New Stores For St Mary's Shopping Centre. Have your say on what this means for Thornbury.

By jmitchell27 at 18:34 on 30/10/09

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New Stores For St Mary's Shopping Centre. Have your say on what this means for Thornbury.

By jmitchell27 at 18:34 on 30/10/09
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That's an interesting development, do you have any idea of what stores or what kind of stores will be opening there?

By Caro_23 at 23:47 on 01/11/09
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So far they've only announced that talks are ongoing with a couple of large retailers, but the Gazette says that there have been discussions with confectioners, a shoe shop and a hairdressers.
I must admit that I'm sceptical about whether a new shoe shop can do any better than the many other shoe shops that came before it.

By jmitchell27 at 10:13 on 03/11/09
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cool..looking forward to the new opening!

By evelyn2009 at 09:24 on 10/11/09
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No problem with chain stores if the alternative is empty shops. No problem with more cafes/coffee shops - if there are too many, natural selection will take out the less popular.
But why can't the Centre management make use of empty shops for charity purposes. The Santa Grotto is a good idea. The Film Society has a display in one. Couldn't the Saturday book stall use another - less draughty for the very public spirited people who man the stall.
And yes, thornbury does need a shoeshop - had to go to Yate for shoe boxes to make up Christmas boxes!

By StanMor at 20:59 on 04/12/09
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I'll admit that it's been some time since I bought shoes in Thornbury so I didn't realise that we now had a distinct lack of them (I only remember there being a relative abundance in my earlier years).

By jmitchell27 at 15:17 on 11/12/09
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What?

By LarryCam at 10:33 on 10/01/10
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Sorry about the confusion, I only meant to say that I've not been shoe shopping in Thornbury for many years. After asking around a bit I've found that it's become next to impossible to buy shoes in Thornbury, with the possible exception of Wildings on the high street.

By jmitchell27 at 12:44 on 11/01/10
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It seems a shame that the town does not get any new unique shops and businesses. I believe that would attract people to the town, but instead we get new entrants competing with existing businesses for the same customers.

Greetings cards
Card Bar, opened up in December 2009 in St. Mary's Way. This pedestrian walk way surely has some lessons for the trade.
- Card Warehouse, a failed (2009) discount card shop, five units away
- Cotswold News & Gifts, a successful shop with a fairly large greetings card section
- Clinton Cards, a greetings card chain store (directly opposite)
- Pound World, the previous (failed 2009) occupant, which also sold greetings cards
If I wanted to open a greetings card shop, the last place I would consider, as a location, would be St. Mary's Way, Thornbury - there's too much competition, and a history of business failures.

Hairdressers
As if there were not enough in the town centre with Gigg's, Talking Heads, Troupers, Adrian's, Bryant & Co. and Reflections, we now have Dr Swede having opened up, last month, in St. Mary's Way and Hair Studio in St. Mary's Street.

Other existing repetitive businesses
I used to hear comments about the number of estate agents and charity shops in Thornbury; Michelle Tucker is quick to get a letter of complaint into the Thornbury Gazette, if a new business, selling coffee, opens in competition to Shelly's Cafe; and, for a small town, Thornbury seems to have a generous provision of solicitors, financial services, opticians, pharmacies, pubs and restaurants. In the few years that I have been in Thornbury, I have some of those businesses in difficulties, either closing permanently or being rescued from the brink. Anyway the good news is that the empty unit at 18 High Street (formerly Central) is to open up .... as a charity shop. Well, it does make up for the loss of the Shaw Trust in the St. Mary Centre.

By mwingereza at 12:43 on 02/03/10
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There can be no doubt that there are many duplicate businesses, but I wonder what local people would actually do if they had more choice. I am impressed that a shop like Thornbury Bookshop continues to exist despite competition with Cribbs Causeway and internet retailers like Amazon, and it is this surprise that is the problem - I imagine lots of people are sceptical about whether untried businesses have the potential to succeed here. That being said, flooding the town with multiple businesses of the same type can't possibly be the solution to such a problem.

By jmitchell27 at 15:51 on 02/03/10
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Yesterday I received an email from Greggs the bakers confirming that that company was actively looking for a suitable retail unit in the town.
Is there room for a Greggs in Thornbury? I for one can’t wait!

By Trucks79 at 13:54 on 12/05/10
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Further to this article it would appear that work is going on in the small building in front the former Choices video store in the high street.
The building was formerly an insurance broker, shop fitters have been working outside the building and it looks like they have been installing stainless steel units, (the type that you would normally see in a fast food style place).
No shop signs have yet appeared and after asking local traders no one seems to know any information on what is happening with this unit.
Questions have been raised many times in the past concerning the high number of fast food places in the town and with Greggs also confirming that they are looking to set up shop in the town it will certainly raise the same questions again.
Does anyone know any information on this?

By steve_truckle at 12:28 on 20/05/10
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