Last week Philosophy moved their hairdressing business to the Market Place. They have lots of natural light with windows both sides.
Big white Afro wigs are part of the first display in Abingdon’s biggest new fashion shop window
– New Look moved to the bigger premises along Bury Street last week.
The New Look move is definitely an improvement. The old shop was very crammed and shoppers could not move around easily. There is now plenty of room to walk around and look at the clothes.
looks good
Nice to see New Look are fans of Marouane Fellaini.
New look yes! However it has enterd one of the largest units and only trades on one floor. The new look in wantage has Mens and Childrens range. Although it looks nice , do we not think something better could of been put into such a large unit. Lets see what goes in the other unit.
apparently they were only allowed to use one floor….
Silly really. But i suppose its not worth moaning about. Just really hope that abingdon attracts some more big name shops..alot of my customers want a Carphonewarehouse and also mentioned a homestore or Next. Its hard to suggest stuff when its out of our power. I want to put a small local business brochure together. Hope sweetchocolate are doing well.. its a unique shop. 🙂
The thing about one floor is not true – new look can use both floors if they choose so to do.
Always seems odd to me that Abingdon doesn’t have a mobile phone shop when Didcot has 3 (used to be 4 I think) – but we do have a very good shop selling phone accessories etc.
Thats a shame. Why couldnt new look use the full potential of such a large unit. Seems such a waste. I thought the reason to make two larger units was to get larger stores into the centre. Waste!
If the front page of this weeks Abingdon Herald is anything to go by and Fairacres get their planning applications approved, then it’s bye bye Abingdon town centre !
Wake up Chamber of Commerce, Choose Abingdon and Sandy Lovatt, perhaps you should take a leaf out of ABA’s book, they can see the threat looming?
Apparently b&ms going to fair acres if this happens it will kill the town cos better parking and they sell everything . New look has moved but now the first shop you see as you enter the precinct is empty so looks awful .
whats b&ms?
ok everone, you’ll love this, according to B&M’s own web site (check it out) they provide a list of Landlords from whom they lease premises from, one of which is dear old Scotish Widow, leaseholders of the precinct,begs the question “why didn’t Scottish Widow offer B&M one of the new enlarged and empty precinct units?
Will somebody please tell the C of C etc to wake up before its too late??
So B&M would appear to be a ‘woolworth’ like retailer, selling all manner of general stuff.
http://www.bmstores.co.uk/
I’m not surprised they are going to Fairacres, its a much better fit for them than the town centre, especially as we already have a similar shop in ‘Lewis Baker’.
Hardly going to kill the town centre is it… in fact, had they moved in, they probably would have put a ‘local’ shop out of business.
B&M would want a large outlet and the new ones in the precint are too small (apart from Poundland), it’s good to see new names coming to Abingdon though, we just need some to come to the town centre.
They have shops in Cowley Centre and Wantage.
I think the b&m deal is good news – cant really see why all the negativity. The bulk of the stuff they sell is bulky good so not appropriate to high street locations. I understand that pretty much all their other locations are in retail parks like fairacres.
We should be pleased that an empty unit is going to have a tenant rather than moaning about their not being in bury street.
You’re all missing the point !!!!! argh !!!! by removing the restrictions that exists on that development, (see the planning application) opens the flood gates to the big names of the High st, i.e, Next, M&S, etc etc. to open up there instead of where they should be, which is our town centre !!
Iain, what planet are you on? to preserve, enhance and enrich our town centres and their very existence, we should be encouraging every commodity to be available here, it encourages vitality and produces sustainabilty. What do you want, a town where one visits for a coffee and a deli, or a vibrant, all encompassing retail community?
“We should be pleased that an empty unit is going to have a tenant rather than moaning about their not being in bury street” you said, what about all the empty units in the precinct (and town centre) ? it’s not just the fact this company has choosen fairacres over the town centre, it’s the knock=on effect it will have on the other businesses in town by continually chipping away at its livelyhood.
Its not about putting any old retailer in the large unit – its about attracting a retailer that will attract other businesses. They want a mainstream fashion retailer and have apparently rejected offers from other retailers who dont fit that bill.
On the other side, the may brothers arent wanting to turn fairacres into a food park – they are interested in household retailers. That is what b&m are – they also have a small proportion of their offer for impulse purchases which is why they need the change of use (mars bar whilst shopping type of thing) – hardly a floodgate, and i cant see m&s setting up in fairacres any time soon.
What’s the old saying? “there’s none so blind as those who can see”. You said “i cant see m&s setting up in fairacres any time soon”, that really depends on how you define soon? it’s a pretty safe bet one or both of the names mentioned will be there within five years and do you really believe S.W when they say they have rejected approaches by businesses that they consider wouldn’t fit in Bury St? don’t be so naive.
Here’s a challange for you ( I take it you’re councillor Iain Littlejohn) form a sub committee (or better still do it yourself) and wirte to the acquisitions directors of M&S, Next,H&M, John Lewis, River Island, Vodaphone, Robert Dyas,BHS, etc and invite them to set up shop in our town centre and see what response you get? and while you’re at it go and talk to the owner of the sweat shop in Stert St, the guy who only took £17 in a day and ask him what he thinks of the continued exoansion of Fairacres??
sweets and expansion even, oops.
Re post 10 above I wonder why Laura thinks ABA are the only ones seeing the threat looming and that the Chamber and ChAP don’t. I know that both the above are also working their b….s off to try to improve things for retailers in Abingdon, e.g by offering local businesses “pop-up” opportunities at frequent market-place events, promoting them via the Loyalty Card and features in local magazines, e-newsletters, social media promotions – and much more. Who do they think organised the recent extravaganza?
They like ABA are not in a position to decide who comes in to the empty units – but what they can do is help and support existing businesses: if they thrive it will encourage others to come. Businesses deciding whether to come to Abingdon will look at footfall so both ChAP and the Chamber work hard to increase that – and that is where WE have a role to play. If we want to get these new shops in we have to get out and about in town and support the existing ones – and stop knocking those who are trying.
refer to my last post, Hester pop ups are great, trouble is you have to staff them and the main shop and double the costs no extra business…. but good idea, unfortunantly all the effort everyone has put in over the last 3 years to increase footfall has not changed the position most local shops find themselves in. many indepenants taking less than £30 a day during the week. As i said before,
1. no main retails shops to bring peoiple into town
2. poor traffic management
I cant imagine what Jan / feb is going to bring especially after the big xmas spend, looks like the writing is on the wall for Sweet Chocolate in Abingdon, simply cant trade here anymore…..
Laura – i’d be happy to discuss your suggestions. My contact details are on the council website.
I used to work for the retail division of one of the companies you mentioned and i do know a little of how these things work. You’re assuming that conversations arent happening between these companies and scottish widows ( actually its aberdeen asset management but lets not quibble about small matters like who owns the leases 🙂 ), which is not the case.
My view is that the fairacres estate has little or no impact on the issue bury street are facing and frankly brings people into aningdon. I think the issue is much more to do with the link between headline rental rates and asset value for a pension fund – particularly one which was until recently the subject of an acquisition where these things are rather important.
As i say happy to discuss but i’m afraid i may not be the one who is a little blind on this one laura – but always happy to be convinced if i’m missing something.
I’m with Laura on this as I believe that the Town Council should approach the lease-holders with any ideas re. usage of the retail units in the town centre as we’re not convinced that the leaseholder’s ideas are going to work.. In addition, they should stop being so secretive about what’s happening and why as the impression is that they are just allowing outside interests free rein to do what they wish with the town. Laudable though various initiatives have been (and they are), they are not having a sustained systemic effect on the town’s retail environment. The development of Fairacres will further erode the town centre’s ‘gravitational pull’ … I’m sure a shop like Abode isn’t celebrating the potential arrival of household retailers in Fairacres. The town centre needs a critical mass of varied retail offerings to attract business for all … at the moment the council appears to be fiddling while Tesco and Fairacres steal Abingdon’s retail life-blood from under its nose.
Of course, with its proximity to the A34, the development of Tescos and Fairacres might be a good and convenient idea for the future of The Vale … and Abingdon be damned …
We asked for rates reduction so we could continue to employ local people and have a shop open for future . The council said the lack of sales is due to to many shops selling similar items not lack of footfall . They must be blind
What do you sell shop owner?
The council doesn’t set business rates – they just collect them on behalf of the government. It’s easy to blame whoever is on hand, the reality is trading conditions are very difficult – it’s up to lots of different parties to get it right:
– yes the councils (all three of them) need to help encourage and make it easy/attractive for people to come into town
– the landlords need to set rents at a realistic level and help market their shopping areas in the case of the big ones
– the government need to help the wider economy to encourage spending
– the government need to review ratable values of shops to reduce overheads
– consumers need to back their whinges with action and spend their money in the shops they want to keep
– shop keepers need to take some responsibility themselves too, to encourage people to visit their shops and buy stuff (ultimately you have to take responsibility for your own business – i see some great shops in abingdon but also a few who are asleep at the switch – it’s too easy to blame everyone else
I dont mean to be harsh but i have to to run my business and i’m afraid it ultimately falls to me to make it successful and it’s far to easy to blame everyone else when it gets tough
I don’t think Adobe will be worried about B&M, the furniture they sell is cheap, Homebase and Argos may see some reduction as the quality is about the same.
I have not worked out into which unit at Fairacres the new store will move. Is it a vacant unit? (Hopefully none of the existing businesses there is going to close?)
Iain you are complelety out of touch with reality.
Myself like many independant shop owners have tried many ways of attracting footfall, promotions, free samples, discount days, advertising… Lewis Baker are very active in promoting reasons to come into the town, im sure Paul is going to be over the moon people will now have another reason to visit tesco then stay down that end of town and not have to negotiate the traffic for 30 mins to do 1 mile, then buy home wares from B&M.
Reality is no one wants to come into abingdon in the week unless they want Coffee, due to lack of big name brands and traffic.
BTW there will now be another empty Unit on Stert Street come January, you can start to put your spin on why that is now… maybe nobody likes sweets? better Idea, you think you can tough it out, you can buy out my buiness and we can speak in 12 months and you can give me a lesson in how you made so much profit and turned it arround…… in fact you can have it at no cost as an experiment and teach us all what we are doing wrong and give us a lesson in small town economics.
No footfall = no trade…..
Casandra – yes its the empty unit next to subway – used to be occupied by homes and more
Sweet chocolate – the point i was making was that the problem is not just down to councils to solve, its just as much, if not more, to do with landlords, government and the retailers.
I’m afraid i cant take you up on the offer to run a retail business as i’m busy running my own business. I’m sorry you’re having a hard time but i’m afraid i stand by my view.
and i stand by my, its people like you who are so out of touch with reality that have left Abingdon in the state it is in…. all the best in your business – Happy Xmas all
I must agree with sweet chocolate . We tried many things people of Abingdon wanted designer clothes kids clothes cheap clothes men’s clothes etc theses were all ideas from locals but nobody comes to our shop . We have brand new clothes which we buy from a wholesaler that have the same clothes as new look but guess what people go to new look . We do not run a business we just rent a storage facility we pay 15k in rent and 7k in rates and the shop does not take more than 30 quid some days it takes nothing . I opened our shop because there was promises of the town was on the up with new shops etc they were supposed to be open last Christmas and they are not open this Christmas . The council should refuse any more coffee shops we have enough and some will go out of business because of the over flooding of them this will cause more empty units . We need cheaper rent and rates funded by whoever it is can do it because every council passes the buck . I have invested over 70k into shop and it has never broke even since it opened I am a local and many people told me to open in Didcot but I stuck to my own town . The lease on the shop is due to expire in May 2014 and I will not be renewing it . I have been to other towns and they are not struggling as much as Abingdon . Iain I have carried out research to see why our trade is so low .
People say lack of shops too much traffic ,not enough parking , that is no fault of mine or any independent retailer
So thats 2 independant shops Iain saying the same thing, how about you do some research with other Independants and i bet they all say the same as us…
Grant i dont blame you, i know when we spoke earlier this year the situation was the same, i really cant see next year or the year after being any better or the whole situation in Abingdon changing, looks like you only have 4 more months of loosing money to swallow before you too can escape
We could get a Starbucks open on the retail park, would probably clean up!!!
all the best David
Sorry if i’ve offended you – that wasnt my intention.
My point is simply you cant just look to the councils to fix everything for you. Councils dont set your rent or rates. Similarly they dont choose what competition you face. The three councils in abingdon are quite active in promoting events to generate footfall, they’ve already instigated free parking in town and abits was done years ago ( way before i got involved with the council) and can’t be undone. Of course there is more that can be done and ‘people like me’ are the ones who end up trying to do it but you need to do stuff too.
There are loads of very active retailers in abingdon, both independent and multiple, but invariably it’s the same names and faces you see driving activities to increase footfall and it would be lovely to see more people getting involved and in a coordinated way – like last weekend which seemed a good event to me.
I spoke to a guy who owns a business in town and has done for other ten years . He told me five years ago he would take £1000 a day now he takes under £100 . He still offers same products and same service . His local compition in town has closed so he should have more customers but he has not had any increase .
The new town is tesco and fair acres
At tesco and fair acres you can book a holiday get keys cut get paint groceries , free parking , now have a meal , beds , carpet , mobile phones , optician , clothing furniture etc
Soon there will be a salon and then all areas of trade will be covered .
I know how you feel David and the rest of the town feel the same I see the guy in the bookshop is also fed up and ihas lost loads of footfall I saw his comments in Oxford Mail .
I do not want to see the town become a ghost town as I live here but if the council or mayor or mp or whoever does not start doing something the town is finished
I completely empathise with all the traders in Abingdon. I can see it has been tough for the small traders. I don’t live in the town centre, but a 10 minute walk to Oxford Road to catch a bus and I can be in town in 15 minutes (well 30 when the Vineyard is busy!!). The town is much more than just shopping. Each Saturday I come into town to go to lunch with friends or family and then pick up the odd bit of shopping that I want. I know not everyone like’s the demise of the traditional pub, but I love the Nag’s Head, Kings Head and Bell, Brewery Tap, and now the Crown and Thistle has reopened I shall be adding this to my list of haunts. Then you have The Narrows, along with Olives, Salina’s, Limoncello – there are loads of good places to eat. These draw people into town. I love the independent shops and always have a browse round to see if I can find something different from the norm. However, a Next in town would be a real coup. I order most of my Next stuff online, but it would be really handy if I could have it delivered to a shop closeby. I don’t want to go to Oxford or Didcot to pick it up, so I pay £3.99 postage every order. How lovely it would be to come into town, pick up my Next order (or make returns), and whilst I was there go into the smaller shops, have a nice glass of wine in one of our lovely restaurants/pubs and feel relaxed with the world x
Iain no offence taken, just my ppint of view, Abingdon fashion is righ ton th emoney, we used to take 10 times more than we do today 5 years ago, yet today we sell a bigger range and reduced price, get invovled with many local avents and support xmas fayres etc, people are just no coming into town and as you can see from Agnes comments a next would really help, bigger brand shops…
Unfortunatley i have now terminated my lease and will no longer be trading in Abingdon from Jan 2014. As much as i love our shop in Abingdon i cant see a way forward in the next 24 months to make a profit and at the end of the day thats why i started it.
appoligies, for the typos – typing without looking at the screen is dangerous!
I completely agree Agnes C. It was for this kind of relaxed living/shopping experience that I moved to Abingdon. I, too, love all of the places that you go to and I walk into town every day to shop or meet friends etc (even though I live near Tesco and Fairacres. A town centre such as Abingdon’s provides a social centre and a chance to mix in the communitiy, as well as some lovely shops and markets. Not to mention the added attractions of the Market Square activities and the River walks.
It is up to all of us to use the town and its shops to ensure that it remains so.
and it makes
the paper
http://www.heraldseries.co.uk/news/hsabingdonnews/10865432.Fresh_warnings_over_retail_risk_to_town_centre/
another reason to go to didcot…. so Abingdon lacks other small towns again….
http://www.heraldseries.co.uk/news/hsdidcotnews/10852380.Aldi_plans_a_Didcot_store/
Our lease ends in May 2014 we also will terminate . David if your interested in opening a joint shop that sells chocolate and sweets and clothing let me know it will be unique ha ha .
Nobody is going to come to this town if it continues to be in the media for the wrong reason . I will gladly have one of the new units in the precinct how about the council give it to me a local person . They want the units filled I have as much stock as the new look store and have men’s, kids,women’s clothing all brand new and all ranges designer high street all budgets .
i would set up an online shop on ebay or amazon to get your stock sold…. or via a FB shop mate
Abingdon fashion – just to be clear – the council dont own the units in the precinct so cant give them to you or anyone 🙂
Iain the council has no interest in local shops anyway trust me I have spoken and written them .
Re. the Herald article: it’s a shame that Mike Matthews is no longer a councillor as he seems to understand how prospective developments at Fairacres will help further undermine the town centre. Current councillors don’t seem to have a grasp at all. Any loosening of the conditions which apply to Fairacres to accommodate B&M would be a betrayal of efforts to put the town centre on a stronger footing.