Archive - Originally posted on "The Horse's Mouth" - 2011-09-07 17:57:17 - Graham Ellis
On Sunday - the first time in a long while - Lisa and I visited the shopping Mall at Cribb's Causeway near Bristol. It was lively and busy; we bought some things we needed in John Lewis (and were disappointed that others were out of stock), we looked at a variety of ladies clothing, we ate at Nando's, and we visited an electronics store where we found an appropriate new screen and sorted out a cabling issue. And we did a bit of window shopping too and enjoyed the atmposphere and the bussle.
Why drive to Cribbs Causeway rather than walk into Melksham? Well - we do advocate shopping locally, and we do advocate public transport over private, and cutting out needless (wantless) travel completely. However, there was everything we wanted on the one site. Car parking; large store; selection of eateries; selection of clothes outlets; pleasant atmosphere. And they were co-ordinated and open too. And - it is excellent to have a change occasionally, to go somewhere different and to compare ...
There's not a great deal at Cribb's Causeway that I can't find closer to home - and I can find most of it much closer in Melksham. So why do so many people go there, and what can we learn? A lot of it is about the convenience of having everything that we want on a particular visit to a place available to us there, with information about the various options when we get there, and everything open at the same time. Just before we closed on Monday, I walked into Melksham to deliver a letter to three other businesses. All of them were closed, with one of them indicating it wouldn't be open until 10 a.m. on Thursday.
But I really don't know exactly *what* "everything" means to most shoppers. How many people go to a retail centre just for one particular type of shop? How many go just to eat, or to browse in windows? How many use a mixture of the services? How many need car parking? These are things that everyone in Melksham's town centre could do with working out, and then co-ordinating to help ensure better provision of what people want, and when they want it. It has always struck me as a bit odd that shops are open when the younger customers are in school, when the 66% or the working population who do a "9 to 5" are at work, and then remain largely closed on Sundays. But one or two stores opening on Sundays in an otherwise-closed town doesn't attract the shoppers who want the whole. And it puts off the occasional shopkeeper who tries the odd Sunday on his / her own and finds custom thin on the ground.
Tweets I have read today ...
Went to #Melksham Post Office this morning to post a package & there's a note on the door to say "Closed - nearest alternative Trowbridge"
So then I toddled along to the Library to return a book. Same bloody thing - closed. No wonder #Melksham town centre is dying on its feet.
Library has always been closed on a Weds. I'M OPEN!!!!
Great! Thanks. I'll pop down in a bit with my package to Walthamstow and the overdue book to return.
Melksham has some exciting changes on the horizon. We can look forward to an attractive river frontage with boats. We can look forward to blue plaques pointing our buildings of interest. We can look forward to a modern library, swimming pool and many other facilities in the town. We can look forward to better train services. We can already celebrate some improvements such as the wider, nicer pavements. Such as extra town buses serving previously scarse-served areas. Such as supermarkets showing faith in Melksham (with some such as Waitrose bringing significant people to the town centre who may otherwise have shopped in other towns).
With the current and potential future changes, we also need to work out what the future market is going to be for visitors to the town. We mustn't just concentrate on finding out what current users want, but also finding out what the people who don't come into the town are looking for. Because it's in them that the future and an increased prosperity may lie.
Melksham town centre could - and should - be so much more. I hope the town's traders co-ordinate well into the future, open when people want them to be open, and open their arms to those of us who want to help the town as a whole ... including them. Take 1 good set of independent traders. Add one good set of services. Add 1 good range of other stores. Finally, add one set of things to attract visitors from far and wide. Mix well, and you'll have a dozen people in the town for each 1 you've got at the moment. 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 = 12. Each one is important in the mix, but no 1 can develop or plan in isolation.
On Sunday - the first time in a long while - Lisa and I visited the shopping Mall at Cribb's Causeway near Bristol. It was lively and busy; we bought some things we needed in John Lewis (and were disappointed that others were out of stock), we looked at a variety of ladies clothing, we ate at Nando's, and we visited an electronics store where we found an appropriate new screen and sorted out a cabling issue. And we did a bit of window shopping too and enjoyed the atmposphere and the bussle.
There's not a great deal at Cribb's Causeway that I can't find closer to home - and I can find most of it much closer in Melksham. So why do so many people go there, and what can we learn? A lot of it is about the convenience of having everything that we want on a particular visit to a place available to us there, with information about the various options when we get there, and everything open at the same time. Just before we closed on Monday, I walked into Melksham to deliver a letter to three other businesses. All of them were closed, with one of them indicating it wouldn't be open until 10 a.m. on Thursday.