Christmas Shopping???

I must say, Nostalgia is my favourite shop on the High Street... (ok... joint first with Penny's Sweets....)

You can't beat the customer service and the products sold are one-off marvels of delight in this cavern where time has stood still.

I must admit I window shop and browse more than I buy in Nostalgia, but when I win the lottery I shall go in and buy everything twice :-D

My personal opinion is that independent traders are the heart of the high street, and i would much rather see the town filled with these than Poundland and Greggs.

Which reminds me... I must take my boots to the cobblers. See you all in town!

I'll begin by saying that I run a small shop on Shepton's Market Place, and have been in business there now for 2 years (but have had my current small business in one form or another since 2003)- And yes, I was open for the recent Christmas evening.
I feel it's a shame that there is such a feeling of 'them and us' in the town - ie: the retail park versus the high street (and now the large Kilver Court redevelopment too). Why can't we all be seen for the differences we each provide? The retail park provides 'the masses' with their every day essentials and that's good. The 'big boys' can afford to pay large quantities of staff to cover long opening hours, seven days a week. The high street provides a different shopping experience which should also be embraced.
If I use my small business as an example: I run it solely on my own. I open 9.30am to 4pm four days a week. I hand make many of the products for my shop. Each is a one-off and a unique item that my customers buy-into. I also make-over vintage and antique products, recycling and creating pieces to be enjoyed for another generation. I cannot pick up a phone and order-in the same item should it sell, or place orders for whole batches of goods – I have to spend time away from the shop sourcing stock every week…it is a way of life and I work very hard at it. In order to survive, I have to have other strings to my business, including selling at specialist fairs, as well as selling on-line, all of which takes me away from my shop sometimes. I appreciate my shop and its products are not to everyone's taste, but I am proud to say that I have an ever-growing core customer group that visit repeatedly and like what I produce/ find to offer for sale. Does the fact that I cannot be at my shop 24/7, or afford to pay staff to man it for me when I cannot be there, mean I should not have a shop? Why can't the differences between the retailers in Shepton be enjoyed for what they are and the small ones no longer have a negative judgement aimed at them? With a more positive attitude, those who enjoy the experience of personal service and a good old chat with a knowledgeable shop owner, will not have this denied them if the high street were to finally crumble. I see many people too quick to cast criticism on the sole trader. Its hard work to keep a small business going, particularly given the current economic climate, but many of us keep at it, often behind the scenes beyond opening hours, because we have a passion for what we do. Keeping these small independents going, keeps a town special…Perhaps the majority of the population would be happy to only have Tesco's and the big chains providing them with their retail needs, but please don't deny those who enjoy a different shopping experience to have what they want too…Even if the owners of these small shops can't promise to be open all hours!

It did amaze me that there were loads of people in town for the switch on of the tree and quite a lot of places closed for the evening. I don't know what the answer is - but a walk up the High Street to the retail park saw everything open. That says something.

I guess it depends what you are looking for. We are very lucky to have the One Craft gallery, the Art Tree, No1, No21, Kilver Court etc. All very artisan and not any good if you want to buy a book, toy etc. On the opening times, Shepton's traders do themselves no favours there; a friend of mine popped into Town for a hair cut at 4pm on a Saturday and the 'no appointment needed' places were all shut. I too have wasted money on car parking only to find the place I wanted was closed for the afternoon.

People often shudder at the chain stores but they are successfull because they give people what they want, when they want it. Once they become successful their practices can become questionable (Tescos get its fair share of grief, although thanks for the xmas tree lights!). Shepton lacks footfall for loads of reasons, and the incentive to stay open 6, let alone 7 days of the week is pretty slim.

Over time I am developing the oppinion (in the face of great sympathy for local traders) that Shepton ought to overcome its chain-o-phobia as with the chains will come footfall, and at the risk of being controversial, we wouldn't ban BT from the town because we've already got 'Daves Internet and phone service' 6 days a week (less Wednesday and Saturday afternoons, naturally). It would be up to the hypothetical Dave to get competitive or fail, leaving the towns people as the winners and Dave either upping his game against real world targets, or going to work for BT, probably.

Sounds harsh, but it's the reality.