Topic ID 4584
[url="http://www.retail-week.com/property/in-town/the-new-ghost-towns-on-uk-high-streets/5004353.article"]The new ghost towns on UK High Streets[/url] (Retail Week) This article looks at three towns, Camberley, Hertford and Barnet.
Reply ID 65731
Is this the Woolworths sign in Hertford on the website picture? Worrying times for Hertford but thank ourselves lucky at least we have a new shop to replace oo or hs, just look at Newcastle - Gateshead voids it must be grim up there do they have any shops left up North?
Reply ID 65733
weird; Other than losing woolies, what else has hertford lost? in what way is it doing particularly badly compared to other towns?
Reply ID 65738
quote:No other major chain as far as I am aware. There are some independents who are no longer in Hertford..........Yates, Twisted Rio (which wasn't in existence for long anyway), the florists next door (which I think closed for family reasons), Leonidas, the women's clothes shop on Parliament Square which has reopened with a new owner........
Originally posted by codek2
weird; Other than losing woolies, what else has hertford lost? in what way is it doing particularly badly compared to other towns?
Reply ID 65743
quote:Both model shops have gone, Bouquet and Blossoms, Cash Converters....
Originally posted by codek2
weird; Other than losing woolies, what else has hertford lost?
Reply ID 65747
Starfish...
Reply ID 65750
quote:But on the positive.........one of the model shops is soon to become The Press Room, the old estate agents next to Saks is well into it's rennovation to open as a hotel/restaurant and the empty unit on the corner of Maidenhead Street was finally filled, albeit by Kinds. I wouldn't class Hertford as a ghost town at all......
Originally posted by Stevequote:Both model shops have gone, Bouquet and Blossoms, Cash Converters....
Originally posted by codek2
weird; Other than losing woolies, what else has hertford lost?
Reply ID 65753
...Pertemps temp agency next to Job Centre (how ironic!) gone, as well as empty old Blue Arrow office in Bull Plain and next to Farrow and Farrow the old Starfish went away... Of Course the old Maccy D's has been shut in Maidenhead street for yonks now too.. I think in sunlight the town looks okay, but again, some of these units have been empty for literally years and not sure what can go in them now... its so hard for retailers....
Reply ID 65757
quote:Shhh don't say that or we will lose the tourists that come to the Town. http://www.hiddenhertford.co.uk/ghosts.html
Originally posted by Ewoowarquote:But on the positive.........one of the model shops is soon to become The Press Room, the old estate agents next to Saks is well into it's rennovation to open as a hotel/restaurant and the empty unit on the corner of Maidenhead Street was finally filled, albeit by Kinds. I wouldn't class Hertford as a ghost town at all......
Originally posted by Stevequote:Both model shops have gone, Bouquet and Blossoms, Cash Converters....
Originally posted by codek2
weird; Other than losing woolies, what else has hertford lost?
Reply ID 65995
I think the comments about some of the independent shops are spot on too.
Reply ID 65998
Independent retailing has always been volatile and subject to economic trends. Many businesses are only viable in times of extreme optimism and easy credit. In the longer term, it is not the (so called) recession which threatens town centres, but the means of transport we use for shopping. The food retailers which thrive on car use now sell clothes, lightbulbs, motor oil, crockery, sofas, insurance, newspapers......... So, if you wanted to open a store which sold something which would encourage customers to get out of the car and walk to the town centre rather than adding it to a trolley with the frozen peas, what would it be?
Reply ID 66000
That's a really hard question and one not easily answered without a bit of market research. To be honest, if I presume that I can't get what I want in Hertford I'll end up going to a bigger town. And that might be the key - that there are enough independent shops in Hertford but it's the bigger branded stores that entice people to get in the car and go to, say, St Albans or hatfield instead. So what do St Albans and Hatfield have that we don't? TKMAXX ?? I wonder whether that wouldn't entice people into Hertford, if a shop floor big enough was avaliable. Mates of mine travel to these towns just to make a day trip of a TKMAXX! The shops must appeal to a wide demographic as there are so many types of products in them, from clothes to kitchen cabinets! True, TK is a bit of an endurance test (take a packed lunch and patience!) but you can get some incredible bargains. So maybe....?!! Also, I feel that Hertford is reasonably busy on a saturday but it's sundays that I often want to go into town and mill around the shops, but with only a handful of them open on sundays i end up going to John Lewis instead because I know that I can only get half the things I need in Hertford. I know it's probably not economical for shops in hertford to open on sundays if they're already struggling though. It was nice last november, despite the rain, when loads of shops opened for Christmas shopping. Would be nice if perhaps once a month shops opened on Sundays!
Reply ID 66009
I doubt TK Maxx would come to Hertford. They have large staores at the Galeria and in Harlow already.
Reply ID 66013
I agree, there's hardly any reason for them to come to Hertford but I think it's that sort of shop that would do well here...