Closure of Wilson's grocer - How can we save the High St?

[seanie]

Strongly disagree Seanie- for 5 years I've trecked to their Marchmont then Bruntsfield shops - along with many many other Porty parents who want choice for their money rather than what's on offer in this area in terms of kids shoes.

Location is important. I'd suggest that in Marchmont and Bruntsfield there's already a bigger customer base for that type of shop so that, whilst people will be willing to travel to it, there'll be a stronger local underpinnings.

If you opened the same shop here you'd be more reliant on people trecking to you, less on local customers, and that makes it a more vulnerable prospect.

As things stand I think there's at least one shop on the High Street that's mis-read the Portobello demographic and whose days are numbered.

[Lambie]

I suspect that Maddie and Mark's do a fair bit of trading online as their site's excellent.

It's sad that the brush shop that was on Victoria Street shut down before internet shopping took off. They'd have been in a brilliant place to set up an online shop.

[seanie]

Does their web site have an on-line shopping facility?

[Lambie]

Ah. I don't think it does. I didn't try and buy anything (nothing in my size) so didn't notice the lack of basket.

That seems like a lot of investment in a website that doesn't make money.

[Sandra]

Broughton Street's Real Foods or Studio One in Morningside are good examples of Edinburgh businesses that people travel across the city for.

agree but I have a friend who lives in New Town and thinks Porty is in the Outer Hebrides - not literally. But she thinks Porty is way too far out!!

I love living in a great community by the sea (and near the town) but not everyone agrees with us. Sadly. And I'd love the type of shops in Bruntsfield/Morningside/Stockbridge in Porty.

[Lambie]

I had a bit of a fun yesterday attempting to visit every shop on the High Street. I met some great people and I think I got quite close to achieving my goal. More to come on that.

There were a few surprises but the best was Bluto's Barber. I've been getting my hair cut in the same place for years but I thought it seemed crazy to talk the "Shop Local" talk and walk the long walk up town for a hair cut. The guys in Bluto's were friendly, welcomed me in and delivered a first rate cut in ten minutes. All at less than half of what I'm used to paying in the West End and in a third of the time. I'm not saying how much. I know I'd get mocked for my previous hair cut spend. Bluto's was very good value.

I'm ashamed to say that I can't remember the guy's name. He did this cool thing with a flaming cotton bud that singed the fine hair around my ears. Dramatic as hell. "It's taught in all the barber schools back home but not here" he told me. So I got a traditional Kurdish hair cut on Porty High Street for £8. Damn.

Maybe something we could do for our High Street would be a shop review forum. Or is that already here and I've missed it?

[allaboardtheskylark]

On the shop local forum. The wee corner shop at Windsor Place which had been run down for some time, has had a clean up and makeover. It's run by a very pleasant couple.

Nice to see the shop being made a go of again.

[Gordon Mackenzie]

So it looks like a number of things have come out of this thread.
1. On the whole, we like the idea of having a bustling High Street rather than a Ghost Street.
2. High St shops could do more to make themselves accessable to working people. For example:
a. They could have at least on e late evening when all the shops were open until say 8pm so people could get there after work. Or on a Sunday.
b. Shops must have reliable hours.
c. Bring in a local loyalty scheme.
d. Shops need to offer a different service from the supermarkets. Strong, niche retailers selling quality products and providing friendly personal service.
e.
3. While the council is not to blame, things like disrupting the traffic flow do not help.
4. New shops need to understand Portobello’s demographics.
From other threads we’ve seen ideas about branding a Bus to the Brach, attracting more to the prom.

Is there a vehicle for putting any of these into action? I counted 9 empty shopfronts this morning.

[Puerto bella]

On a similar note - a really good children's shoe shop like Maddie and Mark's . People travel far and wide to get to them.

How we can save the High St had some interesting discussions on it....

admin: topic continued on on a similar thread; see: How can we revive our High Street?