This, ladies and gentlemen, is your high street. No prizes there. You recognise it. It’s familiar. I could just as easily have put up a picture of the Landgate, the Strand or Needles Passage. “Yes, that’s Rye” you would say.
Just over a year ago, I wrote a series of articles about the state of the hospitality industry. Hospitality is my primary expertise, but since joining Rye News, I have expanded my remit to include the many shops and businesses to be found in Rye. As you know, we are fairly rare in being a champion of independent retailing. The daily stresses and struggles of a shopkeeper are similar, whatever you actually sell.
Since Christmas, I know of two local businesses that have ceased trading and one restaurant in Hastings. I also know of the many businesses that are officially or unofficially on the books of local estate agents.
And then there’s the loss of the Brewery Yard Club. As we know, this has nothing to do with lack of business, inexperience or bad management. Jane Brook is exactly the kind of energetic, dynamic, powerhouse that this town needs and thankfully for us, she is the right person to head the Chamber of Commerce at this difficult time.
There are many reasons for a business to fail, but most of them resort back to money. No money to pay staff properly, so they leave; no money to pay for additional staff, so the existing team leave and the business has to reduce its hours or close; no money to restock, so no customers; no customers. A business draining the owner’s personal finances; online sales making a physical shop a luxury; the bricks and mortar being more valuable than the turnover; inadequate rent, leading to the realisation of an asset. Just as everyone’s story is deeply complex, so are the myriad reasons to take that ultimate step and close.
The picture is not all bad. I also know of three businesses that have opened up recently and another that has expanded; two of which are hospitality businesses and a further catering business moving to larger premises in Hastings.
But I implore you, just as I did a year ago, to keep shopping locally, as much as finances allow; or to support Scallop Week, or the jazz and arts festivals. Because every shop or business owner is also someone else’s customer and the breaking of that chain has disastrous consequences. There is no one who isn’t impacted by the current cost of living crisis, but try to alter your habits, with your neighbours and your town in mind, if you can.
I went to the Brewery Yard Club yard sale last weekend. Jane had organised it with the same precision, energy and good humour as any event that she puts on; Elise, her right hand, by her side as ever. A cold, dark, empty shop is always depressing, but I was struck by the sense of sadness voiced by everyone who had turned out to show their support. For those of you who missed it, there will be another sale this Sunday, January 21 between 10am and 2pm.
Jane and Elise aren’t going anywhere, but if we don’t keep supporting the small businesses of Rye, very soon we won’t recognise our high street anymore and this last picture, will become the rule rather than the exception…
Image Credits: Nick Forman , Natasha Robinson .
I understand what you’re saying but there will be many of us who don’t recognise the High Street as it is now.
I don’t understand what this means? You won’t support anything new? You won’t support anything that you ‘don’t recognise? Should a place be stuck completely in the past so only older inhabitants are comfortable there, or should it attempt to move with the times, at least a little? I don’t think many Ryers would be happy with a half-shuttered town either, if things continue to get more and more grim for local business owners.
That’s as maybe, so you have two options, embrace the new or simply accept the High St has changed. It’s life, nothing stays the same for ever.
UK retail business is undergoing a revolution, with online sales becoming ever more popular — leading to a change in the high street as we once knew it. What concerns me about Rye is the lack of shops and businesses that are truly ‘useful’ to local people. For example, the butcher and green grocer have closed in the High Street. My estimate is that perhaps only half a dozen businesses in the High Street are of use to local people on a regular basis. Stores aimed primarily at visitors have a hefty presence. Some of these shops see such little trade in winter, they might as well be closed. It seems inevitable that in future, our high street will feature more service based enterprises such as cafes, restaurants and hotels and far fewer shops selling goods that can be purchased more cheaply online. Some of the tourist shops will survive, while others will go under. Local people suffering from the cost of living crisis are, sadly, unlikely to be shelling out for scallop meals this year. Nor will they shop locally when far cheaper purchases are available elsewhere. It’s the law of the retail jungle. People are prepared to pay a little over the odds for a local product, however. Another problem in Rye concerns the loss of what I call ‘socially important’ spaces/activities as premises are redeveloped into more profitable flats and housing. The struggle over the future of Rye Hire is a case in point. High streets could well become more residential in future. Hospitality businesses are still exposed to a high risk of failure as people may become less inclined to mix if infectious diseases take hold again.
There is an excellent butchers in Cinque Port St – a short walk from the High St. Perhaps the question is, ‘Why are there fewer shops that are ‘truly useful to locals?’
There are multiple reasons, many of which you answered. Retailing has changed over the last 20 years. We can only expect local businesses to support a local community with the variety of goods they need IF the local community continue to buy from them.
Business owners have to adapt to survive. It is a fact of life, that as our buying habits continue to change High Streets will provide for the majority whether they are a local or a tourist and will not necessarily be focused on stocking what some may class as ‘truly useful’.
Every online shopping order is a nail in the coffin of our high streets.
The only regular shops left in the High Street are the bakery, chemist and book shops. All the rest seem to cater for visitors or those with with deep pockets. We are lucky to have a greengrocer and butcher in Cinque Ports Street but that’s about it, unless you want art, coffee, expensive clothes, jewellery, rugs etc. Not your everyday things.
The simultaneous loss of the Edinburgh Woollen Mill and Rye Shoes next door, as well as all the banks except one, was a big blow for the High Street, but please don’t overlook several smaller shops in Rye, including Channons, Rye DIY and especially Rye Hire (for all sorts of household and DIY stuff), Adams, Art-Write, Penny Royal, the key shop in Market Road, Bargain Box (stocked floor to ceiling!) and the three excellent charity shops, not to mention our excellent library. These are just the ones that come to mind – just explore! Obvious gaps include cheaper clothes and most footwear, but some (and much more) can be found in the weekly market. So all is not lost by any means, but Margot’s right – buy local whenever you can.
Hear, hear Ben and Clare. I believe that if the shop sells what the majority of the townspeople need, it will be successful. Here in Hastings Old Town, there are a plethora of shops where one can buy expensive gifts, greetings cards, etc but hardly anywhere to buy fresh food or everyday household goods. As Clare pointed out, our shops are now targeted for visitors or the wealthy second-homers and their ilk.
Well said Ben, I used to live at Rye Harbour and shopped in Rye many times,we visit a few times in the year but as for shopping for groceries, not good.
I have long described Rye as a beautiful trinket town – almost turning itself into a theme park for visitors to come and admire, but with little of practical use for the local population. Most of the shops in the High Street are aimed fairly and squarely at visitors, and in many cases it seems that even their owners are from out of the town. There is no store that acts as a draw for others now – as Woolworths used to do many years ago – no banks apart from Nationwide. So no real reason to come into town….. Living just out of the town, if I want to buy something – even something minor such as a pack of pins or a lightbulb – it is far easier, quicker, and usually much cheaper having taken fuel, time, and parking costs into consideration, to place an order online to a remote retailer and have it delivered to my door next day. The only store that I still use on a regular basis is the much maligned (largely unfair in my book) Jempsons supermarket, much improved since they started working with Morrisons – easy to access with a free car park for a quick stop shop.
I also wonder how long it will be before this “stay at home” attitude extends to restaurants and pubs – the damage is surely already happening as a result of cost of living increases? In retirement, my wife and I used to eat out two or three times a week, and we could reckon on a decent lunch for the two of us costing £15-£25, including a drink. Now we find that cost has nearly doubled, so we eat out – and spend – a lot less, spending our money instead on quality convenience foods to prepare at home.
Today our cat managed to pull down the curtain rail in the bedroom. Can we find one in Rye? No! A trip to Ashford or online shop needed
I’m surprised that no mention has been made in this message trail of Rye Deli. It’s been a local business, employing local people, paying a proper wage, selling products, many of which are locally-sourced to locals for 30 years. It also does quite well from visitors so a happy medium is possible.
The Deli not only serves locals well but contributes to charities and local causes without publicising their contributions.
I agree with Natasha, we must cherish our street but I also believe compared with many other towns of a similar size we punch above our weight. As in Winchelsea, our High Streets are changing but we have resisted the bland, homogeneous offer so many of our small towns have been blighted with and I applaud our local businesses doing so much to offer is choice and quality.
Being guilty of ordering online, I have just checked through my most recent orders. These included a plastic measuring jug, a kitchen blow torch, diabetic or flight compression socks, clip on driving glasses, a set of 10 screwdrivers, and a box of Johnson’s Cotton Buds. Maybe I could have purchased all these items in Rye, but it would have taken a lot longer and cost more than the few minutes it took to order from a single retailer on the internet. But perhaps of greater concern was that all these items bar one – the Johnson’s Cotton Buds – were made in China. The Buds came from Italy……….
A local’s loyalty card scheme would be great for the town.
I agree the shop choices are heavily biased on tourism, so any useful shops to locals could thrive in this area if a local’s scheme existed. Shop rental rates are possibly off putting to such potential business owners.