Ruthin Wholefoods is for sale. Just another struggling town centre store? *If* this shop fails to sell and consequently closes, it’ll be the loss of another Rhuthun food retailer, a shop that seemingly has a unique selling point differentiating it from Tesco.But there’s no doubt that Tesco stocks some (though by no means anything like all) of the products on sale at Ruthin Wholefoods. Tesco will have had its effect, as will the general decline in numbers in town, post Tesco. As likely is the pressure placed on Ruthin Wholefoods by Ruthin Organics. In many ways, the two might be seen as complementary but there is also a crossover between the two. *If* Ruthin Wholefoods closes, those requiring the sort of specialist products currently only on sale there will need to travel to Dinbych/Denbigh or Yr Wyddgrug/Mold. We can’t see Tesco stocking Bavarian yak’s wholecheese.
The shop is part of the Rhuthun Turner dynasty, the proprietor being married to one of the two surviving Turner brothers, whose property interests in Rhuthun are large.
There’s no doubt that the Co-op is busier now that Somerfield has closed. It’s only been a week, of course, so it’s early days but if the trend continues, the Co-op will be happier with its Rhuthun store’s performance. Customers are noticeably higher but are nothing, of course, like they once were, pre-Tesco.
Duke’s Stores is for sale. The premises, in antiquity the Duke of York pub, also has four flats. This Mwrog Street convenience retailer sells tobacco, newspapers and snacks, plus a limited array of grocery products. The market for tobacco and newspapers has declined markedly in the last 15 years and the monopoly on news was cracked open by supermarkets ages ago. Snacks, however, are growing, though here Duke’s is limited by its size.
The first continental market arrived in Rhuthun over the weekend. The weather was kind and both days were steady, especially Saturday. Such markets are a colourful sight in many parts of the country, so why not Rhuthun? They’re bright, cheerful, exotic and trades people are often seen stirring large garlic pots of mysterious food. The continental market was larger than Rhuthun’s summer monthly produce market. The aim was to get people into Rhuthun and there’s no reason to assume it didn’t work, particularly on Saturday.
Such is the state of food retailing in Rhuthun that the continental market didn’t compete overly with anything Rhuthun had to offer save, perhaps, Leonardo’s.