Walking in the late summer sun around a very prosperous-looking Rhuthun/Ruthin yesterday, it seemed to me that there was nowhere on earth better than our beloved little town. Reasonably busy for a post-Tesco Saturday, I noticed it was the first day of a new classy jewelry-come-accessory shop, trading under the avant-garde name of Mococo.
Mococo is at Castle Mews. It’s an example of just how prosperous Rhuthun/Ruthin has become – prosperous at least on the surface. This is probably a very fragile prosperity but prosperity it nevertheless is. In fact, I can’t remember a time when there have been so few empty lock-up shop units in the town centre.
Traders consistently moan, however, that, post-Tesco, the town is dead. Or deader than it was. Or dying. Contrast a sunny Friday or Saturday with a damp Tuesday or Wednesday and you’ll see what the traders mean. Is Rhuthun/Ruthin’s a hollow prosperity? Will it last at the hands of Tesco? Will Tesco’s enlargement send comparison shops, such as the new Mococo, into an ever-decreasing spiral of downward trade, as even fewer visit the town centre, shops close as a result, and still fewer therefore visit?
For now, though, Mococo is the latest example of a spring & summer that’s seen new a number of new ventures. Wildcatz, Annie’s, Crown House Café, the accessories shop at the old Co-op, a bridal shop at Castle Mews, the Clwyd Street clothes emporia, Simmi, the sweet shop at Well Street, second hand furniture at the former Blaze. Sadly, in a town the size of Rhuthun/Ruthin, many of these may actually be frail should there be any sort of downturn.
To finish, here’s a list of empty lock-up shops, should anyone feel they might wish to rent one. (Not included are the long-standing empty shops, some of which have returned to residential use, some not. Examples include Banton in Clwyd Street and Artifacts in Well Street, empty for as long as I can remember.)
Mococo is at Castle Mews. It’s an example of just how prosperous Rhuthun/Ruthin has become – prosperous at least on the surface. This is probably a very fragile prosperity but prosperity it nevertheless is. In fact, I can’t remember a time when there have been so few empty lock-up shop units in the town centre.
Traders consistently moan, however, that, post-Tesco, the town is dead. Or deader than it was. Or dying. Contrast a sunny Friday or Saturday with a damp Tuesday or Wednesday and you’ll see what the traders mean. Is Rhuthun/Ruthin’s a hollow prosperity? Will it last at the hands of Tesco? Will Tesco’s enlargement send comparison shops, such as the new Mococo, into an ever-decreasing spiral of downward trade, as even fewer visit the town centre, shops close as a result, and still fewer therefore visit?
For now, though, Mococo is the latest example of a spring & summer that’s seen new a number of new ventures. Wildcatz, Annie’s, Crown House Café, the accessories shop at the old Co-op, a bridal shop at Castle Mews, the Clwyd Street clothes emporia, Simmi, the sweet shop at Well Street, second hand furniture at the former Blaze. Sadly, in a town the size of Rhuthun/Ruthin, many of these may actually be frail should there be any sort of downturn.
To finish, here’s a list of empty lock-up shops, should anyone feel they might wish to rent one. (Not included are the long-standing empty shops, some of which have returned to residential use, some not. Examples include Banton in Clwyd Street and Artifacts in Well Street, empty for as long as I can remember.)
- 32A Well Street – near First House stationers
- 36 Well Street – formerly Williams’ Celf a Chrefft
- Castle Mews – one empty unit
- Clwyd Street – formerly Grandpa’s Collectibles
- Upper Clwyd Street - former Jan Bargiel (soon to be Rhuthun/Ruthin's second mobile phone shop, the first having ceased trading over two years ago)
- St Peter’s Square – the former Alton Murphy (having moved to Elsa Frischer)