howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
the run up to christmas seems to be dead in dover, only the forum do and the christmas lights turn on to cheer things up.
i took these shots between 1.30 and 2 p.m. today and they tell a sad story.
unless people are saving their shopping for the last minute we can only assume that people have spent their money in canterbury or the internet.
Guest 717- Registered: 16 Jun 2011
- Posts: 468
No surprises here, can you honestly say you can get everything you want to get for Xmas presents in Dover? Canterbury, Ashford and Westwood too close for ease of Xmas shop burden all in one go!
Keeps politics to myself
Jan Higgins
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 5 Jul 2010
- Posts: 13,895
The town is usually quiet between 12.00 and 2.00, we were very busy this morning with lots of people around.
The shopping area is moving inland from Pencester as there is nothing to draw people to the Market Square, I know I seldom go further than Holland and Barrett.
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I try to be neutral and polite but it is hard and getting even more difficult at times.
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howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
there must be a few workers on their lunch break at those times though, greigs and rooks were doing great business but argos and boots - both logical for christmas gift shopping were mostly empty.
helen is saying what i hear a lot, people like to do their gift shopping in one hit so other towns or outlets have more appeal.
some of the shops could make more effort at being festive.
Guest 665- Registered: 24 Mar 2008
- Posts: 345
I am planning to do all mine in the town later this week
Brian Dixon
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 23 Sep 2008
- Posts: 23,940
it was very quite up at tescos this afternoon,with only 5 maned tills working.
I think Ive split my shopping pretty equally between Dover, Internet and the McArthur Glen outlet centre , I have a few smaller gifts and the food to get and they will all be bought in Dover
Christmas does seem to have brought flocks of traffic wardens swooping around. That can be off putting.............
Guest 640- Registered: 21 Apr 2007
- Posts: 7,819
I set off for a marathon shop yesterday..forced at gunpoint to go at all...and went to Westward Cross. I had only ever been there once before. It was a freezing day, and whatever way the place is laid out overthere..it acts as a fierce wind funnel..so every time you stuck your gob outside one shop you were in the teeth of a shivering gale until you shuffled into another. Shopping is totally traumatising at the best of times so this handicapped approach doesnt help. My feeling at this juncture is that they should have put a roof on it!!
It was NOT crowded over there either..am reminded of this as i gaze at Howards pictures above ( which are a bit of a Dover Christmas shocker if the truth be told) and as ever..a picture says a thousand words.
The carpark at Westward Cross was quite full from early on and remained so, so where all the people were was baffling to me..unless they were just spread thinly across the huge amount of shops. The carpark was of course FREE so no charge there...a great help. Mary Portas called for this yesterday in her meeting with the Prime Minister..."free parking is essential in the centre of towns now if they are to survive"..said she.
Councils wont like that one....but people are handicapped before they start by a £4 or £5 surcharge if they want to shop in a town. This would pay some peoples food bill for a week!!
But overall perhaps the austerity is kicking in. Already on show were bargains...50% off shoes..30% off womens make up perfume stuff etc etc. The shops are trying to fight back but I think Howards pictures tell the tale of the moment, unless there is a late surge it could be a bleaker Christmas than in previous years.
And you are right - shopping is a deadly occupation. I know many people like it, even enjoy it, but I would rather inhale my own eyeballs. Brave man PaulB, to brave the wintry shopping mall.......
Jan Higgins- Location: Dover
- Registered: 5 Jul 2010
- Posts: 13,895
Except for one item which came from Comet I have done and will do the remainder of my Christmas shopping in Dover. Last year was the same but I do buy things all year for Christmas and birthday presents as and when I see them then hide them away until they need wrapping.
Maybe I am lucky or is it that my family and friends are less fussy and demanding than so many.
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I try to be neutral and polite but it is hard and getting even more difficult at times.
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howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
paul mentions the wind tunnel effect at westwood cross, the same applies at the newish folkestone centre.
that is a covered mall, but winter or summer as soon as you set foot in it the wind kicks up.
if westwood was not that busy then it suggests that the internet is taking a larger hold on things, which does not bode well for the high st.
ms portas was saying the other day that some high streets are already finished.
Guest 653- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 10,540
Those photos do indeed tell a strong and sad story.
It was very interesting to read (much of) Mary Portas' report.
Town Centres need help - help with business rent and rates, help with marketing and promoting the shops, cafes restaurants and pubs. Towns need to be cleaner, smarter and more welcoming.
Car-parking costs are an issue, but not unsolvable - a simple system could be created to reduce the costs to the shoppers to encourage them to shop in their local Town - I have such a system worke out already.
I will say once again (sorry for the broken record) that there needs to be a full time employed person to co-ordinate initiatives and projects and move the Town forward (as per the article in the Express two or three weeks ago).
The salary and related costs need to be funded by the major stakeholders and if enough money is paid in (DTC, DDC, DHB for example), more initiatves can be brought to fruition. It also needs to be a membership type of body to give it a strong voice and of course create greater funds for further initiatves.
I accept that I have upset DTC in some way, also they do not agree with how Dover can move forward and so I would never be given the job, but that doesn't mean that I am wrong to say how Dover can realise its full potential.
More local people need to know that they can buy virtually all they need in Town, but acceptance is made that more and more is bought on the internet and that at the moment, we do not have the range of shops where everything can be bought here; what we need to do is create the (business) environment where people - perhaps the entrepreneurs we need, will feel that a greater range of shops can open - but the shops (and pubs, cafes and restaurants) we have, need to be supported in teh meantime.
Roger
Jan Higgins- Location: Dover
- Registered: 5 Jul 2010
- Posts: 13,895
I am beginning to believe the reason Dover has so few empty shops, in comparison with other areas, is that we do not have and have not really had the large multiple stores that have gone to the malls in other towns.
Mary also said that places like gyms should be in the high street to get people into the area, which is a good idea as it also means those without a car are catered for.
I have to disagree with Roger about the range of shops, the only shop that our shopping area badly needs is a good hardware shop like Wilkinsons.
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I try to be neutral and polite but it is hard and getting even more difficult at times.
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howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
rather surprised that wilkinsons don't seem interested in coming here, b & q moving to whitfield certainly left them with an opening.
Guest 656- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 2,262
Shopping with PaulB for Christmas presents is no picnic, believe me, and not to be taken on by the feeble among us! Having forcibly prised him away from the computer screen, we make our way to Westwood Cross and upon arriving there, its moan, moan, moan as we battle our way through the winds sweeping around every corner we encounter. We start with Debenhams and after a half hour or so we have to go and have a cup of tea and some breakfast. We make a mental list of presents he may like to purchase and then head towards M&S. A short while later we must have a drink, thank goodness there are no pubs there so we head to their restaurant for some juice. More mental lists made we head off again, more shops but then he is seduced by an advertisement for hot creamy Latte's so we head into Costa. Finally back to Debenhams, a quick run around a few more shops and hey presto! its done. Phew! Men!
Guest 640- Registered: 21 Apr 2007
- Posts: 7,819
Shock!
and there was I thinking I was a model shopper...!!
Sadly I have to do a wee bit of further shopping...with four wimmin to buy for what can ye do! So will be heading to Canterbury early morning in the next couple of days. Its almost a racing certainty that Canterbury will be packed to the rafters. Even when its not Christmas its packed to the rafters, so is very likely this time to be super packed with Christmas fast approaching.
Why is it so successful in Canterbury?? why do we go there?? after all we still have to pay to park and so on. Not being an expert shopper.. but its all down to the quality of the shops I would suggest. Flagship Marks and Spencer which bears no relation ( or hardly any ) to the one in Dover...and that other big one Fenwicks..and is there a Debenhams and of course there are many others. Its very tricky buying stuff for females and these big shops have all the glamour stuff required and you can get all required in one fell swoop.
There is also that buoyant atmosphere that makes you feel that you are taking part in something..ie Christmas this time around. Of course in general terms women are much more comfortable shopping and are even addicted to it. So having just two or three shops in Dover doesnt satisfy the needed fix for females. You just get that..."okay we have done the three shops what do we do now " look.
Jan Higgins- Location: Dover
- Registered: 5 Jul 2010
- Posts: 13,895
I must have the shopping gene missing.
I hate shopping and even the thought of wandering around shops is even to bring me out in a cold sweat and searching to find an excuse not to go. Having been dragged to Westwood Cross by my daughter a few years ago I vowed never to go again, the same goes for Bluewater.
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I try to be neutral and polite but it is hard and getting even more difficult at times.
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Guest 653- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 10,540
I did say you can buy virtually anything Jan, but I do agree that there isn't a hardware shop in the Town Centre, although there is "Stuff" in London Road, which sells all sorts of hardware type of things and the Paint shop further down in London Road has a good range of decorating materials, including wall-papers and borders etc.
There isn't a baby/toddler shop in Town either and yet there's always babies being born.
If the Town is "managed" properly and it creates the financial and business environment where people will open up a shop, we may well have those in the Town Centre Jan, then you may well get your hardware shop.
Roger
Jan, as soon as my daughters say words like Westwood Cross, Bluewater and Lakeside I start to hear the music from the shower scene in Psycho..............step away from the shopping mall.......
