Wonder what happened after the Wonder of Woollies? Michael Buchanan reports tonight and sends this for the blog:
"The final days of Woolworths' Ramsgate branch are familiar to many former staff. Tears, frustration, anger (much of it from customers who thought everything was going for pennies) and an overwhelming sense of sadness for the demise of the store. John Webb - 25 years at Woolies - and Vickie Boden - 4 years experience - both say they enjoyed their jobs so much they'd happily go back and work for free if Woolworths was re-opened.
That's not going to happen, of course. So John and Vickie have found themselves jobs at Boots, which is handily located across the High Street. Far more typical of the former employees is Michelle Fright
who remains unemployed 2 months after the store closed. Fourteen other employees that we were told about remain unemployed, one has retired, one is about to retire while 4 have found jobs. We couldn't track down the remaining 5 people.
Woolworths was one of Ramsgate few "destination" stores, a reason to go into town, and its closure has - according to locals - had a crippling effect on the town and many retail outlets on Ramsgate High Street are closed with little immediate prospect of re-opening."
Listen to PM
© MMIX~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~42~RS~)
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If a visit to Woolworths was such a relatively huge 'draw', one has to wonder what on earth the powers that be are doing with their time.
Whatever happened to town regeneration, community development, culture and tourism....?
Does the Council have NO officers who look after these things?
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Further to Fifi (2) - if it was such a big draw, then why were customers browsing but not buying?
Kidderminster would be an interesting example - the rot in the town centre started a few years ago when the former Brintons factory adjacent to the existing town centre was redeveloped into a retail park ("Weaver's Wharf"). That left the former M&S unit empty (they relocated) so removing a "destination" shop from the existing town centre. Littlewoods then closed, and now Woolies (next door to Littlewoods) has gone. The former M&S unit has been occupied numerous times by temporary shops, the latest being Pavers Shoes (who, bizzarely, used to have a unit on the Wharf in the only mill building left standing - which is currently being redeveloped [and extended with plenty of glass and steel - the commerical equivalent of a typical "Grand Designs" project] into a Debenhams).
Of course, the rot could also be attributed to the town centre being quite hilly, a few minutes walk away from the pay & display car parks (~80p/hr) and a further few minutes walk away from Tescos on the Wharf (free parking for 2hrs - but ANPR will 'get' you if you overstay).
Whereas 6 miles up the road in Brierley Hill you've got Merry Hell (sorry, the Merry Hill Shopping Centre) - flat, undercover, free parking (if you can find a space in peak periods!). And until recently there was a direct bus service between Kiddy and Merry Hell (now removed - to much rejoicing from local traders!)
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Central to the death of downtown (and wee village shops) is the chalice of individual powered mobility, but there's hope!
;-)
ed
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And there was me thinking we were short changing him.
DiY :-(
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The poor unemployed workers here.
And the two million others.
Every plan on hold.
House purchase threatened.
Bargains in the shops ignored. Gotta hang onto every penny.
Every job lost creates more unemployment.
The slump is all around us.
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Mittfh (3) : For all we know, the Ramsgate Woolies might have been doing OK, as was the lovely little branch in Kirkwall which I visited only last October.
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I miss our Woolies already. I recently wanted to buy some rubbery glue (c0pyd3x), a lever file and a reel of cotton.
Where to go now?
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Woolworths had lost its direction and its demise is problematic for employees, but if a company loses its way it deserves to go by the way. How we all deal with this is what will bring us out of the current credit crunch.
Ramsgate High street has seen its share of closures but as to being depressing, I have to disagree. Ramsgate is a charming seaside town with Regency buildings throughout its centre, from a busy marina an port to its winding streets and small commercial centre. The shopping parade is generally busy during the weekday, with a number of local shops serving the needs of the locals - a local greengrocers, 2 butchers, 2 bakers etc, which seem to be bearing up well... if we do see the further demise of chain stores, lets hope the local entrepreneurs take advantage of cheaper rent, possible government grants and so on, and seek to fill the town centre with creative and interesting places to be, and of course to shop. Already we have a goodly number of restaurants which provide a high quality service, gift shops ranging from the tacky to the slightly higher end, as well as shops targeting teenage obsessions. With the right incentives, more business will come, I am sure.
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Frances O @ 9, possibly your nearest Morrisburycodi's branch? They seem to sell most things there these days, if you have the sort with clothes you don't want to buy...
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Tricky2009 (10) Well said! I think you're the person Fifi @ 2 was looking for ;o)
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The usual cause of town centre closures is difficult or expensive car parking. ODPM advice was that availability of car parking greatly influenced how people went to the shops. Actually it has a greater influence on whether they go at all. Why are most of the shops in town centres selling telephones, jewellery, money and the like? These items are not bulky, so can be easily carried, even on buses.
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