Good to see Paul Viney again. The studio may have closed but Paul Viney Photography lives on. He and other local businesses were on the Market Place.
Java & Co moved from one side of the Market Place to centre stage for the day …
A little further out from the centre, Trinity Church had a Summer Fair. Ice creams were 50p and they still made money for good causes.
Further still, Peachcroft Christian Centre were celebrating their 25th anniversary. More celebrations with a big church service followed by a pig roast tomorrow.
Kingfisher School had a fete. Abingdon Fire Service were there, as were lots of fun stalls and Peppa the Pig.
Back in the town centre Ruby’s Retro Fair was on. You may have seen people in retro clothes with retro hair cuts.
Ruby will be back on September 14th. Maybe next time I will buy that chip cutter, cake tin, and sieve – remembered from childhood.
Colin I agree with you but how can the night time economy be declining . The people on here state the pubs are trading well they must be dreaming . The shops are also doing well that is why Skinny Hippo is now closed and Qs is to follow . I have spoken to an letting agent today and he said he advises people not to open a shop in this town as it is going downhill and to look to Didcot . I went to a independent shop today at 3pm and asked how they was doing and that had made £0 . This council better start subsidising these businesses or this town will be a Ghost town next year .
@Moody man I can tell you as a shop owner this town is already dead and running a shop here is an expensive hobby you can not make a living . The councils will not help any shop with rates rent etc you are wasting your time even saying that . The town is already dead that is why the big new units are still empty what the council should do is forget the new units and concentrate on the traders here who can not afford to stay open .
Shops dead , pubs dead , taxi ranks dead , keep up the good work and support .
Quite honestly the most successful businesses identify trends and go with them. Society has changed. Most people work out of town and want to shop quickly. Didcot is successful because it has a large car park with 2 hours free, a supermarket and time to pop into the other shops if needed. It also has a cinema and restaurants. Abingdon has seen many housing developments but as shopping habits have changed most people want to have everything in one place to save time. As I see it the only way foward is for Abingdon to have niche shops, events and entertainment to bring people into the centre.
What struck me from visiting Saturday’s event – and the wonderful Local Excellence Markets** – is the trend for small businesses not to have a High Street presence, but to work from home, using the Internet and – crucially – markets etc to get the face- to – face contact. Recent local examples are Beyond Bubbles, Paul Viney and Skinny Hippo – but there are others who also operate without a traditional shopfront – Blue Door Lettings, Hedges Butcher – – I am sure there are more.
While we may bemoan the circumstances which have led them to do this, and look to find someone to blame, perhaps we should recognise that things do change – and actually, being able to see the goods on a Saturday when more people are off work, but buy them online when it suits us is a pretty good combination. The Local Excellence Markets were set up to help this and Choose Abingdon are still looking into the possibility of creating a “hub” for small businesses to use – but in the end none of it will work if we don’t buy the goods – so lets do our bit .
** PS next Local Excellence Market is Saturday 29 June – and there will be a Craft Market next Saturday and Farmers Market on Friday 21st
removed some comments from here as they were to do with a court case so there may be some discontinuity.