Two firsts in one day, during the Saturday just gone. Chalk & cheese. Here's the second of them. The first's here.
It couldn't've been different to the prices on offer at the Canolfan Grefft/Craft Centre, also visited on Saturday. Here was Rhuthun/Ruthin's very first pound shop (sort of, in all but name). Yes, there is Bargeinion B & M on Ffordd yr Orsaf/Station Road and there was Ruthin Trader on the Square, now closed. They sell or sold bargains but none so cheaply as Popeye.
Popeye opened mid-week, last week. It's in nos 11 & 13 Clwyd Street. Within the two shops plus basement of one is a retailer jam packed with goods. In market-stall-in-a-shop tradition, there's little that thread together the items on offer. It sells all sorts. Here you will find tools, toys, ornaments, stationery, a handful of books, household items, soaps and more besides. Some goods are over £1, some under but most seem to hover at about the £1 mark.
In the recent past, there's been a debate on this blog about shops opening in town that are useful to the people of Rhuthun (e.g. comment on this post). Yet, in the age of Tesco, head-on competition with the giant would seem insane. We've seen a reduction to almost zero regarding town centre convenience stores. Providing outlets in town that local people actually need is therefore tricky. But here we have one, exploiting a niche that's under-represented, till now. Tesco doesn't do this end of the market. Both B & M and Ruthin Trader sell or sold at higher prices.
There'll be criticism, of course, as there always tends to be when so-called cheaper traders arrive. Witness Wrecsam. The reality is that, both in the current economic climate and when faced with supermarket competition, this sort of store stands more chance in the convenience sector than many others.
Could be a turning point for Rhuthun, in more ways than one.
It couldn't've been different to the prices on offer at the Canolfan Grefft/Craft Centre, also visited on Saturday. Here was Rhuthun/Ruthin's very first pound shop (sort of, in all but name). Yes, there is Bargeinion B & M on Ffordd yr Orsaf/Station Road and there was Ruthin Trader on the Square, now closed. They sell or sold bargains but none so cheaply as Popeye.
Popeye opened mid-week, last week. It's in nos 11 & 13 Clwyd Street. Within the two shops plus basement of one is a retailer jam packed with goods. In market-stall-in-a-shop tradition, there's little that thread together the items on offer. It sells all sorts. Here you will find tools, toys, ornaments, stationery, a handful of books, household items, soaps and more besides. Some goods are over £1, some under but most seem to hover at about the £1 mark.In the recent past, there's been a debate on this blog about shops opening in town that are useful to the people of Rhuthun (e.g. comment on this post). Yet, in the age of Tesco, head-on competition with the giant would seem insane. We've seen a reduction to almost zero regarding town centre convenience stores. Providing outlets in town that local people actually need is therefore tricky. But here we have one, exploiting a niche that's under-represented, till now. Tesco doesn't do this end of the market. Both B & M and Ruthin Trader sell or sold at higher prices.
There'll be criticism, of course, as there always tends to be when so-called cheaper traders arrive. Witness Wrecsam. The reality is that, both in the current economic climate and when faced with supermarket competition, this sort of store stands more chance in the convenience sector than many others.
Could be a turning point for Rhuthun, in more ways than one.
Tags:
Shops