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telfordstar
14-Jan-09, 21:22
its very sad to see that two more shops are having to pull the plug on there buisness but at this time of doom and gloom i suppose it cant be helped but for mrs walker to put the blame on her wool shop shuting down on tescos is a little bit silly to be honest i cant ever remember ever bying wool from tesco or even seeing any but maybe im wrong and if i am im sorry i mean if it was not for tescos how many people would not be working in this town at the present moment in this time of doom and gloom

Kodiak
14-Jan-09, 21:33
I admit we go to Tesco's and both me and Mrs Kodiak have never seen Knitting Wool on sale there.

hotrod4
14-Jan-09, 21:39
Can see both sides of the coin. i used to work for Tescos but left to go to a local firm.I got paid off after 6 months due to a decrease in turnover(partially due to tescos.So it has been both good and bad for me.It is good that Tesco is such a large employer but it is true that it Has taken a bit of the town with it.Maybe the way we should look at it is the Retail sector is changing and we have to move with the times? But then again you cant beat a "local" shop for that personal service.It is happening up and down the country and unless we all switch to "local" only and pay extra we just have to accept it,I'm afraid.

ShelleyCowie
14-Jan-09, 21:47
Hotrod u got the words spot on there!

There is no way i can afford to buy local produce only....tesco have some bargains and sometimes if i am on a budget then i have no choice!

I do support local butchers though 100%! Far prefer their sausages, pork, beef etc etc and i find it far cheaper than Tesco most the time!

teenybash
14-Jan-09, 22:03
Unfortunately the little shops will be hit by the present situation as well as some of the big guns................less shops, less choice and back to basics it is................
Tescos is a bit of a giant but they do provide the bargains......but never seen wool either...........:eek:

Bad Manners
14-Jan-09, 22:30
When all the little shops are gone what then, Tesco and their like can charge what they like. supporting little shops like butcher fishmonger etc keep the money in the area. tesco like the other big store do have bargains from time to time but I hate the idea of all the eggs in one basket not be long before it's Wick/Thurso sponcered by tesco.

Ash
14-Jan-09, 22:31
yip i was just thinking the same when i read that article.. why does every shop that closes down blame tesco! [evil]

telfordstar
14-Jan-09, 23:00
yip i was just thinking the same when i read that article.. why does every shop that closes down blame tesco! [evil]

Thanks ash that was my whole point. The fact the wool shop parcially blamed tesco I just didn't get because tescos don't even sell wool!

I am all for supporting local shops I use the bakery for my scones and cakes and always buy my meat from the butchers for the fact it tastes way better than the supermarkets meat.

flint
14-Jan-09, 23:06
Having read the article in the courier about the wifie closing down in the wool shop i dont see any mention of her blaming Tesco for selling wool..her quote says.."The arrival of Tesco had she said, not helped matters"..
My understanding of her quote is.. we all spend our money in Tesco's, like i and know doubt most of us do, then we will have no money to spend locally to support our local shops..
you know what they say..

USE THEM OR LOSE THEM

joxville
14-Jan-09, 23:09
Are you sure Tesco's don't sell wool? Have you ever tried their own brand spaghetti? [lol]

telfordstar
14-Jan-09, 23:12
Are you sure Tesco's don't sell wool? Have you ever tried their own brand spaghetti? [lol]



That's a good one :). Must give it a try.

cemmts
14-Jan-09, 23:30
Did anyone notice T's prices creeping up..... and anyone see a item that was 50% off

Gizmo
15-Jan-09, 00:21
For the Wool Shop it's as simple as this, knitting is not really something that is being taken up by this generation so as the older generation die out the customer base becomes smaller and smaller, i'm actually very surprised that it survived for as long as it did.

Kodiak
15-Jan-09, 00:25
Did anyone notice T's prices creeping up..... and anyone see a item that was 50% off


Yes some of Tesco's Prices have been rising, ie a 3 Kilo Bag of Pasta used to be only £1.00 earlier this year. Now it is well over £3.00 so quite a rise there.

Also yes I have seen one or two items with 50% off, ie Frozen Pork Roast at the offer of Half Price, £2.98, = to 50% off.

Gizmo
15-Jan-09, 00:33
Did anyone notice T's prices creeping up..... and anyone see a item that was 50% off

Tesco has been getting a LOT more expensive, i have seen peanut butter (something i buy a lot of) rise from around £1.60 a jar to £2.95, Napolina Italian Grated Cheese has risen dramatically, the price is still 99p but the tub is now half the size, and also Tesco Honey Nut Cornflakes has risen by about £1 a box, there are many other things i buy that have shot up in price over the last month or so.

They also never have any weekly offers on new release dvds anymore, and all their chart dvds are £2/3 more expensive than they were a few months back.
I have been using Somerfield a lot more these days, at christmas Somerfield had loads of half price items and Tesco had sod all, Somerfield is still more expensive on a like for like basis, but their offers have been better so you can make quite a saving in Somerfield these days.

Kevin Milkins
15-Jan-09, 08:25
I think it goes without saying that the foot fall in Wick town centre has fallen since the arrival of Tesco ,regardless of whether Tesco sell wool or not.

When my elderly mother-in-law came to stop with us last summer we took her around the town centre for a brouse at the shops and do some sight seeing.

She decided that she wanted to knitt my grandaughter a hat and scarf,(for no other reason than the wool shop was there and open).

I agree that knitting is now becoming a dying art and trade would be harder to come by for this type of retail outlet, but as the shop keeper intimated, Tesco was the last straw.

I see lots of threads about how the town centre is going to become a street full of betting office's, keebab shops, and charity shops , but for independant retail outlets to survive they need a genuine customer base.

Murdina Bug
15-Jan-09, 10:58
I also think it is a great shame that local shops are closing - however, I can't help feeling that if they had moved with the times a bit more they may be weathering the arrival of other shops and the recession/credit crunch better. For example - wool shop, as others have said, has found that not so many people want their products. However, many people are getting back into 'crafts' and they could maybe have diversified into other areas. Maronique - stocked products which were aimed at a specific market in age/style and could be viewed as expensive. They shut the shop in Thurso 5 years ago as it was not competitive, this should have been a clue that maybe they needed to revise what they were they selling. To my mind agencies like HIE/CASE should be giving business advice to people like these along the lines of knowing the market, how to source products and how to advertise. I could think of half a dozen shops that could potentially go the same way as they have remained static in their tactics for years. I think it's a case of 'adapt or die' for small business now.

Gizmo
15-Jan-09, 11:04
I also think it is a great shame that local shops are closing - however, I can't help feeling that if they had moved with the times a bit more they may be weathering the arrival of other shops and the recession/credit crunch better. For example - wool shop, as others have said, has found that not so many people want their products. However, many people are getting back into 'crafts' and they could maybe have diversified into other areas. Maronique - stocked products which were aimed at a specific market in age/style and could be viewed as expensive. They shut the shop in Thurso 5 years ago as it was not competitive, this should have been a clue that maybe they needed to revise what they were they selling. To my mind agencies like HIE/CASE should be giving business advice to people like these along the lines of knowing the market, how to source products and how to advertise. I could think of half a dozen shops that could potentially go the same way as they have remained static in their tactics for years. I think it's a case of 'adapt or die' for small business now.

Very well said and i couldn't agree more, a lot of local businesses are so stuck in their ways and just refuse to move with the times, and eventually it leads to their downfall, sometimes a change of supplier is all that is needed to breathe new life into a business.

Penelope Pitstop
15-Jan-09, 11:17
There is no way i can afford to buy local produce only....tesco have some bargains and sometimes if i am on a budget then i have no choice!


I find that Tesco can be really expensive for neeps...anyone else noticed this? They tend to sell by weight. I can go into the local butchers and buy a local John O Groats neep for half the price of a teeny thing in Tescos. Sure that the cabbage, etc will be the same.

(Just a small observation in my usual quick sprint around Tesco!!!....:D)

blueivy
15-Jan-09, 11:23
I also think it is a great shame that local shops are closing - however, I can't help feeling that if they had moved with the times a bit more they may be weathering the arrival of other shops and the recession/credit crunch better. For example - wool shop, as others have said, has found that not so many people want their products. However, many people are getting back into 'crafts' and they could maybe have diversified into other areas. Maronique - stocked products which were aimed at a specific market in age/style and could be viewed as expensive. They shut the shop in Thurso 5 years ago as it was not competitive, this should have been a clue that maybe they needed to revise what they were they selling. To my mind agencies like HIE/CASE should be giving business advice to people like these along the lines of knowing the market, how to source products and how to advertise. I could think of half a dozen shops that could potentially go the same way as they have remained static in their tactics for years. I think it's a case of 'adapt or die' for small business now.

HIE/CASE do offer advice to small businesses - as long as those small businesses ask for it. I know the Scottish Government / HIE / CASE are concentrating more on medium to larger businesses, however there is still help they can give.

There are businesses such as myself (I do the IT side) in Marketing, PR, Manufacturing, Research etc. that CASE refer people to to make sure the advice the business get's is from other businesses who are experts in their field and who keep up to date with their areas. In the past I believe you were very much reliant on the local office to provide you with the expertise and while they tried, it was impossible for them to be experts in every area of business from subjects as diverse as IT to packaging design.

As somebody who runs a small business I couldn't agree more - it's always been 'adapt or die'. In the IT industry though it's more of 'keep up or die' as everything changes so very quickly. You need a good pair of trainers, a lot of time and a good pair of glasses to keep up with the changes there!

Gizmo
15-Jan-09, 11:27
I find that Tesco can be really expensive for neeps...anyone else noticed this? They tend to sell by weight. I can go into the local butchers and buy a local John O Groats neep for half the price of a teeny thing in Tescos. Sure that the cabbage, etc will be the same.

(Just a small observation in my usual quick sprint around Tesco!!!....:D)

Yeah, around 90p for a Neep no bigger than your fist sometimes, and their White Cabbage is not much better....it's vegetables for smurfs :lol:

PS, and please...no smart arse smurf comments from those who know me, i am well aware of how short i am :D

Bad Manners
15-Jan-09, 12:57
I think it goes without saying that the foot fall in Wick town centre has fallen since the arrival of Tesco ,regardless of whether Tesco sell wool or not.

When my elderly mother-in-law came to stop with us last summer we took her around the town centre for a brouse at the shops and do some sight seeing.

She decided that she wanted to knitt my grandaughter a hat and scarf,(for no other reason than the wool shop was there and open).

I agree that knitting is now becoming a dying art and trade would be harder to come by for this type of retail outlet, but as the shop keeper intimated, Tesco was the last straw.

I see lots of threads about how the town centre is going to become a street full of betting office's, keebab shops, and charity shops , but for independant retail outlets to survive they need a genuine customer base.
I have to disagree with the fact that knitting id a dying art it is in fact the opposite there are more people taking up knitting now my OH is a proffesional knitter however the cost of wool from shops is very high more and more people are buying direct from the suppliers making it harder forspecialist shops to exist. many small business that are not on the internet and dont trade further than their local area are going to suffer.
In a perfect world we would all buy from local shops but we do not live in a perfect world

Kevin Milkins
15-Jan-09, 13:15
I have to disagree with the fact that knitting id a dying art it is in fact the opposite there are more people taking up knitting now my OH is a proffesional knitter however the cost of wool from shops is very high more and more people are buying direct from the suppliers making it harder forspecialist shops to exist. many small business that are not on the internet and dont trade further than their local area are going to suffer.
In a perfect world we would all buy from local shops but we do not live in a perfect world

As someone that has not had a go at knitting I will have to stand corrected if you say knitting is on the up.

One thing we can agree on, we don't live in perfect world.

Gizmo
15-Jan-09, 13:22
When i was a kid i knew loads of people who knitted, i'm 37 now and don't know a single person who knits, or at least i'm not aware of anyone i know who knits, they have all either died or just given up knitting.

Angela
15-Jan-09, 13:37
I was taught to knit when I was 6. Lost interest in my teens, then started knitting again when my kids were little. There was a great local wool shop where you could 'lay by' enough matching wool with the same batch number and pay for it as you needed it.

No credit card for me (or for most folk) in those far off days....late 70s/early 80s.

I stopped knitting twenty odd years again, but decided to take it up again recently. The only wool I can buy locally comes in the form of oddments from charity shops -where I've also bought needles to replace my old, lost ones. This is fine for small things such as teddies' scarves lol or blanket squares...but no use for anything more ambitious.

There's a growing interest in knitting here both among oldies like me taking it up again, and much younger people too -as well as those who've never stopped - with lots of knitting groups starting up. Most people end up buying their wool and other knitting supplies via the internet now. It's not the same tho' :(-I much preferred being able to see and touch the wools before buying, as well as spending time browsing patterns and getting invaluable advice from the owner of the shop.

Angela
15-Jan-09, 13:40
Are you sure Tesco's don't sell wool? Have you ever tried their own brand spaghetti? [lol]


lol Jox, I have :eek: but just a few drops of oil in the water when you boil it will prevent it knitting itself into something resembling a dishcloth! ;)

dirdyweeker
15-Jan-09, 15:20
Most people end up buying their wool and other knitting supplies via the internet now. It's not the same tho' :(-I much preferred being able to see and touch the wools before buying, as well as spending time browsing patterns and getting invaluable advice from the owner of the shop.

There is still the Reel Thing in Wick. You can go in there to touch and feel:D and browse their patterns too.

Angela
15-Jan-09, 15:32
There is still the Reel Thing in Wick. You can go in there to touch and feel:D and browse their patterns too.

Ahhhhhh......moan of utter pleasure! :Razz ;)

blueivy
15-Jan-09, 15:53
I have to disagree with the fact that knitting id a dying art it is in fact the opposite there are more people taking up knitting now my OH is a proffesional knitter however the cost of wool from shops is very high more and more people are buying direct from the suppliers making it harder forspecialist shops to exist. many small business that are not on the internet and dont trade further than their local area are going to suffer.
In a perfect world we would all buy from local shops but we do not live in a perfect world

If we all stay obsessed with price, which is understandable (especially in the present climate), then there will be NO small or specialist shops left. Nobody on the high street can compete with the internet on price. That includes large and small retailers.

The one thing that internet stores cannot compete with is service. You can't stand and talk to a website about how best to, in this case, make your wool go further, how best to use the wool, x, y z (as you can see I don't knit :-)).

You have stores in between such as PC World, Curries, Dixons etc. that baffle me as to how they remain in business as they offer neither price nor service. They do however seem able to attract people in using the DFS tactics of perpetual sales.

The mentality of us all is the problem here. The world is obsessed with cost which is why the Far East, Eastern Europe and Russia are doing so well as most of our 'stuff' is produced there now as all we want is low prices. We don't care how little the kids are paid to make it, how many forest's they've felled to build it or how much pollution it takes to make it, as long as we get it for 99p.

Shabbychic
15-Jan-09, 16:21
I still knit and crochet quite a lot. Lidl quite often have specials for knitters with wool, needles and patterns for great prices, and I believe there must be a lot of knitters up here because they sell out really quickly. I have also picked up good value wool in Semi Chem.

As for knitting patterns, there are loads of sites online to download patterns for free, and the choices are enormous.

There are lots of other things I mainly buy online, and only use companies with great service, quick delivery and mostly free postage. These are the companies that will survive the present conditions.

I would love to shop locally for everything, but I just couldn't afford to.

Kevin Milkins
15-Jan-09, 16:23
If we all stay obsessed with price, which is understandable (especially in the present climate), then there will be NO small or specialist shops left. Nobody on the high street can compete with the internet on price. That includes large and small retailers.

The one thing that internet stores cannot compete with is service. You can't stand and talk to a website about how best to, in this case, make your wool go further, how best to use the wool, x, y z (as you can see I don't knit :-)).

You have stores in between such as PC World, Curries, Dixons etc. that baffle me as to how they remain in business as they offer neither price nor service. They do however seem able to attract people in using the DFS tactics of perpetual sales.

The mentality of us all is the problem here. The world is obsessed with cost which is why the Far East, Eastern Europe and Russia are doing so well as most of our 'stuff' is produced there now as all we want is low prices. We don't care how little the kids are paid to make it, how many forest's they've felled to build it or how much pollution it takes to make it, as long as we get it for 99p.

Thats very well put, Paul.

My mother used to say that it is a poor person that knows the cost of everything and the value of nothing.

Having spent a fair bit of my life milking cows, it beggers belief why the price of a pint of milk is half the price of beer.

Shabbychic
15-Jan-09, 17:00
My mother used to say that it is a poor person that knows the cost of everything and the value of nothing.


Hey Kevin, I think you'll find it is a "Cynic" that knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.

A poor man can value a lot, especially things that cost nothing.