Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Hair Today Gone Tomorrow

Cripes! My spies on the seedy north side tell me yet another shop in Margate's Old Town has gone west.

Back in April I predicted that no fewer than six outlets in the area were planning to shut up shop, the tally currently stands at four. Harbour Monkey upped sticks last month, Chantelle and Brown Sugar closed a couple of weeks ago, and now my very own tonseurist, Jamie the Harbour Barber, has apparently called it a day. Maybe if some of the 65,000 visitors to Margate's Big Event at the weekend hadn't been bussed straight past the town whose name it bore, the place might have benefited from a few tourist sovs.

Meanwhile if you want to see how retailers generally have been faring in the Arsonists' Playground, take a squiz at this video I found on BoobTube. Entitled Margate - A Town On Its Knees? it's been put together by the chaps at letssavemargate.com, who clearly don't stand a chance as they've signally omitted to link to the island's premier blog!

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

The way Margate is going, we will be left with Primark and a sex shop. Rummour has it that Wimpey is also shutting down. Can someone at the council wake up, at least appoint a business manager for the town centre that knows what he/she is doing, and work with existing business and promote new ones.The current administation has clearly haven't noticed all the shops closing down and wondered why?. And the current economic downturn will only speed up the decline of the town with other shops disappearing etc.

Anonymous said...

We can all shout as much as we want, its TDC's intent to get rid of as much shops as they can for more housing and safeguard their pet Westwood double cross.

For those that are interested the NHS figures for selling of Haine hospital will shortly follow (i hope)

Anonymous said...

Excellent film - love the lifeboatman and the Turneresque sunset - but you need a box of tissues to watch it - it should be a "whodunnit"

Mike Harrison said...

tsk, tsk, tsk,
Dont you folks EVER read the paper,
everything is in an excellent condition, we have thousands of visitors, the area is absolutly pristine and spotlessly clean, there is little or no anti social behaviour, our Civic Leaders are paragons of virtue, polite and well mannered, Margate is a thriving, bustlting Town with lots going on, Broadstairs is the countries premier tourist Town, Ramsgate is a hive of activity,,


Cor blimey Guv theres no pleasing some people,,,,

Anonymous said...

Now we know who lives in cloud cuckoo land

Tony Flaig said...

As much as I would like to blame Sandy and his ilk for just about everything I would point out that I was a customer for a while of the harbour barber but frequently found it was closed.

Which I remember discussing with you east

I reckon I had to take my barnet elsewhere on about 5 or so occasions. Good haircut but no good if the shop is closed.

Anonymous said...

Cllr Harrison. Go back to school and learn how to spell and punctuate.

Anonymous said...

I would open my shop in Margate for longer hours, but after 5 there is little trade. I was open today for longer hours, just a few alkies, and very few shoppers etc. With additional petrol costs and people are not unwilling to pay the excessive parking charges that have been imposed by tdc,there is no longer enough shoppers to justify opening later.

Anonymous said...

Time for the Guv to get out and about abit more in our town centres, and actually speak to local people, traders. People are becoming increasingly concerned with the actions of Tdc and their effects and that tdc do not seem to listen.

Anonymous said...

I don't mind a lot of the shops closing down that were crap anyway. If you look at what's doing well in Margate it's high quality, independent restaurants like the indian princess. Who cares if a crappy chain card shop closes or the carphone warehouse moves from a sub standard precinct shop to the high street? The future is indepedent, interesting shops run by people with a vision.

Anonymous said...

8.46
We have seen what happens when traders try to talk to our Leader and his Deputy through elected representatives via a petition, the elected representative is abused and threatened and the petition is snatched from them and thrown to the heavens and spread around the floor.

10.09
If any people with vision came and saw what Margate has become they would take one look and be on the next bus to somewhere else.


7.49

ok Ewen, Chris, Martin or whichever Tory you are so I spelt bustlting wrong it should be bustling. I dont need lessons from you on spelling or punctuation or indeed English Grammar. By the way the words Cllr Harrison are not and can never be a sentence thus there should not be a full stop after them it should be a comma, furthermore as Cllr is an abbreviation it should have a full stop behind it. If indeed you understood what you claim to you would understand that punctation is used to emphasise a point when writing in the same way that voice tone is used when speaking.
As you are unable to refute the truth of what is being said you, as all Tories do, resort to petty personal attacks.


Cllr. Mike Harrison