#1
Just to let you all know that Evans Clothes store is to close its doors in September.
I am gutted, as I like to go and visit and purchase many a garment, so now I am being forced out of town to visit one of my favourite clothes store I can either go to Folkestone or Westwood lucky me. Plus the girls in the shops have to go and find themselves another job, one of the girls has been there 17 years, I hope they find somewhere soon.
I read on another thread that they are thinking of building new homes, tell them to hang on, they can have loads of them throughout the centre of town, if these shops keep moving out.
Terri
Guest 640- Registered: 21 Apr 2007
- Posts: 7,819
#2
Well thats another blow Terri. That shop has clearly been trading on the spot for a long time. It was certainly here when I moved here and didnt look like a new arrival then, which I suppose must be 9 or 10 years ago now.
I wonder if business has just fallen away. Why should a shop that has been here for so long suddenly wish to cease trading. Has demand for its goods gone away. I know from 'personal research' that many local women simply go to Canterbury now where they have enough shops to...'shop til they drop'
..what is there..two shops for the female shopper in central Dover..its not enough to draw-in the casual female shopper.
#3
It's an absolute retail desert, poor old Dubris.
Dying on its feet, as it has been for the past 20 years - except the pace of the town centre's decline is now much quicker and ever-more alarming. Something must be done before the entire place is boarded up, enabling the town's powerbrokers' wicked masterplan to come to fruition and turn the whole lot into Europe's largest lorry park.
And no, I'm not some unhinged conspiracy theorist. I just tell it how it is and how I see it.
Cheers,
Andy
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
#4
i hope that you are wrong andrew!!
seems strange that as soon as we have new places opening others seem to close.
we now have costa coffee, aminas, subway, and salle verte or whatever all close together, then we take a look in the charlton centre and it looks like one of those films about life after a nuclear holocaust.
i notice that we seem to have a lot of pet shops plus other shops selling that sort of stuff.
amazes me how they survive, but they do.
i try to spend as much as possible in town, but have to go to canterbury to buy clothes or footwear.
#5
Quick - call a businessman!!!!!!! That'll stop the rot...........
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
#6
i know just the man!!
on a serious note, i vote for dover with my wallet as much as i can.
if i am in folkestone or canterbury or another god forsaken place, if i fancy a bacon sandwich or a coffee, i try to last out for the time it will take to get back to dover.
#7
Snap - those who can, support Dover. It's as important as sharing our ideas......
Guest 653- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 10,540
#8
I couldn't agree more - if we don't shop in Dover, we won't have shops to shop in.
With the Loyalty Scheme, I work as hard as anyone to promote the businesses and the Town, but some people just go outside because they think they can't buy what they're after here - which in most cases is just not true.
The Loyalty Card allows all sorts of discounts in all sorts of shops, pubs, restaurants and cafe's, but many card-holders simply don't present the card or ask for their discount, so the business owner doesn't know that the shopper could well have seen about them from one of our adverts.
It's an uphill struggle, but we have around 50 businesses, who are members, so lots of choices.
I'll look out the most recent emails I've sent out "blind" to our card-holders - at least those with email addresses.
It's a great way to get in touch with over 500 people in a very short space of time - for FREE.
Roger
Guest 645- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 4,463
#9
Roger
I always try to shop,eat and drink in Dover.If I want anything special then I go elsewhere.But why oh why were Tesco's allowed to open a superstore in Whitfield without opening a Tesco Express in Dover's High St. therefore putting something back into the community and helping the aged and single mothers that could not cope with the trip to Whitfield
The free bus has also ceased and please do not tell me that tesco's are short of cash.
Marek
I think therefore I am (not a Tory supporter)
DT1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 15 Apr 2008
- Posts: 1,116
#10
I think 'Tesco Express' is a relatively new thing Marek, something Tesco have created to cripple the last of the small retailers left in towns after the surge of out of town car culture shopping.
Of course there used to be one on the High Street before Tesco started to take over the country! Marek, I'm surprised you speak about Tesco as if they care about communities!
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
#11
i agree with mr ddt here, tesco have found out that there is still a few more pence that they are not getting.
it is just pure greed, they are wiping out the last of the corners shops now, shoe repairers, bakers, butchers and green grocers have mostly been wiped out.
what chance is there for someone to work their way up the ladder in a butchers shop for example, learning a useful skill?
they will can never aspire to opening their own small enterprise.
we have seen the demise of some post offices, the one in bench street provided a social life for a lot of lonely, older citizens.
i suppose it is all down to market forces!!
Guest 651- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 5,673
#12
There was a Tesco in Dover - it was where Dorothy Perkins now is !!!
Been nice knowing you :)
Guest 653- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 10,540
#13
We do need to try to breathe new life into Dover and its businesses; we also need to smarten up a lot of the scruffy buildings that are owned by absent landlords, so the Town starts to look cared for.
Tyrone, the Town's cleaner/sweeper has got to be one of the most conscientious town litter-men and always doing his best, but it difficult to keep up when there is such a distinct lack of pride or care amongst a lot of people.
We also need to make sure that whoever lives in the flats above the shops where those flats are "managed" by housing associations (and private rented accommodation), that the tenants are going to be decent ones and behave themselves, not like some recently in Cannon St.
Every town has empty shops, but I'm sure they aren't allowed to be left in the state that ours are left in; we need to tighten up on those too.
Support the shops, support Dover and help keep Dover "open".
Roger
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
#14
i agree with you about tyrone, roger, he is almost fanatical in his job.
when he goes on holiday, we all notice the difference.
moving on to the run-down shops, a lot are owned by dover municipal charities, they seem to play their cards very close to their chest, when someone enquires about the state of them.
Guest 641- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 2,335
#15
I remember a Tesco Express opening in Cheam at least 13 years ago and it didn't take any business away from the town, in fact it brought more in as people would stop, park in the village and shop around. I'm all for more choices I'm sure we could stand a few supermarkets as most towns can as long as they are in the centre and not on the outskirts of town.
Guest 653- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 10,540
#16
Municipal Charities own a lot less commercial buildings now than they used to. The main ones were/are Castle Street, Cannon Street and London Road, but obviously they can't sell them all at once as the price would go through the floor.
These closed shops could have blown-up photos of our historic sites and attractions in the window (the inside of course); this would make them much less scruffy and be informative at teh same time - I'm sure not everyone here knows of our sites and attractions - but who would pay for these blown up photos - the owners ? perhaps they could be, if they don't keep their shop front neat, clean and tidy - civic responsibility !
Roger
#17
A lovely old fashioned phrase there Roger, and one I wish would come back into fashion!!!!!
Guest 674- Registered: 25 Jun 2008
- Posts: 3,391
#18
Roger
cor this debate could go on, how about house owners, council and private doing the same? wha a difference it would make.
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
#19
usually, the magic words"compulsory purchase order" seems to have a promt, if not immediate effect.
i can think of quite a few properties in the folkestone road and surrounds, where the residents have such low standards,
they may even be better off moving into the gutters.
might make the houses look a bit tidier.
#20
The seagulls would have to budge up a bit though........