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 Local shops

  • 1Dislike Like1
    On Fri 27 Aug 2010 at: 16:05 Christnye wrote:
    There was an excellent report in Viva Lewes about local shops closing due to high rents/rates and Council uselessness in allowing them to be converted to houses. However, is it just me or are many of our local shopkeepers just crap at being shopkeepers? Let's face it, Catlins is horrible: overcrowded, stuff all over the floor, weird, seedy-looking staff... Victor at the station cafe; just embarrassing and off-putting..., the scary women at the Buttercup cafe, so reminiscent of Tubbs in the League of Gentlemen..., the obnoxious lunatics in BOTH cobblers..., Hugh Rae, for the latest in regimental-wear and 1950s fashions.... The chain shops and cafes just seem to be managed better and staffed by people who can smile without inviting you into their odd lives.

  • 0Dislike Like3
    On Fri 27 Aug 2010 at: 16:23 prufrock wrote:
    Next time you go near the amusingly named 'Percy's Tackle' go in (minding the dog) and take a sniff. You won't need to again as the memory will linger. I also have happy memories of the nazi newsagent opposite the war memorial; now replaced by a shop selling shiny crap stuff.

  • 0Dislike Like1
    On Fri 27 Aug 2010 at: 16:38 Smiler wrote:
    I'd rather have those characters Christnye than bland chains any day.

    Watch the video »
  • 1Dislike Like0
    On Fri 27 Aug 2010 at: 20:13 TDA wrote:
    What a horrible post 'Christnye'. I don't know about the other shops but the ladies in the Buttercup are absolutely lovely, and Victor sounds very nice - according to my wife!

    Bugger off to whatever hole you came from.

  • 0Dislike Like1
    On Fri 27 Aug 2010 at: 20:13 Harold wrote:
    @Prufrock, May I ask what should a fishing tackle shop smell like ?

  • 0Dislike Like0
    On Fri 27 Aug 2010 at: 22:08 christnye wrote:
    Well, I was only trying to start a discussion about the future of the currently dying high street, but maybe I was a bit OTT in my criticism. Apologies to all concerned. If you think it's all "lovely" however, TDA, that's marvelous, but in 15 years at the current rate of attrition, Lewes High Street will look like Southover High Street.

  • 0Dislike Like1
    On Fri 27 Aug 2010 at: 23:59 TDA wrote:
    Maybe Christnye, but I'm not sure you had to be so personal about it.

  • 0Dislike Like1
    On Sat 28 Aug 2010 at: 06:15 Stig of the dump wrote:
    Thought it was all Tesco's fault.

  • 0Dislike Like0
    On Sat 28 Aug 2010 at: 06:31 DJS wrote:
    Is it because they are different to you? I'm just wondering if there is a racial motive here? perhaps you could burn them, burn them all!!

  • 0Dislike Like0
    On Sat 28 Aug 2010 at: 08:23 Sniffer wrote:
    To add to this does any one remember the one eyed lady with a permanent grin who served up fish and chips at the silver spray in lansdown place.... She had a plastic eye but never put it in.

  • 0Dislike Like0
    On Sat 28 Aug 2010 at: 11:14 erebemonsters wrote:
    If you dont like why not just piss off?

  • 0Dislike Like1
    On Sat 28 Aug 2010 at: 11:26 leaf wrote:
    Well christnye trying to start a discussion or not there really is no need to be so rude about people.

  • 0Dislike Like1
    On Sat 28 Aug 2010 at: 12:23 Piggles wrote:
    Apparently that League of Gentleman 'Local Shop' is based on a shop that is/was in Rottingdean.

  • 0Dislike Like1
    On Sat 28 Aug 2010 at: 13:56 'ere be monsters wrote:
    Although impersonation is a sincet form of flattery I think this impersonator can piss off.

  • 0Dislike Like1
    On Sat 28 Aug 2010 at: 15:49 jrsussex wrote:
    Reasons for small retail outlets struggling to survive: Rents, business rates, staff wages, employee national insurance contributions, corporation tax, public liability insurance, building and content insurance, utility costs, banking costs, waste diposal costs.
    On top of which they do not have the capability of bulk purchasing to secure the very low stock costs enjoyed by the major retailers.
    Oh yes, finally generally the people who complain vociferously about small retailers, pubs, post offices closing are very often the people who never used them which is the biggest reason they are forced to close, too little sales....

  • 0Dislike Like0
    On Sun 29 Aug 2010 at: 01:44 mccauley wrote:
    Years back I used to travel the country covering football matches. I used to set off a couple of hours early so I could explore all these cities and towns I'd never visited before, but stopped bothering soon after because they were all identikit high streets with almost no local identity to distinguish between them. Personally I love the quirkiness and non-corporateness of independent shops, and this is one of the features that gives Lewes it's great character. If I want the convenience of shopping at big high-street chains, I can pop into Brighton in 15 mins. I'm not saying that all independent shops are brilliant, but I value their existence and variety, and, yes, their occasional eccentricity. Oh, and Victor is a diamond.

  • 0Dislike Like1
    On Sun 29 Aug 2010 at: 10:01 christnye wrote:
    I'm all in favour of independent shops, used to own two myself, and huge praise to local success stories like Baltica, Bills, Plain Lazy, Steamer Trading and so many more. But in my bit of Lewes by the Ellie over the last decade we've lost a video shop, pine furniture shop, general store, guitar shop and greengrocer, which have been replaced by an office, several flats and a shop you only think of going into on Christmas Eve. As a trading area it's now effectively dead. The Western Road shops will be gone very soon too. So I think it comes down to more than personality and quirkiness, and while the petition to save Catlins is great, maybe if the shoppers experience could be improved there too, for example by getting the stuff of the floor so you can get your pushchair in, would that be so bad? So I reiterate, some shopkeepers need to raise their game if the high street is to be saved. But like someone says, those who don't like it can piss off. And they have.

  • 0Dislike Like0
    On Sun 29 Aug 2010 at: 10:25 DrTrickCyclist wrote:
    I think Christnye has a pretty good point. Local traders are increasingly up against it as much of what we used to buy from them is massively cheaper/easier to get from other sources. (The slightly slow-on-the-uptake group who campaigned against Tesco rather missed the fact that the horse had long since bolted in this respect). The only way for local traders to survive is to find a business model which works. In Lewes this is selling luxury goods to well off people. Obviously some of the anti-Tesco mob see eco- paints at 50 quid a can as essential goods for the masses but that's another story.
    Catlin has always been up against in in that his business is invested in a declining market (baccy). I'm glad someone has had the guts to point out something about his attitude though. He's always been v polite to me but I've seen him be incredibly rude to other people.
    He has also been very invested in the idea of external scapegoats. For a long time its been the parking and trying to get car park opposite the YMCA changed back to free. I don't know about you but I remember that car park being full all day from about 7AM when it was free. Not exactly guaranteed to generate increased footfall.

  • 0Dislike Like0
    On Sun 29 Aug 2010 at: 10:27 twosugarbaby wrote:
    I agree that some people need to up their game, but the Buttercup staff all work so hard and its an amazing little success story that we should be proud to have in our town. Caitlins and Hugh Rae may be suffering from the fact they have not kept up with the times with stock and style, to be independent retailer you have to work twice as hard as a chain manager (who are given a rule book to follow) its not comparable! We should try when we can to support the local shops and keep Lewes the fantasic and indivdual place that it is!

  • 0Dislike Like2
    On Sun 29 Aug 2010 at: 13:19 over-aged-student wrote:
    Hardworking or not, my first experience of Buttercup Cafe was a lecture on how jolly near lunchtime it was at 11.45 to be having just a coffee and cake, which I thought a bit much as it cost at least a fiver. So I said never mind I'll leave it, and then another lady bustled over, more terrifying than Bree on Desperate Housewives, and clearly embarrassed at the other one, and insisted I stay but I'd have to share the tiny table in the corner if they got full. I then had a really tense cake-eating experience (while they remained empty apart from me!).
    Independent and quirky alright, plus a little bit menopausal, but I'm not sure I'd go back and the staff at Caffe Nero really are nice even if they do work for a chain!!!

  • 0Dislike Like0
    On Sun 29 Aug 2010 at: 13:36 Brixtonbelle wrote:
    I'm really surprised. The only problem I've ever had with staff at the Buttercup was a couple of obviously inexperienced waiters/ waitresses forgetting to bring part of an order or being a bit scatty and disorganised. The food is excellent, the cakes are great -never been told it's too near lunchtime and the owners are very friendly. Confusion sometimes arises over where to sit because many of the tables and chairs are part of the antiques place and for sale. Other than that it's a real Lewes gem.

  • 0Dislike Like0
    On Sun 29 Aug 2010 at: 19:44 Williamdyer wrote:
    Fans of hardware are royally scr*we'd in Lewes. Homebase has one staff member on at a time, and Bunces' has some of the surliest, unhelpful creatures I've ever had the misfortune to meet. My partner refuses to go as they've yet to look above her chest.

  • 1Dislike Like0
    On Sun 29 Aug 2010 at: 20:09 DrTrickCyclist wrote:
    I should think Bunce's is one of the main business threatened by the Tesco expansion.

  • 0Dislike Like1
    On Sun 29 Aug 2010 at: 21:47 Smiler wrote:
    I love Bunces it's one of my Favourite Lewes shops. Just the fact that you can buy one bolt or washer gets it my vote.

  • 0Dislike Like0
    On Sun 29 Aug 2010 at: 22:09 William Parr wrote:
    Bunces has my vote too. Although when I went in the other week, individual nuts/bolts/screws etc were being replaced with pre-prepared packets (and less variety).

  • 0Dislike Like0
    On Sun 29 Aug 2010 at: 22:26 leaf wrote:
    Bunces: I like it but very expensive egg cups.

  • 0Dislike Like0
    On Mon 30 Aug 2010 at: 18:41 Canoeman wrote:
    Shopping at Bunce's is a bit like going to France for a holiday. Some of the staff have a refreshing indifference getting on for surliness. It gets my vote too.

  • 0Dislike Like0
    On Tue 31 Aug 2010 at: 21:30 rebel clown wrote:
    I thought the original posting by Christnye was very funny. Come back Christnye!

  • 0Dislike Like0
    On Fri 3 Sep 2010 at: 15:30 Maria wrote:
    Bunces = staff who ignore you. Totally and always. Shame as I like the place
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