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Lerwick town centre


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I would say The Fort and Universal stores are the biggest losers.

 

You can have competition, but too many people selling the same thing, nobody wins and this can encourage poorer quality items.

 

Shetland TImes needs to stock more books, both children and adult. I would be in more often buying if there was greater variety, as I prefer to buy book from a shop than internet unless I have to. Get rid of the birthday cards, gifts and silly little toys, and concentrate on being a quality book shop.

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We have traffic calming measures because little boys in hatchbacks were using Commercial Road akin to a drag strip.  If Plod had put the doughnuts down and handed out a few tickets the little boys would have gone to play elsewhere, but little boys being little boys need to be noticed, hence the loud pipes and driving around the town in circles in their little hatchbacks going nowhere.

 

These people who don't have the time, what are they doing?  Running international mega corporations from their crofts?  Manning the Shetland nuclear deterent control centre outpost?  Scanning the skies for Russian nuclear bombers?  Providing life-saving electricity by pedalling a bike with a dynamo connected to granny's's iron lung?  Writing their PhD on the physics involved in setting up the steam catapult required to safely launch a car full of passengers from Toft to Gutcher?  Or are they spending their time sat in front of the telly watching brain numbing dross and BBC propaganda like most of the rest of the populace?  Frankly, the "don't have time" argument doesn't wash.  We have never had so much spare time.  You can walk from King Harald St to the street and back in less than 10 minutes.  There is plenty of parking within less than half a mile of the street.  People are being idle.  People don't even want to park on a hill, because it's inconvenient

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All those places you describe are public roads Ghosty, and parking is on a first there gets the space basis.  The owners pay their road tax (VED) or are exempt.  If they and their cars meet their legal obligations then they can park as long as they like where they like, parking restrictions permitting.  If you want the space, just arrive earlier.

 

If anyone leaves a note on your windscreen point out the above.

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I would say The Fort and Universal stores are the biggest losers.

 

You can have competition, but too many people selling the same thing, nobody wins and this can encourage poorer quality items.

 

Shetland TImes needs to stock more books, both children and adult. I would be in more often buying if there was greater variety, as I prefer to buy book from a shop than internet unless I have to. Get rid of the birthday cards, gifts and silly little toys, and concentrate on being a quality book shop.

 

Competition also encourages higher quality items.  Look at how cars have moved on.  You don't even have to wind your windows up and down or crank start the car anymore.  They even have hill start assist!

 

Shetland Times is on a hiding to nothing as a book shop, because of Amazon.  I have seen people in there scanning the barcodes on the books to compare with Amazon pricing.  Diversifying is a good idea for them.

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Guest Mr.Brown

I would imagine that most people have a lot to do with their time. A lot of people have full or part time jobs outside the home & maybe a croft to run too. But even without the croft they quite possibly have various family commitments to fit around their jobs. You maybe can walk up the hill from the street & back in 10 minutes, I used to be able to but I couldn't do it now & I know it isn't from spending all my time on my behind "watching brain numbing dross" on tv! You might not care if someone made such judgmental statements about you without knowing you or your life but would you think that they were justified in doing so? (Rhetorical).

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Competition also encourages higher quality items I kind of disagree here, it encourages retailers to seek similar item at a cheaper wholesale cost as very often the consumer looks at price first when comparing products. Therefore you get inferior products.

 

Your car analogy has more to do with technological advancement than competition, otherwise there is no need for cars as we all have legs.

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Making something out of gold instead of stainless steel is not technological advancement, it is because the manufacturer sees a higher profit margin in it, so perhaps we should agree that there will always be a race to the bottom for those that can accept lower quality items, and a race to the top for those that want a better quality item.

 

What we seem to often have in Lerwick shops is low quality at "premium" prices.

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“What we seem to often have in Lerwick is low quality at premium prices”. Totally agree with you here.

 

However at Toll Clock, there are more specialist or unique shops.The shopping centre is thriving well, with some excellent shops and some outstanding products. Why is this ?

Edited by wotsit
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Despite the rhetorical nature of your point Mr Brown my response is that I don't care what people think of me, but if they are critical, then they may well have justification in being so.  I do get tired of hearing the perfectly able bodied moan about how difficult it is not being able to park in the doorway of the shop, although they don't quite word it this way.  Seeing young mums with pushchairs struggle around vehicles parked on the pavement also grinds my gears.

 

My comment - You can walk from King Harald St to the street and back in less than 10 minutes.

 

Should have been - I can walk from King Harald St to the street and back in less than 10 minutes.

 

Overweight and in my early sixties, many of the few people walking in the same direction as me are doing so much more quickly.

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“What we seem to often have in Lerwick is low quality at premium prices”. Totally agree with you here.

 

However at Toll Clock, there are more specialist or unique shops.The shopping centre is thriving well, with some excellent shops and some outstanding products. Why is this ?

 

Because people can usually walk less than 50 yards to get to the shops.  The shops being indoors may have something to do with it.  Thriving may be overstating the matter.  One particular shop has been opened and closed down in many guises, (Inside Out, craft shop, womens dress shop), and ironically seemed to be doing best when it opened as a charity shop.  Particularly of note for me is Bolts, Scoop, The Olive Tree and the Scalloway butchers.

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This is turned into a interesting post with plenty of views.

 

Hope the Living Lerwick new managers are following it and taken notes, seeing as they are the "experts" in improving da street and getting more footfall.

 

I fully agree with what Big Mouth said about the Living Lerwick BID should be scrapped and shop owners set up their own agreement with the council, which would get OUR voices heard about problems of da street.

 

It's not right that we HAVE to be part of this Living Lerwick and Have to pay their yearly fee which various between £200 - £800 per year depending on the rates value of the building the shop/service or business are in.

 

If we don't pay then they get dept recovry management team involved then you get a court warrant.

 

Even the charity shops are expected to pay this.

 

What has Living Lerwick done for this money? For me as a shop owner, they have done nothing to help or support my shop. Most other shop owners feel the same, but sadly they are to afraid to voice their opinion publicly or to Living Lerwick members incase it causes trouble or ill feeling.

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All those places you describe are public roads Ghosty, and parking is on a first there gets the space basis.  The owners pay their road tax (VED) or are exempt.  If they and their cars meet their legal obligations then they can park as long as they like where they like, parking restrictions permitting.  If you want the space, just arrive earlier.

 

If anyone leaves a note on your windscreen point out the above.

 

No argument with any of that, but it doesn't stop those who perceive a part of the public road is their own personal carpark from giving the earful - You don't need to have that in your life as well as having to be in the toon....

 

Which brings up another point. The desire to make other use of their time than faffing around getting to and from the street, for some, has nothing to do with what that use is, but rather a very deep dislike of having to be in the toon at all, and an almost insane desire to hightail it right outta there as soon as possible.

 

The wham, bam, thankyou ma'am outlets are always going to win over the slow, sedate, leisurely 'shopping experience' ones just so as you can leave the Soond Brae behind you ASAP>

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Your forgetting the Fish mongers and the very successful Artisan Shop, there are more empty shops in street than Bolts.

 

The only empty shop in Bolts I hear is soon to be filled from one from the street, Bolts for me anyway is the place to shop.

 

I rarely buy fish, and if I do it comes in a tin.  I do eat a fair bit of it when out for a meal.  I have bought items from the artisan shop, but I rarely see anyone, bar the shopkeeper in there, and I pass there every Saturday at least.  I rarely see anyone in what was Bolts Electricals, nor the clothes shop.  The shop at the top of the stairs near the Post Office holds no interest for me.

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