The scaffolding came down on Monday revealing the new look to the flats above 13-17 Stert Street.
I thought it a crime that one of Abingdon’s best window displays was half hidden behind the scaffold for so long. But now their Easter display can be seen.
A few doors up, at number 27 Stert Street, there is another Easter display but you will have to wait two days to buy one of their filled pinatas. It is now a Saturday sweet shop.
Sweet Chocolate are open Thursday, Friday and Saturday this week!!!!!
See their Facebook page!
Have a look at these shops in fact have a look in there they are great . I have said many times if we dont start using these independent shops soon they will close and be empty . Many people are still avoiding the town because there are no big retailers like witney ,Didcot ,wantage . Halfords left Cargo left also toy shop etc etc I actually speak to these shop owners and their taking are around £20 per day they are closing at lunch times and laying off staff because of rent and rates and no takings . You all moan on here saying i am running the town down go and talk to the independents and ask how much they are taking and then see how great things are
Talk about baiting moody man; do you enjoy having arguments on here?
I don’t think people are avoiding the town at all, i think the issue is that a lot of the independent shops cater for a very niche market, as much as i enjoy shops like Sweet Chocolate and Beyond Bubbles (sorry to single you out, i can’t think of more examples right now) neither sell your everyday items. in fact most of our independents cater to a small market.
Now if you talk to independents like Prices Stationary, Mostly Books, Fabulous Flowers, Patisserie Pascal, Outdoor Traders, Abingdon Sports; they will probably tell a different story. all of these sell items that the big boys sell, but all of these are doing fairly/very well.
I think the issue is that everyone seems to think that a if a shop closes it’s because of the financial climate, i think it’s time we stop and think ‘Maybe it was because they sold stuff that people don’t need?
chris so what you are saying then nobody in town eats sweets or uses soap . Sweet chocolate are suffering because of the mega stores everyone flocks to like poundland and Tesco . When you buy sweets in Tesco how much goes to the uk government compared to when you spend it in sweet chocolate . There is no market for the little guy even the ones you mentioned they will fizzle out . I am not arguing i am trying to get peoples attention that our town is slowly dying .
but your wrong, what i’m saying is that sweet chocolate and beyond bubbles do luxury products, niche products, things you buy as a treat or for a present, you don’t go round a supermarket and go, ‘oh no i wont buy this pack of shower gel, i’ll go to beyond bubbles and buy a strawberry bath bomb’ but you might go, ‘oh actually i won’t go to lush, i’ll use my local’. and the same with sweet chocolate.
How ever people will go to fabulous flowers for a bunch rather then waitrose, because they are better and unique, people will go to outdoor traders rather then halfords because you get a better service and they know more, people will go to patisserie pascal rather then tesco bakery because the products aren’t just flash cooked from frozen and so on and so on,
So with the greatest respect…. you’re wrong,
The towns not dying, it’s on the verge of a massive resurgence, just look at the change in the towns pub culture since the nags and the broadface reopened, i’ve never seen all the pubs in town so busy!
Chris you are dreaming thinking any of these shops are busy and making profit . The only places that are busy are food and drink places as people will rather buy beer than pay the rent . You must have a hearing aid or you are blind walk through the town it is dead and everybody is saying it . Sure it might be redeveloped but it has been the biggest wate of time and money ever it was better how it was as the result of the redevelopment has lost some loved shops and people . Poundland are doing plants and flowers and tesco cheaper and that is all that matters to people you say pubs are busy wait till weatherspoons opens they will shut around 4 pubs within a year as they will undercut food and beer .
Moody man, i reckon that everytime you repeat what’s been said by others before and you say such negative things about Abingdon, i reckon that at least one person somewhere decides to not come to Abingdon. So in your own way you aren’t necessarily being that helpful.
You are clearly passionate about the town in which you choose to live, but why continue to be part of the problem…what are you doing to be part of the solution?
Personally i’m probably one of the few people who’s actually interested in what you have to say (although unfortunately that’s a fat lot of good as i’m a nobody), but i am sure your points would have more credibility if you were able to counter your fierce glee in all things you perceive bad about the town….if you were able to list some good things about the town.
Do you have 5 positive things you can say abour the town?
A little less Gollum, and a little more Smeagel, perhaps?
Once again moody man (or is it steve?) your wrong. I think you will find the shops I mention are making a profit, I use them all regularly and there are always people in them, maybe if you take of the negative blinkers you might see that.
I’m sure people are saying the towns dying but that’s only because negativity breads negativity, I’m sure if you started a conversation by saying something positive about town you would probably get something positive back.
Now as for losing some loved shops, as far as I can tell we’ve only lost the lemon plaice and Abingdon news plus. Yes the lemon plaice did a nice fish and chips, but there is still smarts and I’m not sure anyone would describe the newsagents as loved. And as for losing people, I’m not sure anyone died building the new units, but I could be wrong.
And finally if you do a little bit of research online you will actually find (much to your dismay I’m sure) that a whetherspoons can actually bring more custom to a town, as I said earlier, it may have the same effect as the nags and broad face.
Luckily most followers of this blog – certainly these long exchanges – have already made up their minds about the town, so negative stuff here may not have so much effect, but just to pick up a few of the points made above:
– those of us who post positive comments are not blind and deaf – we know perfectly well that not everything is rosy, but want to make sure that the good things we do have get all the publicity we can give them
– moaning on blogs isn’t the way to solve problems – ways to do that include direct lobbying of those who make decisions, offering practical help as a volunteer for one of the groups doing things around town, bringing friends and family into town to see the good bits – and using your vote at all elections for whichever party YOU believe can create a better economic environment for our traders.
– believe it or not, this isn’t just an Abingdon problem – high streets all over the country are having to reinvent themselves – there are no easy answers and there will inevitably be pain along the way – but it is insulting to imply that no-one is trying to do anything about it.
– to be successful we need a mix – Poundland AND Sweet Chocolate, WH Smith AND Prices – something for all of our 35000 people, not just one end of the market or the other.
– there are lots of events coming up in town in April – check out one of the events diaries, tell your friends who don’t normally come into town about those that might interest them and encourage them to call in to a shop or cafe while they are here..
– and finally, remarks about people buying beer instead of paying the rent are offensive and pandering to cheap newspaper stereotypes. There is a lot of real poverty in this town.
I went to town today as it is good friday and i am off work 90 % of shops are shut and the car parks are empty and town is dead . However there is a lot of traffic this is people going to where shops are open and there is something to do and buy . Also Qs is up for let but stay positive people also in regards to saying why dont i put my points to people that matter if the councils do not listen to the shop owners what good will i do .
Ok – gloves off Moodyman – that is just untrue.
I was also in town this morning, most of the shops ARE open. i agree that there weren ‘t masses of people around, but that is probably because like me they hadn’t expected the shops to be open on a public holiday. (Lesson to be learned there re communications, shopkeepers?) However there were quite a number around, families out for a stroll, relaxing and hopefully enjoying themselves – if they spent some money so much the better, but if they enjoyed themselves they ‘ll be back.
And the car park I was in was full!
Hester what car park was you in was by a supermarket by any chance ? Anyway how the shops look today is how they will look forever soon Closed !!!!!! Support your town not out of town
We are open today also the sun is out .so happy days . Next week our shop sign will be up ABINGDON FASHION named after this lovely town .
Wow, I honestly think you’ve lost it today moody man, most shops operate reduced hours on a bank holidays, I don’t think any shops were closed today, certainly not the ones in the precinct, most opened 10-4 which is the norm,
I think it’s time you stopped posting on these sites, they appear to make you a little bit ill
more shut than open son
I saw workmen doing something to the upper windows on one of the big units in the precinct during the week. Is something happening at last?
Hester-Any local politician who promises and can deliver a diamond junction at Lodge Hill and sort out the traffic in the town centre would get my vote. People would come back to the town if it is accessible.
well said shell suit
Shell suit – those are both County Council issues: all County Council seats are up for re-election on 2 May so this is an ideal time for you to raise this issue with the candidates for your area – or at least read their literature to see what they say.
As a side note, I tried the newly opened double fronted coffee shop opposite the Black Swan on Wednesday. It’s run by Michael, a Lebanese gentlemen. I sat in there for 45 minutes and had lunch and watched his inter-action with customers coming into the shop. I don’t think I’ve seen a more proactive owner for a long time. I for one will certainly be supporting his new venture and look forward to his new ideas that he took pride in discussing with me. You can keep your Costas and Starbucks I’d rather support those brave enough to go it alone and reopen these empty buildings.
They we’re putting a second coat of paint on the unit shell suit.
Just back from my trip into town centre this morning and its very busy. The local excellence market – run by choose abingdon together with the chamber of commerce seems to be doing a good trade.
I went into 4 shops and there were queues in all of them.
Shell suits comments on diamond interchange are interesting. As Hester says it is a matter for OCC. i’dbeware any local politician definitively promising it. The vast majority of Abingdon politicians across all three parties support tge idea of a diamond interchange and a second river crossing. The costs are approx £15 and £20m respectively. Abingdon has 3 out of approx 50 seats and as such will always struggle to make this argument against other cheaper schemes impacting other parts of the county.
I don’t mean they shouldn’t keep trying (and I know they all do) – I just think you need to be realistic in your expectations here
Iain – £15 sounds good value for the diamond interchange – I’ll pay for that!
For £15 it would probably be a cubic zirconium interchange
We will officially take over from Ybuynu in 6 weeks and will only stock new clothes . Hope to see you all have a lovely Easter .
@Abingdon Fashion will you be taking in peoples items like Ybuynu did and gear change ?
Hi Moody man We will only stock new items sadly Ybuynu did not work it was a good idea but they did not make any money doing it as customers brought their clothes into Ybuynu shop to sell but did not want to buy . Maybe this happend to Gear Change i have heard of other shops doing this system in Henley and Oxford but it does not work in Abingdon .
Hi Moody man We will only stock new items sadly Ybuynu did not work it was a good idea but they did not make any money doing it as customers brought their clothes into Ybuynu shop to sell but did not want to buy . Maybe this happened to Gear Change i have heard of other shops doing this system in Henley and Oxford but it does not work in Abingdon
ha ha sorry Moody Man i stole your name for a second when i meant to write to you i put your name in where our name was supposed to go please dont sue ha ha
Re: Spike’s comment (no 19). I. too, really enjoy going into the new cafe in Bath Street (Salinas). The proprietors and the staff are really welcoming and have great customer service skills. The coffee and food are fantastic too! I hope everyone will go in and support this new addition to the town.
@abindon fashion no problem
I agree with Hester’s comments above.
I know not everything is rosy in Abingdon but I also know that we have a lot of traders that deserve support and encouragement and a lot of other people, including councillors of all parties and many community minded people like Hester.
It is possible to be positive about the good things while acknowledging, and sometimes campaigning about, the bad.
@Shell Suit – Iain is right that any County Council candidate that promises that they can deliver a full interchange at Lodge Hill is having you on.
What they can do is campaign actively and noisily for it, and the first stage of that campaign is to get it put back into the County Transport Plan – it was taken out about three years ago. In this respcet Abingdon has been treated quite badly compared to Banbury and Bicester for example.
It is worth noting, though, that Wallingford campaigned for decades to get their bypass, and they got it in the end, and they have only ever had one County Councillor out of 70 odd.
@Spike – Michael set up the original Salinas, which is now The Lemon Grove, and it was our favourite restaurant in Abingdon while he ran it.
He was always friendly and always made us feel very welcome whether we went out as a couple or with our youngsters.
He then set up Salinas II in Didcot and I’m delighted that he’s now back here too.
Will definitely have to try Salinas now that so many of you have recommended it. At the moment I’ve been enjoying the tea at Throwing Buns and Buns in the Basement.
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