Saturday 23 August 2008

Ghost Town

Tenbury town centre was like a ghost town this afternoon, with some of the shop keepers peering out along the pavement wondering where all the people were. The only hive of activity was the Regal, where over a hundred & forty excited children (and adults) waited to see the latest Dream Works release, Kung Fu Panda.

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dont you think Tenbury would not be a ghost town if traders did not shut early,
shops got to be open when customers need them
or maybe people got wise to being ripped off
and gone to the big stores

Anonymous said...

It's partly Catch 22: the lack of people means the traders close early, the lack of open shops contributes to the lack of visitors.
As to getting 'ripped off',some things are cheaper in Tenbury than they are in the big stores.
The idea that people 'need' the shops to be open at (say) 6pm on a Saturday does suggest a certain lack of forward planning in the shopping department.

Anonymous said...

What about the spar store that is always open

@WR15 said...

I have found that many things are cheaper in Tenbury.

Great value shopping at the Round Market. The Barn Shop is nearly always cheaper. Items from Caldicotts are often cheaper, especially if you think how much it costs to go elsewhere. Brights are often cheaper especially for the larger items. Food shopping can be more expensive, but it depends what you buy. A good quality loaf from a local bakers is always going to cost more than a mass-produced loaf from the Tesco value range, but it tastes better. I can't think of any shops that 'rip off' there customers. What would be the point, you don't get repeat business that way. You can nearly always buy cheaper, but at what cost?

Anonymous said...

Its about getting value for money and i think Tenbury does that

Anonymous said...

Spar is open and lots of people go there, but Tenbury is more than just one shop. If you look in most of the shops on most afternoons you will see that few people are in the shops. And few people means few customers.

Anonymous said...

And don't forget the car boot sales - another next month

Shade said...

Might have been dead in the afternoon but it was absolutely chocka in the morning!

Anonymous said...

We go to Tenbury from Kidderminster to buy garden stuff from the Round Market - we save more than enough to pay for the petrol so we get a free day out!

Anonymous said...

But why are the Pump Rooms closed? We've often looked at the outside, what are they like inside?

Anonymous said...

WHAT NOBODY HAS MENTIONED IS THE POOR WEATHER WE HAVE HAD AGAIN THIS SUMMER .THIS HAS A MAJOR IMPACT ON A MARKET TOWN LIKE TENBURY .WHO WANTS TO BROWSE AROUND SHOPS WHEN ITS RAINING?

@WR15 said...

Whilst I do agree that the weather has a major impact, other UK Tourist destinations are reporting a bumper year.

Only today a customer of mine from Wolverhampton said he was coming to Tenbury to collect some items rather than have them sent, because he loved visiting the Town and the shops (and today has been wet by anyone's standards).

We need to get the message out, that Tenbury is a unique shopping /browsing /dining destination, because once we start loosing shops, restaurants and pubs, it will be a downhill slide.

Anonymous said...

We came to Tenbury from Stourbridge on monday what i must say is the poor state of the bridge coming into the town. Take a trip to Bridgnorth to see what you can do with with a bridge also the car park behind the spar shop is a total disgrace .This could be very off putting to potential new tourist

@WR15 said...

The bridge is a disgrace, but the County Council will not decorate it until it has been repaired, which in turn won't be done until they have central government funding. I think the work is programmed along with other bridges along the Teme Valley but the start date could still be several years away. Perhaps we should get them to put up a sign saying "Pardon my appearance, awaiting money from the Government", or perhaps not!

The Car Park is on private ground. The owner bought the site as a development opportunity, but (rumour has it) couldn't agree with the Council on how it should be developed and has now walked away and put the site up for sale at a reported £1.4M.

As there are usually 40 or more cars there every day, I dread to think where they would go if the site was closed!

Anonymous said...

Perhaps the site could be sold back to what it was originaly used for cattle sales. The farmers would have set up a consortium to buy the site last time if they had known it was going to be sold

Anonymous said...

what a stupid comment to make farmers are poor so they keep telling us
the market is gone now it time to move on

Anonymous said...

A consortium buying the market site and running it as a market was a sound idea at the time. Perhaps the then-owners did not want local farmers to have a market of their own - it would have hit trade at other markets in the area.