Now then, the blog post entitled “Lobby” has generated much interest (16 comments as I write this). Gina Tonick suggested (14th December, 9.05 p.m.) that Tesco was “sucking in the area’s economic vitality”. Another riposted (17th December, 9.49 a.m.) that, “I can name three ‘grocers’ shops [that] struggled to survive in the town & closed before Tesco started in Ruthin”.
The first thing to note is, can you name these grocers? As part of the Christmas Quiz 1989, on 16 December 2009 we asked, “Name the fruit & veg shops in the town in 1989”. We will shorly post the answers to the Christmas quiz. One theing's for certain: for better or worse, our food buying was very different back then.
Indeed, as we reported in April 2007, fruit & veg shops actually began closing after the arrival of Lo-Cost (Lo-Cost was the chain that built what is currently the Co-op supermarket, Station Road). It’s wrong therefore to “blame” Tesco for such closures, though convenience shopping *has* taken a hit post-Tesco, and this included the remaining grocers, Reebee’s and Rhuthun Organics. Reebee’s proprietress directly blamed Tesco. That leaves John Jones butcher, Clwyd Street, with a small range of vegetables on offer. More convenience slimming includes Leonardo’s, having shrunken twice; and newsagents/confectioners have suffered, too.
Take another look at the comments left under the “Lobby” post, the original actually being about the situation where pedestrians can no longer cross on the zebra. “I think the post was about the practicality of the crossing rather than Tesco as a big bad corporation. Anyone having used the crossing at a busy time will agree it is now a complete waste of space…” Thanks therefore to Anonymous, 15 December 2009, 6.27 a.m. for refocusing and for grasping what the original post was designed to say.
The now redundant zebra, in fact, was of benefit to the most vulnerable: older and younger people. Parents with buggies and wheelchair users are hardest hit, for the lobby takes away their refuse: the resultant loss of pavement space puts them at most risk.
Is all this anti-Tesco? I’d say not in the slightest. In maintaining a balanced position, this blog’s genesis was to mark the changes to Rhuthun/Ruthin, following Tesco. That does not make this blog pro-town or anti-Tesco. I guess people will always read into something what they want to.
I was interested in the comment left at 7.34 p.m. on 14 December. The commenter says, “Although the blog says they aren’t anti-Tesco, it so clearly is! Every other post blames Tesco for this and that.”
Really? That’s not how I re-read the blog. Tesco rarely crops up these days. It’s mentioned in just 18 per cent of this year’s posts, including this one. The anonymous commenter of 14 December at 7.34 p.m. continues, “As you hate Tesco so much… why do you shop here anyway?” Note the use of the phrase, “why do you shop here”. The commenter doesn’t say, “why do you shop there”, as you might expect. By using here, we can assume that the person is a Tesco employee. Does this make the comment biased?
The very first comment under “Lobby” was on 13 December at 4.12 p.m. That anonymous contribution pointed out something that I had not recorded: that Tesco was using the environmental lobby as extra floor space. Currently, there are stacked boxes of soft drinks there. Whether this is strictly within the terms of Tesco’s permissions or not, I don’t know. Is selling the extension as “environmental” putting a spin on things? Tesco does the same thing in Wrecsam, though the lobby was there from the outset.
Another anonymous contribution on 18 December at 2.14 p.m. says that people coming to Tesco will also shop in town. Corwen, Cerrig & Bryneglwys were the communities cited. Residents from these areas have always supported the town, before and after Tesco. Whether they come in to town as frequently is a matter of debate.
I will leave it up to regular readers to judge whether (a) this site is largely unbiased and (b) whether we are anti-Tesco. The final word, though, goes to those who completed our February 2009 survey (and here few felt there was a bias), two thirds of whom felt Tesco was good for the town.
P.S. "Lobby" also mentioned the Salvation Army band outside Tesco. Did anyone notice last week that there were carol singers outside Tesco, collecting for charity? They weren't in the town and they weren't at the Co-op...
The first thing to note is, can you name these grocers? As part of the Christmas Quiz 1989, on 16 December 2009 we asked, “Name the fruit & veg shops in the town in 1989”. We will shorly post the answers to the Christmas quiz. One theing's for certain: for better or worse, our food buying was very different back then.Indeed, as we reported in April 2007, fruit & veg shops actually began closing after the arrival of Lo-Cost (Lo-Cost was the chain that built what is currently the Co-op supermarket, Station Road). It’s wrong therefore to “blame” Tesco for such closures, though convenience shopping *has* taken a hit post-Tesco, and this included the remaining grocers, Reebee’s and Rhuthun Organics. Reebee’s proprietress directly blamed Tesco. That leaves John Jones butcher, Clwyd Street, with a small range of vegetables on offer. More convenience slimming includes Leonardo’s, having shrunken twice; and newsagents/confectioners have suffered, too.
Take another look at the comments left under the “Lobby” post, the original actually being about the situation where pedestrians can no longer cross on the zebra. “I think the post was about the practicality of the crossing rather than Tesco as a big bad corporation. Anyone having used the crossing at a busy time will agree it is now a complete waste of space…” Thanks therefore to Anonymous, 15 December 2009, 6.27 a.m. for refocusing and for grasping what the original post was designed to say.The now redundant zebra, in fact, was of benefit to the most vulnerable: older and younger people. Parents with buggies and wheelchair users are hardest hit, for the lobby takes away their refuse: the resultant loss of pavement space puts them at most risk.
Is all this anti-Tesco? I’d say not in the slightest. In maintaining a balanced position, this blog’s genesis was to mark the changes to Rhuthun/Ruthin, following Tesco. That does not make this blog pro-town or anti-Tesco. I guess people will always read into something what they want to.
I was interested in the comment left at 7.34 p.m. on 14 December. The commenter says, “Although the blog says they aren’t anti-Tesco, it so clearly is! Every other post blames Tesco for this and that.”
Really? That’s not how I re-read the blog. Tesco rarely crops up these days. It’s mentioned in just 18 per cent of this year’s posts, including this one. The anonymous commenter of 14 December at 7.34 p.m. continues, “As you hate Tesco so much… why do you shop here anyway?” Note the use of the phrase, “why do you shop here”. The commenter doesn’t say, “why do you shop there”, as you might expect. By using here, we can assume that the person is a Tesco employee. Does this make the comment biased?
The very first comment under “Lobby” was on 13 December at 4.12 p.m. That anonymous contribution pointed out something that I had not recorded: that Tesco was using the environmental lobby as extra floor space. Currently, there are stacked boxes of soft drinks there. Whether this is strictly within the terms of Tesco’s permissions or not, I don’t know. Is selling the extension as “environmental” putting a spin on things? Tesco does the same thing in Wrecsam, though the lobby was there from the outset.
Another anonymous contribution on 18 December at 2.14 p.m. says that people coming to Tesco will also shop in town. Corwen, Cerrig & Bryneglwys were the communities cited. Residents from these areas have always supported the town, before and after Tesco. Whether they come in to town as frequently is a matter of debate.
I will leave it up to regular readers to judge whether (a) this site is largely unbiased and (b) whether we are anti-Tesco. The final word, though, goes to those who completed our February 2009 survey (and here few felt there was a bias), two thirds of whom felt Tesco was good for the town.
P.S. "Lobby" also mentioned the Salvation Army band outside Tesco. Did anyone notice last week that there were carol singers outside Tesco, collecting for charity? They weren't in the town and they weren't at the Co-op...