From Dave R

Friday, 26 October 2012

Oh dear the dreaded COSTA coffee argument.

But maybe their prices would be lower that the ill-fated Town Hall cafe.
Is the pleasant little shop on Bridge Gate (Fatface) not part of a chain? Boots? Ladbrokes? The Coop?

None of which detract greatly from our uniqueness. Better these than empty shops?

From Dave H

Friday, 26 October 2012

The phrase I very deliberately put in to the initial post was 'for future reference'. The chances of, and for that matter the appetite for changing any of the chain shops we have today in Hebden Bridge may be none existent. But going forward, I just wanted to flag that if the people of the town feel we want to resist the seemingly inevitable, then there is a success story to inspire us. I was in Morpeth, Northumberland recently. A lovely town, but every single shop on the high street was a chain. It was a depressing sight. It could have been any anonymous town in the UK. Would we rather that? Personally, no - I would not. The other point to note is that any profits made from such stores leave the area to the central office (and as we have read recently, that is often off-shore for 'tax efficient' reasons). So chains can quickly lead to significant financial leakage in the area.

From Helen Taylor

Monday, 29 October 2012

Bravo, Dave H. You are so right to highlight this issue. I am uplifted every day by the loveliness and character of Hebden Bridge and feel privileged to live here. This town is a sparkling gem of individuality and independent shops.

I have been astonished to see people periodically writing on this forum that Hebden Bridge is not a town of independents, because we have a Boots, a Coop etc. Have these people never actually been anywhere else? It's true, we have a chain chemist's, a chain betting shop, a chain supermarket, a couple of chain cornershops (Spar etc), and now a Fat Face, plus the charity shops. Thankfully, though, we don't also have chain opticians, chain hairdressers, chain shoe shops, chain women's clothes shops, chain men's clothes shops, chain mobile phone shops, chain baby clothes shops, chain electricals, chain diy, chain coffee shops, chain restaurants, chain pubs, chain garages, chain pet shops, chain stationers, chain book shops, chain newsagents, chain cinema, chain health food shops, chain bakeries, chain toy shops, chain computing shops, chain cycle shops.... These are off the top of my head

From Jason Elliott

Tuesday, 30 October 2012

Well said Helen.

Although it is very important to note that if we don't use them we will lose them.

In Helen's list is "chain electrical shops". We had one (Lords) but we lost it because too many of us went to Currys or wherever and substituted advice and knowledge from a local for the idea of maybe saving a few quid. So now, the nearest we have to an electrical shop is the Co-op chain who sell kettles, tvs and other bits and bobs. With all due respect to the Co-op staff, what do you think they would answer if you asked any of them whether the tv you were thinking of buying could be used as a computer monitor, had a sleep function, was more suitable for movies being LCD rather than plasma, etc etc?

Sure, some of the more esoteric independent shops like Yorkshire Soap or Spirals, do pretty well (IMHO this is substantively helped by the town's visitors) but it is also vital that we take advantage of the specialised knowledge we have here for some of the more mundane things too.

To name but a couple, Colour Yorkshire have just as good, if not better, a range of wallpaper and paints than B&Q, with all kinds of special offers too, and the Pot Stop opposite them sell a wide range of kitchen gear from economy lines to top of the range stuff. In both cases, you're not just buying "products", you're also getting expert knowledge and advice from real people who are part of this economy and this community.

Another great example is Stephen Maskill's butcher's shop on Crown Street were the majority of the meat comes from his own farm. The man can tell you what the animal ate, how long the meat hung, how to cook it best and a whole heap of other very useful and interesting information than is never on the packets you'll find on Tesco's shelves.

Yes we are lucky to have these shops, but just because they don't have TV and poster advertising campaign advertising their latest "Mega Offers" it doesn't mean they don't have plenty of bargains, all served up with plenty of local and expert knowledge.

Plus, and it's big plus, using these shops means your money stays in the valley (and, hey, maybe some of it will even find its way back to you.)

From Dave R

Tuesday, 30 October 2012

"Thankfully, though, we don't also have chain opticians, chain hairdressers, chain shoe shops, chain women's clothes shops, chain men's clothes shops, chain mobile phone shops, chain baby clothes shops, chain electricals, chain diy, chain coffee shops, chain restaurants, chain pubs, chain garages, chain pet shops, chain stationers, chain book shops, chain newsagents, chain cinema, chain health food shops, chain bakeries, chain toy shops, chain computing shops, chain cycle shops.... These are off the top of my head"

Not surprising that we don't have these as we are in fact too small. I personally have travelled widely, and lived in large towns; cities and small rural villages. I settled here for many reasons. The shops were not one of them. In my view, Hebden Bridge is simply not big enough to attract 'too many' clone retailers. But you should be aware that many chains are 'hidden' via the pubco's; newsagents; book shops etc.

From The Book Case

Thursday, 1 November 2012

Not sure what is meant to be implied by the inclusion of 'book shops' among the retailers that are 'hidden' chain outlets! However, for the avoidance of doubt, The Book Case is a truly independent shop, and not a front for a multinational megacorporation!