantage was an American sweet/candy shop in London (werewolves not included :P) - you could go in and buy your sweets or order on-line and send as a gift to someone else - they do the same in the States - i.e create British stores for the expats and UK vistors - these stores aren't massive corp. owned supply stores, they are small family run affairs - ready to deliver or post a starving Brit their treacle pudding and custcard or Earl Grey and jam tarts as required! A shop that makes use of specializing as I mean it, in Weston is that shop that sells all things pink (pinkylicious ?) - not my thing but the idea makes an impression, is memorable. Missing shops - or shops I'm missing ? - A shop that sells loads of A1 size posters and prints - a shop full of them - I haven't seen that since I was 13 and living in Reading. I'm a Video blogger and an Internet Thingy too! You can twitter me: @lemonknickers    Report

19/08/2008, 1:33 PM aza Joined on 20/05/2008 WsM Posts 75 Re: Orchard Meadows poll and the empty shops I work for the 3rd largest CD/DVD Manufacturer in Europe. I beg to differ.    Report

19/08/2008, 1:41 PM Sun Tzu Joined on 07/08/2008 Posts 161 Re: Orchard Meadows poll and the empty shops  AllMouthNoTrousers wrote: I wish Weston had an HMV. If you want music, you're limited to the most mainstream stuff - I have to go to Cribbs to buy CDs. You still buy CDs?  Are you living in 2003?    Report

19/08/2008, 2:19 PM AllMouthNoTrousers Joined on 21/02/2008 Weston Posts 373 Re: Orchard Meadows poll and the empty shops Yep, I still buy CDs. And thanks Green Knight, but I know perfectly well what's in Dolphin Square and do know my way around the town. But I buy CDs through preference, because I like to browse in music shops - and I don't really think that the teeny stall in the market represents adequate provision for a town the size of Weston.    Report

19/08/2008, 2:32 PM lemoncakes Joined on 09/06/2008 Weston-super-Mare Posts 264 Re: Orchard Meadows poll and the empty shops DVD and software CD's are still big business on-line - all the ebook people have to put their ebooks on CD these days to keep ebay sweet since they banned digital downloads.  If they come up with CD's that can hold more data they stand a chance of not being scaled down - like the 3.5 diskettes - replaced by CD's - replaced by flash drives.  In the States some block buster stores are trialling flashdrive downloads now instead of DVD & CD rentals - the product ceases to work after a 48 hour period or once movie has begun to be watched. I see what people say regarding music on CD - IPOD anybody ?! -  digital music/movie downloads have been hitting CD/DVD sales hard as the record/movie companies are desperate (and fully capable) of causing massive changes in privacy laws that exceed powers to capture pervs! in order to get P2P networks tracked down and blocked from the web. My argument with the whole illegal downloads thing is they (the big bad wolves of business) should be using their wealth and power to effect law changes in going after REAL wierdos (child slavery etc.) rather than criminalizing - fining putting in jail 'average Joe' teenagers for listening to bootlegs - as usual - the governments listen to the money, and there is more revenue to be made in fining Joes and allowing abuse of children (digitally) to continue - by selecting to amend the privacy laws for financially profitable industry's (to have more rights to spy on us) than the ability to spy for abuse of people (which would cause a loss in revenue if stamped out, in a similar way non smoking would). So I'm personally not fussed if there are no CD shops in Weston - BIG record companies make a mockery of human rights by proxy. I'm all for the smaller indie labels though. I'm a Video blogger and an Internet Thingy too! You can twitter me: @lemonknickers    Report

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