Empty Spaces

[JudgeMental]

Farmers Nipper is spot on. The bunch of crooks "Governing on our behalf" promised us "Education,education,education" "Tough on crime,tough on the causes of crime" etc.etc. Instead we have "Regulation,regulation,regulation" and "Tax,tax,tax and more tax" . Meanwhile the great big Local,National and EU Government Gravy Train chugs on..but it won't be stopping at your station matey! Anyone opening a shop in Ventnor would seriously qualify to join us in the Jazz Band..look what 27 years in business has done to me!

[JimLad]

Sometimes businesses come up for sale due to the owners retiring, or deciding to do something else..... not necessarily because the business is failing. I would have thought that some of the businesses mentioned are profitable, and will sell as going concerns.

I remember an old lady telling me that she used to work in the hat shop in Totland as a girl... there were more than twenty shops there then. That was when getting to Newport to do some shopping would be a rare event, and supermarkets were just a bad dream I guess. How many shops can a town the size of Ventnor support these days? Less than there are I suspect, if locals keep using shops elsewhere. I wonder what we can do to promote our local shops and businesses to the locals?

[doiley]

How many shops can a town the size of Ventnor support these days? Less than there are I suspect, if locals keep using shops elsewhere. I wonder what we can do to promote our local shops and businesses to the locals?

We tried this last year with our shop local campaign but the considerable effort we went to (interviewing shop keepers, editing audio and doing the write-ups), seemed to go mostly unappreciated, so we put our efforts elsewhere.

http://ventnorblog.com/category/shop-local/

[JimLad]

That's really sad to hear Doiley. I know you folks do a tremendous lot of work for the community. If I were still a shopkeeper, I'd have been very supportive of all your efforts, including your 'shop local' campaign. We do have some great shops and businesses locally. I used to live in Freshwater, and Ventnor is so much nicer! I hope the ones for sale will be taken over by people who have the patience, entrepreneurial skills and friendliness it takes to run a successful small business.

[sven]

and making the central car park short stay (higher parking charges) will only force people to shanklin and the like with lidl and somerfield ( i think, supermarkets not my strong point) offering free parking, basically forcing more businesses to close.

[Earl Grey]

Are we all living in the same town?

Where are all these empty shops? I have to say the town is looking quite vibrant at the moment. Newsagents expanding, a deli opening soon, a Tesco Express on the cards and the likelyhood that Somerfield will be improved when it becomes a Co-op. All good news.

I think it is a good sign that retail businesses are for sale, it shows they are viable enterprises, what we do not want is shops going under.

Doiley- as ever thanks for supporting local businesses, but do not despair I think there is a growing interest in shopping locally and you were just being ahead of the curve.

The reality is that a town like Ventnor will always struggle, we do not have enough employment in the town so residents are spending money in shops where they work (i.e. Newport). The summer is fine but encouraging more people all year round (work, leisure) will create a more sustainable retail culture in the town.

[Drifting Bouy]

I agree with Earl Grey. I think things are on the up and to be honest there is a few shops I wouldn’t be sad to see go anyway

What I would like to know is whether the Council or perhaps the Ventnor Town Plan team have any studies/figures etc showing public trends that through the Town Council could be presented as a presentation to business that we could try and attract to the town?

Some companies openly invite such suggestions.

The reality is that Ventnor would be a busier town with more small shops if it also had more chains (ideally that do not currently exist on the Island) that provide the employment and shoppers we need.

Just as some examples the Island has no chain cafes such as Cafe Nero, Cafe Rouge etc. Few outlets and very few clothes shops beyond the middle market.

With regard to the police station, the same idea could be used for other services such as the Library?

[Earl Grey]

I have to disagree with Drifting Bouy on wanting to encourage the chains to come to Ventnor, this would turn our High Street into an 'identikit' set of shops that could be found in most towns, Ventnor's advantage in this area is about having something different.

Also it would not be good for the local economy as chains take money out of the local economy that locally owned businesses would normally spend in the local area.

I think we have enough cafes already and I doubt a chain cafe would bring anything extra to the local retail mix.

What the Councils (IW and town) should be looking at is how to broaden the local economy. Retail and tourism are important but they are limited by capacity and generally are low wage, low skill jobs. Ventnor needs more office based businesses that will pay more and in turn spend more in the town. The problem is the lack of any office space in the town.