Wick town centre

[ducati]

Just wondered what shops people use?

I have shopped in Sam's, Fairways, (Gone) The shoeshop (Can't remember what it's called) The 99p shop :D, Woolworths (Gone) The Baker (on the high street) The Cafe on Bridge street, Morag's and the motorbike shop (although not really town centre),and I use the RBS cash machine and the Post Office. I've been in the Cellar Bar once, 'Spoons occasionally and MacKays for an event.

None of the above frequently.

What about you? Maybe this should have been a poll-dunno, but that would need a proper survey.

[DeHaviLand]

Morags and Bridge Street cafe, lots of times, and it shows! Sams, Hugo's, DR Simpsons, Wick Sports, that doesn't show!

[telfordstar]

Boots, semi chem, de shoes, dr simpsons, morags.

[shamrock2007]

I must admit that I hardly ever go to the street for anything now since Woolies closed. When it was open often shopped in Dr's, Mackays, Boots, DE's, toyshop and 99p shop

[bagpuss]

When I'm in the county I use Made In Caithness, Cormacks jewellers and Gails gifts. have tea in Morags, buy shoes in Gunns (which sells sensible shoes for grown ups) and have earrings made up by the craft shop.

I don't use the retail park (except when i had to arrange to carpet a rental property and used carpetright) and do use tesco

My friend whose family had Fairways asked me to post on here that essentially her Dad and his assistant were the business- and when they retired due to ill health that they tried to keep the shop going by leasing it to their wholesaler- but the wholesaler found that out of 5 areas, Wick was the only one running at a loss. Once Ernie retired, no-one came in.

in small towns it tends to be the personality of the proprietor that determines the trade- people like Sam, Morag and Gail ,and the lovely family who run the craft shop should be treasured- they are the future of Wick

[bagpuss]

Further to my previous post here, there are times when a shopkeeper goes the extra mile to source something. Ernie (of Fairways) used to think nothing of going out to hang curtains or fit blinds for the elderly people who shopped there. The shop had a curtain alteration service, and often the altered curtains would be deliverd to people who didn't have their own transport.

Sam does much the same sort of service I gather- and this is what makes a small business work.

When Morag started her cafe, it was a big leap of faith- she had to virtually reinvent her business from scratch. And the nice young lady with the bridal shop has also done her homework.

Those lovely people at BB&C are prepared to go the extra mile and make up jewellery to the customer's specification- that's a really unique service- and they don't charge for it.

But all of this hard work seems to count for very little on here- especially when everyone is so desperate for yet another chain store to come and hoover up the business.

[2little2late]

Here we go again. :mad::mad:

[bagpuss]

Indeed 2 little2late.

When Tesco delivers your groceries you pay a delivery charge. If Homebase or Argos sell you flat pack furniture you put it together yourself- or hire a joiner to do it for you.

Wetherspoons don't do home baking- and New Look charge three times the price of BB&c for cheap imports without unique style.

You mistake chain stores for service.

Small businesses cannot compete with price- and have to make up for it with customer service.

Incidentally- on a day trip to Skye- hours on end in the car to go over a bridge, I looked in vain for a morag style cafe in some of the most picturesque spots in the Highlands. By 4pm all of the tourist cafes had shut for the day, and the hotel restaurants hadn't opened their kitchens for the evening meal. Instead on the way back to Caithness we stopped at La Mirage-bought a fish supper, took it down to the sea side and enjoyed eating it watching the seals in the river.

Good service never goes wrong- bad service can discourage anyone from going back to a business ever again.

[Kevin Milkins]

Small businesses cannot compete with price- and have to make up for it with customer service.

I agree with much that you say, bagpuss, but I have to disagree with the small business cannot compete with the big boys on price.

The sheds, (Homebase, Tesco, Etc.) have huge overheads and have been forced to cover them with price hikes on some products that almost make my eyes bleed.:eek:

If anyone is smart enough to do some price comparisons on the less comparative items they will find that many local shops are in fact cheaper and you still get service with a smile.:D