So goes the old saying, "You can take a horse to water but you can't make him drink". Too true. This can easily be translated to the town where I live. Denbigh is like a template for so many other towns in our country today. A former market town whose ancient market is now the site of a supermarket. A supermarket sanctioned by the local council which has impacted far more on the town centre than they originally promised. A high street in extremis wondering how much longer it will be able to exist without life support. A quality selection of charity shops run by community volunteers. A quite staggering array of fast food shops. Two out of every five Denbigh residents work in the public sector. That is not only the highest proportion in the county of Denbighshire but is also one of the highest proportions of any town in the UK today.
News of the closure of Tiggs is therefore hardly surprising. I feel desperately sorry for the people who tried to make a go of it. We used the shop regularly and found the quality of the goods excellent and the staff fantastic. So why has it failed? What did they do wrong? I don't think they did anything wrong. Just like the plethora of pubs which also predominate our town, this shop was dependent on people walking through the door. That eventuality was ultimately dependent on local people using the high street. Going through the door of a pub or shop is one thing. Spending your money there is another. It is the latter which sustains local business.
If this piece sounds uncomfortable, I'm glad. If our high street is to have a sustainable future, people are going to have to be taken out of their comfort zones. I don't think Morrison's enjoys quite the same market share since the emergence of LIDL as a viable player. LIDL has just filled the long standing hole which emerged following the demise of Kwik Save. As many locals have said recently, Morrison's (like the other big supermarkets) is actually expensive. I am therefore amazed to see so many full trolleys whenever I have to go there given that we keep hearing about a cost of living crisis. Do a like for like shop in LIDL and see what I mean. The arrival of Morrison's killed our local green grocer although I'm pleased to see that the flower shop has since started to offer a few lines. The bakery which took over Alwyn Thomas' has also gone by the way side but again, not through anything they've done wrong. Once again, they were done for by Morrison's. I appreciate that the Co-Op is a factor in all of this but with respect, when was the last time you saw someone at the check out with a full trolley of shopping?
The shops on the high street can't just expect people to use the high street if they aren't good enough. But they are good enough and have been good enough. So why are the current 8,062 Denbigh residents turning their back on their own town? This does not include the 10,000 living in the surrounding villages who all need to use the town regularly. Is it because we don't have enough shops? Is it because we don't have enough well known national chains (only Boots and Holland and Barrett as I write)? Is it because parking a car is an issue? Is it because there's not enough choice to sit down and eat?
I think parking is an issue. Like it or not, we are firmly in the age of the motor car. People have become more sedentary. They aren't in the habit walking in the way they were years ago. Denbigh has an obvious problem. It is only flat for a very short distance on the top of town and there's really not a lot we can do about that. But consider this: It has had a borough charter since 1290 so why are the hills an issue now? Obviously, in those days people walked through lack of alternative unless they were sufficiently affluent to own a horse. So is the current factory ward car park sufficiently big, sufficiently well sign posted and sufficiently close to the main high street? I would argue that it is close enough for anyone. The current parking tariff of 10p for 30 minutes or 50p for longer needs to be abolished. There should be no barrier to people using the high street. The cost of employing someone to collect the current revenues is probably not cost effective anyway. If the existing tariff was removed, I wonder if the current car park would be big enough but that is a matter of conjecture. But one thing is for sure - it is not well sign posted. That is not an issue for locals because they all know where it is. It is an issue for visitors though and a friend of ours recently complained about this when he came to visit. That said, I suspect the majority of current shoppers on Denbigh high street are on foot anyway since so many people live within easy walking distance. Also, I always see plenty of available car parking spaces whenever I walk through that way.
When I was little, people could park along the middle of the road on Denbigh high street and for the life of me, I don't understand why that was ever dispensed with. They could have changed the system to emulate the current arrangement in Bala where people can pull in on either side of the road. They could also have done the really bold thing and just pedestrianised the high street. I feel the latter could save the high street. It would not be beyond the wit of man to go back to the idea of a by-pass starting at Lenten Pool which goes to the Industrial Estate.
Many people I speak to cite the internet as being the biggest threat to our high street and all the latest figures do point to a continuing growth in internet transactions. In a way, you can see why. People can often get a better price on line without the need to use expensive petrol or diesel to go and collect their goods. That is true but internet transactions do lack in other areas. For one thing, you don't get a face to face contact. For all the power of the internet, nothing will ever be as vital and powerful as face to face human contact. It is human contact which drives community. Cheaper prices do not drive community as enticing as they might be. In the world before the internet, the majority of shop keepers made a living. Mostly, they did not make a fortune because that was not their motive for keeping a shop. Their motive was to make a living and become a vital cog in their local community. If high streets like the one in Denbigh are to thrive again, two things need to happen. The local people must once more appreciate the fact that the high street has more to offer than corporate supermarkets or the internet. For their part, the local shop keepers must realise that their realistic potential is to make a living rather than a killing. To do this, they need to supply the existing needs of the population they serve.
I referred earlier to the so called cost of living crisis. It is a fashionable expression which bemuses me. It refers to the fact that many people have less disposable income now than when the recession first took hold in 2008. I also appreciate that there are a minority whose income is now less than their outgoings and know from my own experience how difficult that can be. Seldom has the abilty to budget been more important than in today's competitive world. But for those who can and do budget, there are arguably more bargains than ever for the shrewd shopper. If we really are in the depths of a cost of living crisis, I can only say that I've never seen so many cars on the road which suggests that the "crisis" may not be as bad as we are led to believe. In my world, the car has long since become a luxury item reserved for essential journeys. If more people were prepared to compromise on how often they choose to use their car, I suspect their disposable incomes would improve.
The pubs in Denbigh were once the epicentre of it's vibrant community. Compared to the crowds I used to see at the weekend, the pubs have seen their trade diminish in recent times. There are two possible explanations. The first suggests that people are drinking less and yet all the evidence points to the opposite in the over 25 age groups. The second explanation is that drinkers are drinking at home first in a bid to save themselves the expense of a night out. Fair enough. The problem is that the pubs are fighting a battle on a far from level playing field. Until such time as the supermarkets are reined in with their offers of cheap booze, the days of the pubs seem sadly numbered. When the playing field is once more level, the pubs will once more thrive and by inference, so too will the community. When we've had too much in the pub, there is a willing crowd of witnesses (community) on hand to remind us after the event. At home, no such crowd is on hand and for many, that can be the start of the slippery slope.
Towns in other parts of the UK have resorted to all sorts of novel ploys in order to regenerate their town centres. There are some who have initiated a town centre loyalty scheme complete with their own currency and reward points but I have my reservations about that approach. If the community is strong in the first place, we should not need to incentivise them to use their local shops. Incentivising customers is the domain of the big supermarkets and has been instrumental in their success. Think about it. If their prices were fair in the first place, why would they be offering us rewards to shop there. Unfortunately, many use them for the convenience of being able to park and get just about everything they needed under one roof. That is understandable but what is not understandable is the premium in price they are prepared to pay for the privilege.
One of the biggest attractions to me about shopping locally is the human contact. I am able to find out about local events. I am able to find out about real local issues which affect all of us. I can satisfy myself that I am supporting a local person in a local job usually in the private sector. If more people took this approach, there would be more local shops employing greater numbers of local people. They would also be offering a wider range of goods.
News of a proposed merger between Denbighshire and Conwy councils will undoubtedly result in numerous redundancies. Instead of seeing this as a threat though, we should be seizing the opportunity. This means that there will be a greater number looking to fill the existing jobs. Competition is never a bad thing because it serves to improve the existing offerings of local businesses. If the town once more begins to recognise the unique advantages of having a vibrant high street - and the vibrant community which goes with that - more shops will emerge to fill the existing gaps. This would lead to even more job opportunities. There are items which I can't get in Denbigh currently but that does not have to remain the case. That can change if demand increases. Having a burgeoning independent sector is the mark of a successful modern town. Such towns bring in the tourists because they become shining lights amid the gloom of general high street demise. At present, just 1 in 7 Denbigh residents is employed in retail. That figure is obviously made up of both full and part time positions. But that figure could be significantly increased if more local people got behind the town. I've often heard local people bemoaning the trend in which our young people end up leaving the area due to a lack of employment opportunies but it doesn't have to be like that. If we do what we've always done, we'll get what we've always got.
I started this piece reflecting on the sad demise of Tiggs at the former Woolworths site. That premises is one of the biggest retail floor spaces in the town and we need to ask why Woolworths came to the end of the road. Although still missed by many, Woolworths was simply not supported by enough people. This was true of the people of Denbigh and just about every other town with a Woolworths branch in the UK. The point I make is that Woolworths was a big national player. We would be better served by an independent shop filling that gap preferably being run by a local person with a sound working knowledge of the local community. The location of Tiggs is also noteworthy because in many ways it is the start point of the Denbigh retail community if you are walking in to town from the Lenten Pool area (rumours of hoards of people walking in to town from Morrison's are yet to be corroborated!). All the more reason for the next occupier to be local and preferably supplying those goods currently lacking in the town. I've seen people suggesting national names like B&M or Home Bargains. Their product offering would certainly fit the bill but they are neither local nor independent. That said, either would be an improvement on yet another empty retail unit.
Any plans to breathe life back in to the high street in Denbigh ought to involve the one trump card the town has left to play. Although it has recently benefited from a new £600,000 visitor centre, Denbigh Castle is surely instrumental in bringing in visitors. I wonder if CADW could be doing more to promote this jewel in our crown? There is huge potential here and I don't think it has even been dented yet.
So what will become of Tiggs? In a way, I can apply the same question to the entire high street. Although it's an old cliche, if we don't use it, we'll lose it. Before we know it, the council will give planning consent to another of the big four supermarkets and the writing will be on the wall. In a piece last year, I cited three buildings which I consider vital to the rebirth of our once thriving high street. Nothing since then has altered my view. The cinema on Love Lane, the Church Institute and the Crown Hotel form a key triangle within which any regeneration will take place. I don't know if we'll ever have a cinema on Love Lane again (although the films at Theater Twm o'r Nant are excellent) but I see no reason why the other two buildings can't once more play an integral part in the life of our town. On a final note, I'm really pleased to see a conversation starting to emerge on social networks like this. This is a good first step because it shows that enough people actually care.
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