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Sunday shop opening hours


Malcolm
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Khit, you are missing my point.

 

The point being that there isn't anywhere offering the service on a Sunday morning not just for visiting ships but for anyone.

 

Perhaps they could do it on a rotation basis. (Just a thought).

 

I do understand what you are saying, and I agree completely. I was just saying that for 180 folk to descend on anywhere at any time would be a bit much than most local catering establishments could reasonably handle, I suspect. imho.

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Malcolm wrote

The demand was certainly there yesterday, I know as I was the one being castigated for there being no cafes or shops open.
Really is this not something that the Port Authority need to look at? Bringing 180 people into Lerwick with most of them wanting breakfast is not going to work even on weekdays so the organisers need to be made aware of this as well as being told that most shops of interest to visitors normally open from 9am (or later) to 5pm Monday to Saturday but some are prepared to open at other times with enough warning.
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With an office full of visitors (43 between 9am and 10am) it was impossible for me to call though I did call round a few places only to be told they "We not provide that service".

 

I was at the Queens today and they did cater for a few "walk ins" yesterday morning and are quite happy to do so.

 

Maybe you phoned around the wrong places. Try phoning the STB members first. :D

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Well yes I thought they did, I know that the Shetland Hotel advertises that they do. Therefore you'd assume the Lerwick does too.

I know I'll take the bairn into the grand if it's raining/snowing while waiting for the bus on a sunday afternoon, they do a passable coffee.

If a hotel has the food and the staff, no manager would pass up the extra business if asked in the right way.

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Were you to blame for the bad weather? No? Then why apologise for something that is well and truly out of your control?

 

 

The point I was trying to make was that we often assume that visitors enjoyment of Shetland depends on good weather when that is not always the case.

 

As for "Most people come to get away from it all" What rot! You only deal with a very small percentage of visitors to the Shetland (Unless your accomodations are vast).

 

If you read the second paragraph of my post again you will see that I acknowledged that I am only one operator. I cannot pretend that our visitors are in any way representative of the majority but I think we are best placed to know what they tell us! I merely sought to add a bit of balance to the debate as someone involved in the industry and to refute the concensus in the majority of the previous posts about how poorly Shetland delivers for visitors when ours, on the whole, don't say so.

 

I agree entirely with you that there is plenty of room for improvement and sympathise with the embarassing position you found yourself in at the weekend. But if tourism is going to develop into a self sustaining industry then ideas and both the finance and the enthusiasm to implement them (with a degree of support or provision from the public sector in certain areas) have to come from people like you and me. If you are so convinced that there is an unmet need (and presumably an untapped business opportunity) in the way of a cafe open in Lerwick on Sundays or bus tours or more tourist accommodation, why not consider setting them up as business ventures of your own?

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Were you to blame for the bad weather? No? Then why apologise for something that is well and truly out of your control?

 

 

The point I was trying to make was that we often assume that visitors enjoyment of Shetland depends on good weather when that is not always the case.

 

As for "Most people come to get away from it all" What rot! You only deal with a very small percentage of visitors to the Shetland (Unless your accomodations are vast).

 

If you read the second paragraph of my post again you will see that I acknowledged that I am only one operator. I cannot pretend that our visitors are in any way representative of the majority but I think we are best placed to know what they tell us! I merely sought to add a bit of balance to the debate as someone involved in the industry and to refute the concensus in the majority of the previous posts about how poorly Shetland delivers for visitors when ours, on the whole, don't say so.

 

I agree entirely with you that there is plenty of room for improvement and sympathise with the embarassing position you found yourself in at the weekend. But if tourism is going to develop into a self sustaining industry then ideas and both the finance and the enthusiasm to implement them (with a degree of support or provision from the public sector in certain areas) have to come from people like you and me. If you are so convinced that there is an unmet need (and presumably an untapped business opportunity) in the way of a cafe open in Lerwick on Sundays or bus tours or more tourist accommodation, why not consider setting them up as business ventures of your own?

 

Beacause like quite a few other topics on Shetlink lately it seems to be easier to vent negative feelings and finding problems to moan about rather simply just taking a 'chance' and moving into a business venture yourself and seeing the problems faced from a proprietors side.

 

What does the LPA have to do with this anyway? All the hotels have a list of cruiseship and sailships etc. arrivals so the information is there if you want it. I don't know about local shops but it can't be too difficult to get that info.

 

Which hotels/cafes are NOT open on Sunday? I bet thats a more difficult question to answer than which ones are open!!

 

Which shops do you feel SHOULD be open on a Sunday for tourists, list them and then we can discuss it.

 

The problem hers is, it wouldn't matter which shops, cafes did or did not open, the next gripe would be people would be moaning if they weren't open all day! :shock:

 

Cheers

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I think Fifi's long and interesting posting makes one point that perhaps highlights the difference between her and the shops and cafes in Lerwick. "When I opened last summer" really is the relevant phrase compared to the Lerwick businesses who are already open six days a week.....and some seven days a week.....for the whole year.

 

It is just not realistic to expect people to open on Sundays when they would otherwise be closed just to cater for passengers from cruise liners or tall ships without any real guarantee that any takings will justify opening.

Sorry, wasn't able to come back to this yesterday. Good sign! Some interesting points coming up though which are worth discussing.

 

Minor point - "When I opened last summer" could be taken two ways. What I meant was 'when I started the shop', which was last year. But yes, you're absolutely right - no way am I the same as the shops in Lerwick which are open throughout the year. I'm open May - mid-Sept 7 days a week and last year, due to requests, tried opening weekends in Nov & Dec which turned out to be very worthwhile. Open any other time by request, but it just wouldn't be worth my type of venture opening year round. I also work the shop in conjunction with internet sales which potentially can be 365 days a year - 24/7 and reach different markets. I'm probably more of a 'lifestyle' business, as they would call it on Dragons' Den ;) and offer a different experience in the country and online.

 

The point I was trying to highlight in my general post, was that regardlesss of what sector you're in, where you're located or when you're open, we all need to constantly review our provision. You can't rest on your laurels or just open your door, provide poor quality items or service and expect everyone to come. Shops in Lerwick often get slated but many are really trying hard to provide good service and to improve things. As someone has mentioned, it's very easy to criticise, even more so when you've chosen to be anonymous, and there's nothing to stop people 'putting their money where their mouth is'. At least some of us are actually trying to do something. I'm getting feedback every day just now from tourists regarding their accommodation, experiences, etc and most are loving it and getting great service. Of course they might be more inclined to voice positive impressions than negative, but that's where surveys, etc are valuable. But any feedback is valuable and helps to inform for future planning. (More live music is often mentioned.)

 

My post wasn't necessarily advocating Lerwick shops opening on a Sunday - it's very much up to them and their circumstances. Whether to open on a Sunday in Lerwick or not for cruise passengers is all down to the bottom line - whether it's worthwhile doing it. If the owner or staff live in Lerwick, then they might think it could be worthwhile trying it out, but some could have to travel a long way. And you still have overheads, regardless of whether you have one customer or a hundred. I think some may have tried it out in the past and not found it worthwhile, however that's not to say that it wouldn't work for some.

 

Shops in Lerwick get cruise ships lists for the season so they do know in advance when they're coming. Cruise ship passengers aren't known for being big spenders, at least not in the shop I worked in. They like to chat to you but don't spend that much. I'm not sure about knitwear shops - they might sell a bit. It seems to be thought that the passengers have paid a lot of money for a cruise which offers everything - food, entertainment, etc - so they're not particularly wanting to spend a lot on shore. Some might though - it would be interesting to see research on how much they spend and on what, to see what financial contribution they make to Shetland in terms of visitor spend.

 

I think shetlander speaks a lot of sense and I also agree with JustMe when he/she says it's "not realistic to expect people to open on Sundays when they would otherwise be closed just to cater for passengers from cruise liners or tall ships without any real guarantee that any takings will justify opening."

 

I do wonder if there's some sort of compromise which could be achieved though. Off the top of my head, whether certain types of shops could try opening, perhaps on a rotational basis, targetting specific wares. (In Kirkwall, you don't get all the shops opening on a Sunday or in the evening but I'm guessing that Judith Glue, with the type of things she sells, finds it worthwhile and it's somewhere for visitors to go on a summer evening and on a Sunday afternoon.) Or could we have 'pop-up' shops, markets or similar offering the kind of things visitors are looking for. Something on Victoria Pier/esplanade during the height of the season? I saw a good idea in Cornwall - a group of brightly painted tiny beach huts. Each was run by a craftsperson. It had doors and shutters which opened to show stuff hanging all over it. Also stuff inside. When they were finished, they just closed it all up with the goods inside - no setting up and packing away each time.

 

(Sorry for the long post again. :) Been saved & bits added back & forth as & when I can manage it.)

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It will be interesting to see how many shops are open tomorrow.

 

Commercial street was absolutely hoaching this morning and all the shops seemed to be full of tourists. The liner due tomorrow afternoon is even bigger than today's. Too many tourists to bus out of the town.

 

Oh and on a Sunday it should be marginally easier to dodge the traffic on the street. Perfect day for a spot of Sunday shopping!

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It will be interesting to see how many shops are open tomorrow.

 

Commercial street was absolutely hoaching this morning and all the shops seemed to be full of tourists. The liner due tomorrow afternoon is even bigger than today's. Too many tourists to bus out of the town.

 

One day this week there were two bus loads of cruise passengers @ Jarlshof and the total sales at the gift shop from these visitors amounted to two postcards. Hardly likely to contribute much towards the overheads.

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If today's cruise ship visit runs to the times shown in the port authority list it will be here for just 6 hours. Now the ship is anchoring in the harbour so passengers will be brought ashore by tender. Now maybe this liner will be different but a lot of times in the past priority for getting ashore goes to those who have bought the coach excursions sold by the shipping company. Means that those who just want to wander around the town will get ashore last and quite possibly have to return to the ship before the coach passengers. Not so much time for shopping.

 

And of course not all passengers want to come ashore especially when they have to use tenders so I have to ask, very much thinking of the two postcard comment earlier, if shopkeepers can really be expect to open for what might turn out to be very little trade. After all shops are businesses not tourist attractions.

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I had a bit of a bizarre moment the other day, trying to rush to get out of my car at the old swimming pool car park to get to a hair appt, only to be surrounded by cruise passengers filming and photographing my car. Didn't have time to talk to them as I was in a rush! Think I'm probably missing a trick - should have my shop/website info on the car! ;)

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Has anybody else seen and heard this video?.

 

Listen to the captain speaking from 5.22 and especially what he says at 5.45+. It speaks volumes about coming here with these bigger cruise boats.

 

But what can be done to make it easier and safer for them?. Is the "in the past" mooted idea of a cruise arm perhaps needed?.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpaW17MvcfY&feature=channel

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