Friday 16th September - day of the year #myday

Today is ‘i'm going away with the girls day’ and I ‘m taking some of Garforth with me
 
Gin from The Gin Shack, coffee form Cielo, Bread from Dumouchel, nails from Bella Rose ;) and hopefully the lovely weather we've been having in  Garforth this week! .... not today's though!
 
The Gin shack is soon to be one of my new members, here are their links 

https://twitter.com/theginshack

https://www.instagram.com/theginshack/

I will be reporting next week about how my Gin Hamper went down with the 10 of us, hard working Mum's!



Other new members coming on board are;
Opium Beauty, Scribblers Pre-school Playgroup and Garforth Phoenix Badminton club



#WOTS
A few whispers about a few shops coming up for rent soon, keep your ears to the ground people if you’re thinking about owning a shop on Main Street yourself.  I know for definate that Adore's old shop (currently Garforth Antiques) will be vacant within the next week.  I also know Karen at Ladycares, who sadly departs are lovely high street in December has 3 new possible businesses looking to rent when she leaves.  Joans this week has has some movement, but as of yet, I am still waiting clarification as to what’s happening, the rumour is, it’s still to be Dominoes, but as I have mentioned in previous Blogs, there is nothing in planning to say any business has but in a request for change of use.  If  Dominoes where to come in, there would be a  planning application C4/C5  to become a takeaway/hot food
 
I have also noticed above Kool Treatz that seating is upstairs, booths have been installed.  Still not sure of opening times or their full menu yet, we’ll just have to wait and see.
 
Quite liking the new retro signage on the Co-Op, it’s like bringing back the 1950’s fascia fo when The Co-op first opened in the UK


This leads me on nicely to read what our Guest Blogger, Sean Field has to say,  it's Sean's second blog;  he's a man in the know and always makes you  think about it.....

Empty Shops And The New Role of Charity Shops.............

In the first few years of economic difficulties that started with the world-wide crash of 2008, it took a while for the retail property market to catch-up with changes, so more and more retail units were built – you saw this in Leeds city centre with existing units plastered with “Closing Down” signs while the new Trinity development was being built. Vacancy rates became – and have remained – a hot topic, as did the growth of charity shops.

To keep High Streets vibrant, change is good and a few empty shops is helpful as it provides space for exciting new businesses to start up and, hopefully, grow. Unfortunately, there is a hard to define threshold where there is too much empty space; a point where it becomes a real turn-off for shoppers. I’m sure you’ve all seen the media images of boarded-up windows and a myriad of “To Let” signs. This can happen anywhere – I’ve seen streets like this even in places like Hampstead in London and it can be dangerous to the otherwise good retailers left behind as shoppers get turned off.

Thankfully, we’re a long way from this situation in Garforth – I can only think of a couple of empty units at the moment, and that’s after the addition of extra space over the last couple of years. That’s not to say all the units are trading businesses. Indeed, we have a large number of charity shops on Main Street which some might say is a bad thing. It goes without saying that I’d rather have a thriving business in every unit, but charity shops have started to emerge as a key part of the changing mix of retail.

The first role they are playing is helping to keep the shopping district viable. Charities put a lot more effort into their stores these days with proper signs, good visual merchandising in the windows and a general adoption of standards you’d expect in any half-decent retailer. This means they can now add to the look of a High Street whereas in the past they were just as off-putting as an empty window.

But I think there’s more to them now. Firstly, through a fashion trend of fishing out bargains, and now as a side-effect of the “savvy shopper” behaviour which has fuelled the of growth of shops like Aldi, B&M and Poundworld, they have become part of more people’s shopping repertoire.

I’m in the “trade”, so would never describe myself as a typical shopper, but I also feel that I’m not unique. I own more than a couple of shirts bought from charity shops, I’ve picked up some lovely vintage home accessories too. And I find a little wander around our charity shops on Main Street as much as a joy sometimes as visiting the great traders we have.
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So, next time you start thinking there’s too many charity shops on Main Street, stop and think about how they’re serving Main Street’s shoppers AND its shops. And then why not pop in and have a rummage!


Happy weekend Garforth 
​I have scheduled lots of things over the weekend on my social media pages, to keep the weekend busy, just in case the usual,’ E’ sign on my phone pops up to be ironic whilst I am in Anglesey!   I will share when I can

PODCAST??? (Podcasting is a form of audio broadcasting on the Internet.)
What do you think to a little introduction to a podcast from time to time on the blog?  Let me have your thoughts, would you be OK with my dulcet tones?   

 
... I'm packed and gone............