Town’s retailers are fighting back (From Dorset Echo)

Town’s retailers are fighting back

10:23am Tuesday 14th February 2012 in Your Letters

As an independent shopkeeper currently running two shops in Weymouth town centre and having traded here for a month under 25 years, I feel adequately qualified to comment on the current trading situation.

Yes, times are difficult, but no more so than any other comparable seaside resort in the UK.

Weymouth has never been a major shopping destination.

We have enjoyed good times and also bad times, but the sad fact is that in the modern retail world we just don’t punch our weight population wise.

Other more central towns and town centres have seen growth in the last five years that we have missed out on.

There are a number of reasons for this, one of them is the Georgian street plan.

The streets are just not wide enough for the big lorries needed to keep the modern high street stocked.

The town’s small shop units rarely offer the retail space required by the major chain stores.

But of course this does not have to be the death knell for our town.

In countless surveys many people have commented that the proliferation of chain stores has ruined the shopping experience. In Weymouth we enjoy the highest percentage of independent stores in southern England.

This means that the variety of shopping available should be greater than other towns.

We as shopkeepers have a responsibility that maybe we have not all accepted. But if we want our businesses to prosper then we need to ensure we are the best and that our service, our product and our businesses are unmatchable.

For too many years we have wandered along depending on the holiday trade and the fact that locals will visit due to not having any choice.

Well, that has backfired and people have made the choice to shop elsewhere.

So how will we win them back?

Just look around the town – we are fighting back.

Do not give up hope in our town. Look around, there are many successful shops full of customers and happy staff.

The town will look fantastic this summer and a lot of the reasons for this will be the hard work of the retailers.

Shaun Hennessy, Blondz Hairdressing St Edmund Street Weymouth