Alec Wall feels Tesco could bring more to Tenbury (From Ludlow Advertiser)
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Alec Wall feels Tesco could bring more to Tenbury
7:00am Thursday 19th January 2012 in Tesco Debate
I AM one of many supporting the application for a Tesco Store to be built on the former Cattle Market because I believe it is the only realistic prospect for the near future to improve the eyesore of the former cattle market. I also believe it will bring more shoppers into the town. The damage caused to small towns by supermarkets was because they were built out of town.
The evidence is increasingly showing a supermarket built in the town centre benefits the town. Morton-in-Marsh, a small market town, similar in size to Tenbury, has three supermarkets in the town centre with no noticeable closure of small shops. They have a large Budgens, a Tesco Express and a Co-op.
The greatest threat to small businesses comes from television and internet sales. All the signs are that that type of trading will increase, Amazon is building a massive warehouse in Staffordshire, and delivery companies are also growing. Change is something we have to live with, at one time there were three blacksmiths in Stoke Bliss, now there are none.
ALEC WALL,
OAK BRIDGE COURT, TENBURY.
Tenbury Futures says...
12:31am Tue 24 Jan 12
With other developers now actively looking at the cattle market site and more blended developments with a smaller retail element, we think that there are better options for the site.
Only this weekend we visited Ilkeston, a town in Derbyshire. Since the Tesco was built towards the bottom end of the town the main shopping street has now seen a growing rash of closed and boarded-up shops. This trend has been further exacerbated since another supermarket settled in near to the Tesco store too causing a clutch of supermarkets.
Tesco -is- the root cause of the ruin of their highstreet; trade has polarised to the supermarket end of town and shoppers now just do a quick 'one stop shop'. They don't bother with walking off into the high street to use their bespoke and family shops. Once they have their bags of groceries in the car, chilled goods and frozen, then stopping any longer to go off into adjoining shops is neither attractive or logical.