I see the Factory shop on the old Woolworth's site is open, it appears to be very busy and I hope it continues (I really don't wish any shop ill in the current climate) and with a bit of luck it will be able to co-exist with its neighbour Allsorts (hope I've spelt that correctly) who I have found to be exceptionally useful. I suspect that a lot of families will welcome somewhere other than M&S offering children's clothes and shoes.
A big plus of shops such as these is that they actually attract people into the town and that's desperately important. There is a hard core of locals who love to bang on about the wonderful range of independent shops in Dorking and how vital they are; that's fine and like others I value these independents but I also recognise that unless the number of people using the town increases dramatically these independents will be forced to close...no shoppers, no shops. It's really that simple.
Pepin
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I really don't wish any shop ill in the current climate
ReplyDeleteWhat about if our high street was booming?
Is this a chain of stores or a one-off, does anyone know? It's nice to see a Woolworths type shop back.
Myrtle Turtle.
It's part of a chain.
ReplyDeleteIf our High Street were booming I doubt the factory shop would have been in the old Woolworth store, the rent would have been too high. Sadly property owners will are desparate for tenants - though that's not knocking the factory shop, I'm very pleased to see them there instead of an empty shop.
Pepin
As a neutral observer, it seems to me that the landlord/tenant/rent relationship is a good example of market forces working well. For too long, we have had shops that come to Dorking and fail within a short period. The word is that landlords have unrealistically high expectations of the level of rents they can expect here. The result is empty shops. the solution? Lower the rents.
ReplyDeleteIt seems so simple to me as to be obvious. If there are empty units, potential tenants have the whip hand. If the town is so desirable for shop-keepers, then commercial property will attract higher-level rents. Unhappily, I rather think Dorking falls into the first category and unless landlords are prepared to accept lower rent level, everybody loses out.
Just my opinion...