Tomorrow night (Weds 12th) is the first of two late night shopping events in the run-up to Christmas the next is the same time next week. Many shops will be open until 8 p.m. There will be a spot-the-stranger competition too.
Why bother you ask? These are changing, difficult times yes and it helps if we face them as a community. At the heart of our community is the town centre and the shops. Up to now we have been lucky in that our High Street has looked pretty full of active shops compared to even some parts of Inverness. We will be losing two businesses in the new year however. If we lose shops we all suffer. If we can keep the town centre from deteriorating we can keep our collective spirt up and look to the future with a positive attitude. It'll be no good renovating buildings and making aesthetic improvements if the businesses and the individuals that run them have packed up and gone.
Why not pop down for a look on one or both of the Wednesday nights, you never know you just might see that perfect gift that will mean you won't have to go to Inverness or endure an anxious wait to see if your online purchase turns up in time. See the banner below to see some of the shops participating.
These businesses and others will be open - more details on this Gurn page.
Free Synchro Event 15th December - more info here
For information on offers at shops on Wednesday nights
Tradeway evening offers at both shops
Pop into Big Bloomers this Christmas for all your festive arrangements, bouquets and fresh holly wreaths. There is also a huge selection of artificial flowers and sundries, perfect for gifts or a treat for yourself! Come along and enjoy the fun on Wednesdays 12th and 19th December when Big Bloomers will be open until 8.00pm as part of the High Street's late night shopping.
The Flower Shop - Just the place for plants, wreaths, flower bouquets and arrangements as well as lots of unusual and quirky gifts and home fragrances. We always make something beautiful to suit all budgets and we gift wrap too!
We are Househill Farm Shop out on the Grantown Road. We will be opening late on Wednesday 12th and Wednesday 19th of December 9.00 a.m to 19.30. p.m with Mulled Wine, Mince Pies and Carol Singing from the Nairn Guides. Also Hampers, Chocolates, Wines and Spirits, Turkey, Beef, Venison and local produce and much more. Facebook page here.
Caledonian Craft Connections offering a 10% discount on my wool, haberdashery and kits, (not other hand crafters goods ) on the night (between 5.30 and 8pm) usual hours are 10 till 5.30 mon to fri and 12 till 4 pm on sundays.
May I just thank the Gurn for advertising these nights so prominently. I'm not a shop owner but fully support our High St, and believe we should all try and shop local. I know the High St has some detractors who are unhappy with out wonderful array of shops, but the colourful adverts on the Gurn bring home just how many nice shops we have. Many High Streets are filled with boarded up shop fronts but not ours. Lets support our shops and keep the High Street looking so nice. Best of luck with the late nights
ReplyDeletei blame the nairn and inverness councils for the steady demise in our local shops,it was them that allows big shops/retailers like sainsburys,and tescos to be built out of town,,,dont they realise that shops closing means lost revenue in rates etc,and because they are on good wages,they can afford cars to run to out of town shops,stop giving permission to these large conglomerates and keep local shops open.
ReplyDeletenarook..
It's not just the Council in Nairn and Inverness that are to blame. It's a British disease.
ReplyDeleteOut of town was lauded by councils as the answer to all things; the theory was that they would employ people, give customers choice, regenerate run down areas....
In actual fact all that has happened in most towns is that they have displaced jobs , reduced 'choice' ( supermarkets sell what they want to sell you, not what you necessarily want to buy) & they have increasingly got away with building on green field sites as their power means they can no longer be forced to do anything a council wants, like redevelop run-down town centre sites.
Nairn is very lucky, our High Street is buoyant compared to most places in the UK but one look at Inverness town centre should act as a sobering reminder what can happen when out of town becomes the favourite child of planners and councillors.
The worst of it all is, they all still stand around, shuffling their feet and looking embarrased at what they and their predecessors have engineered..............yet they seem to be willing to just keep on pressing the same self destruct button.
What was it someone once said of government?
The left hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing......
Nairn High Street is good and it will stay that way if the people of the town support it & the Gurn should be applauded for doing its bit
It isn't only High Streets that suffer from out of town centres. Look at the just out of town area across the road from PC World in Inverness. Several huge empty retail units that look quite barren and desolate. Still some activity of course with GO and the Co-op and other stores across the road but you wonder if store saturation point has been reached now in the Highland Capital.
ReplyDeleteMuch as some of us will try to preserve our High St current shopping trends suggest that the future isn't in the shape of bricks and mortar called shops, but through increasingly popular on-line sales
ReplyDeleteYour computer provides that one shop wonder, everything you could ever want and more from the comfort of your armchair. No need for a car or petrol.
In the olden days shops used to have experienced and knowledgeable staff who were keen to serve you, but these days my scant shopping forays suggest that some staff have little knowledge of the products they are selling. If you're lucky you'll attract the attention of a sales assistant who will then as a favour take your money, sometimes with seeming reluctance.
Thankfully there are exceptions to this, but the surly shop assistant is only promoting his stores eventual demise, as it drives me back home to my computer where I google for product reviews and the cheapest purchase price
But good luck to the traders on Nairn High St, I for one will be leaving my computer to shop in the real world to support them tomorrow evening
I have different anecdotal experiences with a lot of my customers, who come in with wool and patterns or craft kits that they have bought on-line and then can't get advice or help from a face to face person, (you can't ask individual questions to a video on you-tube or get your stitches unpicked and put right over the net!!) you can't put wool aside on the internet and buy it a couple of balls a week when your pension or wages come in (it has to be all the same "dye lot") and you can't swap odd balls that you have left over for other new balls, either on the internet wool shops. you can't go to a social group and sit and have tea and cake with lots of like-minded (WOOLLY- minded)people and enjoy being in HUMAN company on the internet, at least not to pass things round and admire each others work, have a laugh and CHAT using your voice!!! i can honestly say that a fifth of the people who come in to my shop are coming in just to ask my advice,opinion or just to show me how they are getting on with a project! often they have bought wool or patterns elsewhere (including the internet) but were unable to get help or advice there. i have lots of people coming in clutching bags and starting by saying,"my friend,(neighbours, workmate,) said you would help me" i do not charge for this i do it as a service as the only thing we can do better than the internet is to give face to face contact! hope you pop in and see us when you are out and about tommorrow night
ReplyDeleteHi Wool Lady. Maybe you should turn the net to your advantage and offer skype consultations at a cost of course? :-)
ReplyDeletewell the late night shopping was a disaster - i wont name name's but the shop i work for had 8 customers all night... and another shop owner i spoke to, only had 2 all night! while talking to people today they all said that they didnt know about it...
ReplyDeletethis would have been a fantastic idea for the christmas lights switch on.. more people about that night...
We were up the town last night ...what a disgrace, i expected there to be lots of people i thought santa would be on the corner and elfs going about with buckets for charity and christmas music .. and what did we get ....nothing dont think i will venture out next week...no wonder nairn is slowly turning into a ghost town and it sad cos im a born and bred nairnite, i could have organised things better
ReplyDeleteSo far this observer has only spoken to one shopkeeper about this event and they reported worthwhile takings and are looking forward to next Wednesday. Perhaps a few more people will come down the street next time.
ReplyDeleteThe organisers need to have more publicity that this is happening as many people were unaware that this was happening. A blurry advert in an inside page of the Nairnshire did not help. Not everyone is on the internet and reads the Gurn or the ANB site. All the shops taking part should have huge posters proclaiming and focusing on this event, don't be shy, it has to be in your face stuff. Get something up in the Library, in other premises, shout it out loud and clear! But well done to all the businesses who have given it a go.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand maybe people have already done all their Christmas shopping?