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Lerwick town centre


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In my opinion I prefer the Toll Clock, reasonable parking, under cover and some great shops,

 

Planticrub for your gardening needs amongst other bits,

Scoop great variety and meat etc,fantastic service.

Artisan shop beautiful unique handcrafted pieces cannot buy on internet excellent service

Post office,

Suit shop

Butchers

Fishmonger

Hairdressers

Olive tree great service and food

Skippy dock another cafe

Plus others .

 

So much easier to shop here, apart from the banks and bookshop.

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Guest Mr.Brown

 

If it's the internet to blame then all shops would struggle and eventually close regardless of location, except for shops selling food or things you need and can't buy off the internet.

 

 

What can you not buy on the net?

 

 

http://amzn.to/2nmsHsu

You no doubt can buy anything & everything on the net if that's what you want. There are pros & cons for both internet shopping & the diy type, it's a matter of weighing them up to decide what suits you best. It's personal choice, no one else can make that for you. However it probably would never be practical to order your groceries directly from south & I don't know of any firms that provide that service anyway. You would still need a middle man, as in a shop to provide your groceries. Even if you opt to do your shopping on line with Tescos they would still need to have a shop open to the public (& not become just an internet service) for the odd pint of milk or bread, basically the sort of things you might use more of than usual occasionally & run out of or things you want to buy fresh daily/every other day. So there is always going to be a demand for a shop of some description. Having more than one source for our life's necessities would seem much wiser than being totally dependent on one supplier. As I pointed out in a previous post one thing that may be viewed as a negative about internet shopping is that it is not an immediate purchase & sometimes in life we find ourselves in a situation where that is required. Both the supermarkets sell a fairly broad range of goods but they don't sell everything & don't have the room to cater for every eventuality. Certain items may not be stocked of the quality that you want. I am not out to knock supermarkets or internet shopping or their users (I've already said I use them both), but I firmly believe there is still a need & a place in the modern world for other shops, both independent retailers & chains. The out dated thing about this subject is that stumbling blocks are being put in the way of the public using the shops in the modern way ie. more car use to get to them & therefore more parking needed.

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If it's the internet to blame then all shops would struggle and eventually close regardless of location, except for shops selling food or things you need and can't buy off the internet.

 

What can you not buy on the net?

 

 

http://amzn.to/2nmsHsu

You no doubt can buy anything & everything on the net if that's what you want. There are pros & cons for both internet shopping & the diy type, it's a matter of weighing them up to decide what suits you best. It's personal choice, no one else can make that for you. However it probably would never be practical to order your groceries directly from south & I don't know of any firms that provide that service anyway. You would still need a middle man, as in a shop to provide your groceries. Even if you opt to do your shopping on line with Tescos they would still need to have a shop open to the public (& not become just an internet service) for the odd pint of milk or bread, basically the sort of things you might use more of than usual occasionally & run out of or things you want to buy fresh daily/every other day. So there is always going to be a demand for a shop of some description. Having more than one source for our life's necessities would seem much wiser than being totally dependent on one supplier. As I pointed out in a previous post one thing that may be viewed as a negative about internet shopping is that it is not an immediate purchase & sometimes in life we find ourselves in a situation where that is required. Both the supermarkets sell a fairly broad range of goods but they don't sell everything & don't have the room to cater for every eventuality. Certain items may not be stocked of the quality that you want. I am not out to knock supermarkets or internet shopping or their users (I've already said I use them both), but I firmly believe there is still a need & a place in the modern world for other shops, both independent retailers & chains. The out dated thing about this subject is that stumbling blocks are being put in the way of the public using the shops in the modern way ie. more car use to get to them & therefore more parking needed.

 

 

Where is the middle man when you order your foods online from Tesco, to be delivered as and when required?

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This outsider's POV says that locals who support local businesses -- regardless of the inconvenience, make the community stronger and more viable. 

 

Walking around Lerwick is extremely pleasant; carrying purchases home is simply good exercise; patronizing local businesses benefits everybody.

 

Not everyone pushes a tram, rides in a wheelchair, or is otherwise challenged for mobility. There is no charge for parking -- wherever you find a spot.

 

Self-sufficiency seems to be a conviction, a way of life for Shedlanders -- and it's totally wonderful to see it in practice when locals support local businesses. 

 

And that's what I think.

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Guest Mr.Brown

The sense that I was using "middle man" in was to illustrate that we need someone to bring food up in bulk from the mainland ie Tescos. If we didn't have shops (of some type) based here we would be screwed as none of them deliver individual grocery orders directly from south to the best of my knowledge. The ability to do grocery shopping online with Tescos is facilitated by them having a shop here in the first instance. I maybe should have described it as being a bridge rather than a middle man. Hope that clears it up! I am personally in the camp of making as many shopping options available to us so that we can all choose what suits us best.

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This outsider's POV says that locals who support local businesses -- regardless of the inconvenience, make the community stronger and more viable. 

 

Walking around Lerwick is extremely pleasant; carrying purchases home is simply good exercise; patronizing local businesses benefits everybody.

 

Not everyone pushes a tram, rides in a wheelchair, or is otherwise challenged for mobility. There is no charge for parking -- wherever you find a spot.

 

Self-sufficiency seems to be a conviction, a way of life for Shedlanders -- and it's totally wonderful to see it in practice when locals support local businesses. 

 

And that's what I think.

 

I'm undecided if you're being tongue in cheek, or just need to disable autocucumber. Trams....Shedlanders??

 

On a more serious note. The benefits of supporting local business are, generally speaking, obvious, and not really in dispute. The motivation to follow through with many Shetland businesses though takes a hit, when you check out just how much over the odds they expect you to pay for the privilege.

 

A "reasonable" mark up over internet etc suppliers is expected, but when that mark up hits the 20% or in some cases the 50% mark, if not more, it crosses over in to extracting urine territory with a lot of folk. Especially when you see the owner(s) of such businesses driving near new higher end vehicles and residing in sprawling recent builds.....while you juggle the pennies so that they don't run out before the month runs out.

 

Fairly priced and things would work, but too many of us still remember the days when the street 'shopkeepers mafia' did everything they could to keep off isle competition out and kept their own prices at the highest possible they could wring out of folk - and too many current day shopkeepers appear to think they're still trading in such glory days, or at least are trying to bring them back.

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Guest Mr.Brown

This outsider's POV says that locals who support local businesses -- regardless of the inconvenience, make the community stronger and more viable. 

 

Walking around Lerwick is extremely pleasant; carrying purchases home is simply good exercise; patronizing local businesses benefits everybody.

 

Not everyone pushes a tram, rides in a wheelchair, or is otherwise challenged for mobility. There is no charge for parking -- wherever you find a spot.

 

Self-sufficiency seems to be a conviction, a way of life for Shedlanders -- and it's totally wonderful to see it in practice when locals support local businesses. 

 

And that's what I think.

I would agree with some of what you say but although I am not a driver (yes I know I have said it before!) there are many practical reasons why a person would need to use their car for shopping. Any plan of action to assist the survival of shopping areas where ever they are needs to take into account all requirements to have a fighting chance of succeeding. Strange that when there are more cars on the roads (& in Shetland they are a necessity rather than a luxury for most) that car parking spaces have been eroded! One of the most suitable areas for parking, the pier, has had its spaces cut & is charged for in recent years. I don't think that lack of parking is the only issue that affects the street but I think it is a significant one.

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when the traffic calming measures are used as an excuse by many not to shop on the street you really have seen a first world problem.

 

Free parking is one of the wonderful things about Shetland. Try to park anywhere near any other town centre in the UK and you will be dipping your hands in your pocket to park. I have no idea how much parking is on the pier, but I doubt that they are asking you to hand over your first born for a space. If you are employed the chances are you can afford it. If not, go and park in the hundreds of other available spaces in Lerwick in car parks and street parking spaces. If you don't give a turd about pedestrians, feel free to park on the pavement, many do. Unless you are disabled or buying a washing machine, then the walk and carrying a few items will do you some good.

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The old swimming pool car park has a huge amount of spaces, then there is both sides of the Hillhead, St Olaf St, King Harald St and all the interconnecting roads.  There is no shortage of parking.  If you have driven in from say, Gulberwick, and you park on the Hillhead, you have saved yourself a very long walk.

 

The street is a hassle for pedestrians because of cars, many of which should not be there (in the restricted zone).  If someone opened a doughnut shop I am sure that we would see more Plod on the street.

 

The last thing we want is shops not competing.  There was previously a cartel-like operation where you couldn't buy a pair of stockings in shop A because there was an agreement that only shop B would sell them.  I needed them for research purposes!  Look at the improvement that Specsavers has brought to the street.

 

Living Lerwick needs to be binned, and the traders should have their own committee with the SIC sat in on it taking notes on what would improve the area for shoppers and traders.

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Guest Mr.Brown

I suspect you are on a semi serious wind up BM but OK I've got 5 minutes (only!) so I'll bite. Firstly our "first world" problem with the traffic calming measures. Sure it's not the most serious or tragic thing that's ever been inflicted on an individual but it may well of been a serious & tragic waste of money & debatably an unnecessary expenditure. That subject would probably need a thread of its own if there isn't already one.

Secondly I don't think anyone is denying the existence of free parking just that there is not enough of it near the street. It is hardly practical having to park half way across the town if you have shopping to keep delivering to your car. It doesn't have to be the size of a washing machine to be heavy going & it would be very time consuming, most folk do have other commitments on their time. Of course people are going to choose somewhere with free parking over paying for it & I can honestly say I do know several people who even in a full time job have to rob Peter to pay Paul to afford to keep a car on the road. It's called minimum wage & a couple of them on only slightly more, they have to pay close attention to the pennies. I can't see why anybody, driver or not, would object to enough suitable parking spaces being provided. Its a fact that there are more cars on the road & better that they are catered for (parking wise) than having a problem with even more cars cluttering up narrow side roads or committing the problems you highlighted yourself.

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The old swimming pool car park has a huge amount of spaces, then there is both sides of the Hillhead, St Olaf St, King Harald St and all the interconnecting roads.  There is no shortage of parking.  If you have driven in from say, Gulberwick, and you park on the Hillhead, you have saved yourself a very long walk.

 

Admittedly its been a while, but last I had any expereince of parking around there, the Swimming Pool, Toon Hall Brae and bits and pieces of the immediately surrounding roads Government employees, both local and central, and a few folk working on or around the street seemed to consider those areas their personal parking areas, as for the most part their's were the cars that sat there unmoved from 9-5 Mon - Fri.

 

King Harald and St Olaf have some potential (next Tuesday excepted), but unless there's been big changes in residents attitudes recenty, they're exactly the kind of places that if you do park there you'll get somebody from whatever house you've parked in front of come out as soon as you try to leave it and tell you to move it, be waiting when you when you come back to berate you for leaving it there, or at the very least sticking a note under a wiper telling you not to park there again as its, to paraphrase 'our frontage, and our parking spaces'.

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