The Ruthin Town Centre Study was published 25 years ago this month and it gives a remarkable snapshot of the town at that time. It's sobering to think that none of the commissioning organisations exist (Clwyd & Glyndŵr councils and the Welsh Development Agency). Some of the study's recommendations were far-reaching: it resulted in the relocation of the livestock market from the town centre and the construction of Lo-cost, now Station Road's Co-op.
The section within the report on "Retailing" offers a detailed analysis of 1988 businesses within the town. How does life compare, 25 years later, and after the arrival of Tesco, a supermarket the likes of which the report said would be unsustainable in Rhuthun/Ruthin, owing to the catchment not being of an appropriate size.
Secondly, we're assuming that the report included businesses along Borthyn, Mwrog Street and the then freezer centre on Park Road as part of the definition of the 'town centre' but none on the as yet not fully developed Lôn Parcwr.
In 1988, therefore, there were:
118 retail outlets
22 banks, estate agents, building society agents and commercial offices
22 public houses, hotels & cafés
Seven garages/repair shops
Total identifiable businesses = 169
The comparable figures for June 2013 were:
97 retail outlets
25 banks, estate agents, a building society-come-bank and commercial offices
21 public houses, hotels & cafés
Eight garages/repair shops (including Cellar Cycles)
Total identifiable businesses = 151
Based on the totals above, in the 25 years from 1988, the number of comparable identifiable businesses has decreased by 11 per cent. This doesn't tell the full story, though. Today, there are a further 18 businesses on Lôn Parcwr that might be considered open to the public, who are not just business-to-business traders. These range from Bartley's Tyres to Café Doof to Homewood Bound to sundry garage repair shops. If these are included, the number of businesses open to the public is static, whereas the population has increased by some 10 per cent.
2 gross. There were other general grocery outlets, none of which were large, notably Warren's Happy Shopper on Well Street; the old Co-op on the corner of Well Street by the Square; the Eagles Stores, Clwyd Street; and Spar, Borthyn.
The true comparison in terms of pure clothes shops for women is four (Gayla House, Montecito and Choo Choo etc etc, all on the Square; Elysium; and Diva, Well Street), equating to 50 per cent of such shops, rather than the 83 per cent reported in 1988. During the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s, it was quite possible to say that Rhuthun specialised in female fashion; it's now much less clear to do so. Only Gayla House and Montecito have been with us a full quarter of a century, the first being the only one under its 1988 management.
This sector seems to have held its own, unlike clothes shopping and is an indication that the town relies on visitors.
The conclusions are therefore that:
The section within the report on "Retailing" offers a detailed analysis of 1988 businesses within the town. How does life compare, 25 years later, and after the arrival of Tesco, a supermarket the likes of which the report said would be unsustainable in Rhuthun/Ruthin, owing to the catchment not being of an appropriate size.
"There are 169 identifiable commercial outlets within the town centre [in 1988]. This figure includes banks, estate agents, building society agents, cafés, hotels, public houses and garages but excludes the craft centre and commercial offices"Here, there are two initial problems. One is that the number of banks, building society and estate agents was numbered at 22. This cannot be correct. In 1988, there were agents for The Halifax, West Bromwich and Principality building societies; four banks: Nat West, Midland, Barclay's and TSB; and Dodd's, Nationwide, Well Street, Clough & Co, Jarman, Clwyd Street, and Hayles Bale, Well Street estate agents (Cavendish Ikin only appeared in 2000). That made 11. Could it therefore be that the report writers meant that the report "…excludes the craft centre and NON-commercial offices"? A map within the report plotting business types suggesting as much, indicating banks/offices in one group.
Secondly, we're assuming that the report included businesses along Borthyn, Mwrog Street and the then freezer centre on Park Road as part of the definition of the 'town centre' but none on the as yet not fully developed Lôn Parcwr.
In 1988, therefore, there were:
118 retail outlets
22 banks, estate agents, building society agents and commercial offices
22 public houses, hotels & cafés
Seven garages/repair shops
Total identifiable businesses = 169
The comparable figures for June 2013 were:
97 retail outlets
25 banks, estate agents, a building society-come-bank and commercial offices
21 public houses, hotels & cafés
Eight garages/repair shops (including Cellar Cycles)
Total identifiable businesses = 151
Based on the totals above, in the 25 years from 1988, the number of comparable identifiable businesses has decreased by 11 per cent. This doesn't tell the full story, though. Today, there are a further 18 businesses on Lôn Parcwr that might be considered open to the public, who are not just business-to-business traders. These range from Bartley's Tyres to Café Doof to Homewood Bound to sundry garage repair shops. If these are included, the number of businesses open to the public is static, whereas the population has increased by some 10 per cent.
"There is only one vacant shop unit available on the market at present [in 1988]"That's one unit out of 118, which equates to a vacancy rate of less than one per cent. Vacancy rates in the modern world have ranged from eight to 15 per cent. The rate is currently 10 per cent in Rhuthun.
"A recent development [in 1988] in Well Street to convert an office building to four retail units placed around a central arcade was let quickly and without difficulty"That'll be Castle Mews and currently, leaving aside the first floor Panda Garden, this has been a problematic area, with only two of the four units seemingly let at any one time. Castlecourt Hair is longstanding but no other unit has been, not since Sandpiper and John Bray Travel.
"The largest retail unit [in 1988] is the KwikSave supermarket in a converted garage on Station Road"This was quoted with a floor space of 750m
"Of the 118 retail outlets [in 1988] 18 (15 per cent) are clothes shops of which 83 per cent are women's fashion or accessory shops suggesting a degree of market specialisation"The comparable figures for 2013 were 10 units out of 97, which represents 10 per cent, a drop since 1988 of five percentage points. Of these, two were for children (Blackcurrant, Clwyd Street; and Butterfly, off Well Street): one was more a wool shop (Norma Elizabeth, Well Street); one an army-navy store (Work & Leisure Wear, Well Street); and one sold men's clothes (Trefor Jones, Clwyd Street). That left six outlets for women, including a shoe shop (Wildcatz, Clwyd Street) and a second-hand clothes shop (Elysium, Clwyd Street).
The true comparison in terms of pure clothes shops for women is four (Gayla House, Montecito and Choo Choo etc etc, all on the Square; Elysium; and Diva, Well Street), equating to 50 per cent of such shops, rather than the 83 per cent reported in 1988. During the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s, it was quite possible to say that Rhuthun specialised in female fashion; it's now much less clear to do so. Only Gayla House and Montecito have been with us a full quarter of a century, the first being the only one under its 1988 management.
"There are 10 antique shops, craft shops or gift shops in addition to the 13 units in the craft centre"Depending upon how you class Siop Nain, there remains 10 or 11 such premises plus the auction rooms on Mold Road. Today's craft centre has a maximum number of six units only. The Picture House antiques centre is large and holds multiple collections.
This sector seems to have held its own, unlike clothes shopping and is an indication that the town relies on visitors.
The conclusions are therefore that:
- The number of town centre businesses has shrunken in real terms as well as in relation to a growing population (it always was punctuated by residential properties)
- Women's fashion no longer has the inertia it once enjoyed. This sector has seen the biggest change
- Overall, pubs/hotels/cafés have, in total, remained constant (though actually there has been some considerable changes). This points towards a visitor economy
- Gifts & antiques remain equally strong
- Though there are no 1988 figures to support this view, the proportion of convenience stores over comparison shops has changed markedly, post Lo-cost and Tesco