Looks like Waterlooville will have yet another 'cafe', this time in the shape of Subway. The corner shop property under the clock tower building has morphed from shoe shop to motorbike shop, to gift shop and now Subway.
Meanwhile the Stationary Store near the library has closed down.
The big retailers dotted around the borders of Waterlooville town centre have drawn people away from the centres shops. This results in limited options for occupancy in the centres small retail units. Large retail units such as Brantanos, have resulted in the closure of the smaller shoe shops. One wonders what logic the 'officers' and councillors of Havant Borough Council apply when they approve the big retail developments.
So there is a culture at Havant Borough Council that is resistant to new thinking in the built environment.The result is a gradual transformation of the centre into a charity shop and cafe haven.
Recently the towns small retailers were calling for council help in the down turn. To make up for the council approving big retail park developments, HBC and other councils are now being asked for compensation/subsidies from small retail businesses! Whose fault is that?
26 comments:
Actually I've been thinking for a long time that Waterlooville has been crying out for a Subway franchise to open up.
I think they've made a mistake with the that location - it's too far away from the other shops. Plus the timing is not great given the current economic climate.
Anyway, it could have been worse - it could have been a KFC!
I'm having problems leaving comments on your blog Steve??
I try and leave a comment and not a lot happens.
What are you talking about?. Exactly how many shoe shops closed as a result of Brantano opening? Waterlooville is well served with shoe shops - Goodacre's, Stead & Simpson, Clarks, ShoeZone, plus Asda.
Re Anonymous.
Shoe shops was an example just off the top of my head.
Asda is not a small independent business.
I was only aware of 3 shoe shops. The problem is that the smaller shops such as Shoezone are forced to take cheap brand shoes in order to compete with the likes of Brantanos, who can sell brand names at low prices because they get a better deal from suppliers/manufacturers.
The fact is the big corporates suck business away from tradition shopping streets. The new Subway is located where a shoe shop did business for many years.
Hmm - now sure why you can't leave a message - I've just tested it and it seems okay - sorry!
As a child all my Clarks shoes were bought in the current shop :)
All our boy's shoes have been purchased there - not the cheapest and I have no complaints.
I think the point 'the ville' was making is that local businesses bring an element of charm to a highstreet. they give the town a more unique feel and could be something to be proud of.
I think its a great shame that subway are moving in. It highlights the fact that we are drawing ever closer to a situation where every highstreet looks near enough identicle.
what would be the point of going to any city or town if it offers exactly what your local town offers?
Whats also tedious is that certain chains seems to bunch together no matter which highstreet your in. Compare Portsmouth and Southampton highstreets: HMV are normally seen near Virgin Megastores (or zavvi whatever its called now), Woolworths and WHSmith are always within sight of each other, Banks all inhabit the same areas, New look, top shop, etc etc the list goes on
it's monotonous!
by the way waterlooville could do with a decent mens clothing shop in my opinion
Danners
apologies if this wasn't the point you were making Ville
Danners,
Agree with the mens clothes issue!
Yes all high streets are looking the same. But the main issue with me is the 'warehouses' around the borders of the original Waterlooville shopping area.
They are: Wickes, Brantano, Asda, Argos, Matalan, JJB Sports, Halfords etc.
Basically they are all dependent on car use because of their size and they draw people away from the shops that would have sold similar goods in Waterlooville centre.
In fact there is a Portsmouth University report in Waterlooville library that dates back to about 1969, about Asda, and even back then 60% of its customers used a car.
Another example is Tescos. They had a store where Peacocks is now. But they said it was to small and built a bigger one further away. Basically they scaled up and then expect people to travel further, practically expecting people to own a car as a consequence.
The thing is, if you live near these stores, then you wonder what the fuss is about. But that just masks the business 'plans' that these corporates have, which assumes a wider catchment area.
On the issue of Clarks shoes, they moved production to Asia many years ago.
Interestingly one of Clarks designers started up 'Worn Again' which uses recycled materials to produce footwear and bags:
http://www.wornagain.co.uk
They are good quality to!
Worn Again moved production to Portugal recently, reducing the 'shoe miles'.
Apologies if I missed the point :)
I normally walk into town and only take the car if I have something heavy to bring back.
I hardly go shopping to be honest - if I need something, Waterlooville generally doesn't have it at a good price (though they did have the emergency purchase yesterday of a new microwave!) and working from home - the opportunity to grab anything on the way to/from the office is just not there.
My shop of choice has to be online - and stuff comes so quickly via Amazon, with our main grocery shop being delivered by Sainsburys.
Matalan is good for men's clothes - I had to buy new suit last week for Church and they had a excellent choice at less than 20% the price I'd normally pay for a suit. BTW I walked there any back :D
Cafe's and the like in Waterlooville - I don't use them - my wife's cooking is much better. I will admit to buying the occasional coffee, but that's about twice a year.
That reminds me - I must go to the Carpet shop, I think Victory Carpets? And buy that great town/road playmat they have - my kids'll love it.
Hi
In some respects my last comment meandered off course!
But really the appearance of Subways just highlights the problem.
The warehouse retail units and supermarkets draw custom away from the centre. The retail land lords that own the smaller centre properties then have a dilema as do the Borough Council.
Although as far as the council go i think the culture there supports what is happening.
The number of people willing to compete with the warehouse retail units dwindles, which leaves less choice for the land lords. On top of that, the land lords know the way the 'system' is going and are reluctant to rent out to businesses that will have difficulty in competing with the corporate 'warehouses'.
So they look for alternatives such as subway, card shops etc.
The result is about 7 cafes and other businesses.
Basically the big corporates suck the traditional and frankly more environmentally sustainable life out of Waterlooville and other towns.
It's all self perpetuating and feeds off itself. The only way of stopping it is by one of the participants stopping the trend.
One of those potential members is the council.
But still no Starbucks!!
Have to make do with Costa =[
Well I failed to get that playmat carpet from the Waterlooville Carpet shop (see post above) as it was half-the-cost in B&Q :(
Hi Steve,
You should have had a go at making your own playmat.
eg. take an old sheet or something similar then used coloured dyes (or whatever) to paint the roads on.
I think you have demonstrated the problem. If B&Q did not have a big store nearby i suspect you would have bought the mat from the smaller shop in Waterlooville and sacrificed purchasing something else.
Also without B&Q, the 'market' would not go away, which means there would be room for another small carpet shop to compete with the existing one. Which means they may have reduced their prices.
(BTW. i noticed that the pine furniture shop in Cowplain has been replaced by a carpet shop)
I have to say, being somewhat 'green', that i'm not a great fan of carpets, especially plastic carpets!
Yes you are right about B&Q - though the reason I didn't get the carpet in the carpet shop was that normally walk into town, whereas B&Q you need the car to bring back what you have bought.
It's a present for when my boy is three in August - he'll love it to bits I am sure.
We've made the boys a portable railway track thing out of some scrap MDF + Nail Gun + some wooden railway track. Have got some paints - ready just need to get around to it ...
As an independent 'Franchised' business in the area I can only say that I'm delighted that Subway, a franchise, has opened! It looks clean and fresh! Far better than that awful brica brac shop ever did. Oh and why was it allowed to display and sell martial arts weapons? Aren't we supposed to be getting away from the knife culture? As for the Stationary Store, I ask, did any of you use it? I did several times and I was disappointed on every visit!It was poorly run and the service was dier! I stopped using it and got my goods elsewhere but I still by locally from different stores. The point about local business is that they have to provide the shopper with an experience that they don't expect! This way they will enjoy it and come back. At least that's the way we try and opperate. You have to try and raise the bar and some of the local businesses in the area simply don't do that!
P.s Steve as for your comment on location well everytime I walk pass it's packed!
Anonymous said:
"As an independent 'Franchised' business in the area I can only say that I'm delighted that Subway, a franchise, has opened! It looks clean and fresh! Far better than that awful brica brac shop ever did. Oh and why was it allowed to display and sell martial arts weapons? Aren't we supposed to be getting away from the knife culture? "
The Ville said;
I don't think anyone is defending the previous shop. However the shop before that was a shoe shop that was in business since at least the 70s.
Anonymous said:
"As for the Stationary Store, I ask, did any of you use it? I did several times and I was disappointed on every visit!It was poorly run and the service was dier! I stopped using it and got my goods elsewhere but I still by locally from different stores."
The Ville said;
I have to say that is rubbish. Where are these alleged better stationary options in Waterlooville that are within walking distance?
The only other options for stationary are provided by the big corporates like WH Smith and Wilkinson.
Anonymous said:
"The point about local business is that they have to provide the shopper with an experience that they don't expect! This way they will enjoy it and come back. At least that's the way we try and opperate. You have to try and raise the bar and some of the local businesses in the area simply don't do that!"
The Ville said;
Really the issue isn't about local businesses. The issue is about large retail corporations that put up large warehouses that require people to drive, in order for their 'warehouse' business model to work. Subway is just a consequence of this change. There is about 7 cafe's in Waterlooville, you have to ask yourself why do you need 7 cafe's?
The answer is that there is no market for small shops that would have to compete with Asda, Wilkinson, B&Q, Brantanos etc.
So the landlords of the small units take rent from betting shops, cafe's, corporate chains, franchises etc. This results in a reinforcement of car culture and associated emissions.
BTW, folks.
At least we have some discussion going about Waterlooville.
Whether you disagree with my posts/comments or not, it is good to have a dialogue where anyone can have a point of view.
Ok, there seems to be a competitive battle going on between the cafes/eating establishments in Waterlooville and the new Subway seems to be a popular topic.
I have removed some posts due to the fact that they seemed to be posted by owners of cafes in town and were derogatory of the competition.
This issue really highlights the problem of having to many cafes in Waterlooville.
Was quite disappointed my post was removed. I am not an owner of a cafe just a customer who thought I was doing people a favour. Won't bother posting again then.
Walked past Waterloovile Camping and Angling in the week and noticed it had closed.
:(
Waterlooville needs to be more of a mixture of industry, call me wrong for saying this but i feel it is mainly aimed at feeding people, im not saying this is bad as i being 16 enjoy eating at mcdonalds and subway or the other takeaways its conveniantly placed to make everyone happy. But i have noticed there is a new look , this is fine if you are a woman looking to clothe yourself but the majority of clothes shops aim at women, apart from matalan, i feel the need to say that a topman or republic or burton's need to be placed where the old mr cheap used to be near HSBC, i feel it will attract more customers to waterlooville and make male shoppers more happy, also the old woolworths store should be made into a KFC or primark, something that will make the public realise waterlooville is not such a boring place and instead of turning to commercial road they will come in masses to waterlooville benefitting its economical and financial wellbeing, anyway i appreciate the changes its been through so far top see what it is today and i have no complaints and i hope someday someone will read my suggestions and put them to use in the area, also a burger king would be lovely just to throw that in there , hope to see some improvements soon , glendubz
there is a small carpet store in hazelton way,cowplain that sells the road mat rug that u wanted and at a good price,i bought one for my grand children.
the macdonalds in waterlooville is closing soon anyway and a wetherspoons is opening there,i have been reliably informed.they are opening a drive-through next to asda.
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