Having taken three to four weeks to clear the site, workers started in earnest today on the new brickwork and cladding for the Homebargains store in Dinbych. It's the Dinbych discount quarter. This, together with proposed Aldi with four or five medium-sized units further west and the existing Lidl will all have a profound impact on Rhuthun/Ruthin. This is because more and more shoppers are supporting the so-called discounters. Aside from B & M, Rhuthun has nothing to offer. All three Dinbych stores fit the discount category. Work is expected to start on the Aldi site between now and December.
The Dinbych clump of discounters is about 15 minutes from Rhuthun which is at the extreme end of the distance people are prepared to travel for such stores. But Ruthinians have always had to journey for groceries: we were late in getting any supermarket (KwikSave, 1982); in getting a modern small-sized supermarket (Lo-cost, now Co-op, 1992); and a mid-sized Big Three supermarket (Tesco, 2006). Since KwikSave's conversion to Somerfield (2005) and subsequent closure (2008), we have no prime discounter (or, indeed, larger supermarket). We are in danger of being squashed in the middle, as people again flee Rhuthun for a better or a cheaper offer .
What's interesting about the KwikSave site, originally opened in 1975, is that it was constructed of pre-cast concrete beams, seen here. Another five years and this would have been steel girders. The shell seems almost agricultural. The roofline is pitched but the former design didn't show it. And just look at the expanse. It's as if the store has moved into the car park. With no walls within, it really is a large affair. The KwikSave of 1975 never looked so big, because of the storage area and the peripheral units. When complete, this is going to be one huge store.
There will be an external garden sales area which will add further pressure to both Rhuthun's Seven Oaks and Dinbych's Green Fingers nurseries, Dinbych's of course being adjacent to the new Homebargains.
In 2009 we said that the Cathco development on the site, with its monster Tesco and about 17 units, was a threat to Rhuthun but, actually, because the shopping landscape's changed since then, we feel that the combined Aldi/Lidl/Homebargains is now likely to be more so.
Almost half of all British shoppers visit a discounter every month...
Other News from Dinbych
Meanwhile, two shops are about to close on Dinbych's High Street. One is Baroque on Crown Square. This longstanding shop used to have a branch in Rhuthun at the bottom of Clwyd Street. In Rhuthun,. this closed in October 2009 when the firm concentrated solely in Dinbych.
A second is Serendipity at the Bridge Street end of the High Street. This vintage shop was only a recent addition to the townscape, from October 2014, and formed part of Dinbych's reversal. Now, at the junction of Love Lane/High Street/Bridge Street we see a collection of closed shops: to Serendipity are added others which closed this summer: Silk’s Retro Sweets and adjacent Bodidris Beef (upon the retirement of the owner). Add to this the long-time empty off-licence closed for, oh, more than five years and that end of town is looking quite poor.
The Dinbych clump of discounters is about 15 minutes from Rhuthun which is at the extreme end of the distance people are prepared to travel for such stores. But Ruthinians have always had to journey for groceries: we were late in getting any supermarket (KwikSave, 1982); in getting a modern small-sized supermarket (Lo-cost, now Co-op, 1992); and a mid-sized Big Three supermarket (Tesco, 2006). Since KwikSave's conversion to Somerfield (2005) and subsequent closure (2008), we have no prime discounter (or, indeed, larger supermarket). We are in danger of being squashed in the middle, as people again flee Rhuthun for a better or a cheaper offer .
There will be an external garden sales area which will add further pressure to both Rhuthun's Seven Oaks and Dinbych's Green Fingers nurseries, Dinbych's of course being adjacent to the new Homebargains.
In 2009 we said that the Cathco development on the site, with its monster Tesco and about 17 units, was a threat to Rhuthun but, actually, because the shopping landscape's changed since then, we feel that the combined Aldi/Lidl/Homebargains is now likely to be more so.
Almost half of all British shoppers visit a discounter every month...
Other News from Dinbych
Meanwhile, two shops are about to close on Dinbych's High Street. One is Baroque on Crown Square. This longstanding shop used to have a branch in Rhuthun at the bottom of Clwyd Street. In Rhuthun,. this closed in October 2009 when the firm concentrated solely in Dinbych.
A second is Serendipity at the Bridge Street end of the High Street. This vintage shop was only a recent addition to the townscape, from October 2014, and formed part of Dinbych's reversal. Now, at the junction of Love Lane/High Street/Bridge Street we see a collection of closed shops: to Serendipity are added others which closed this summer: Silk’s Retro Sweets and adjacent Bodidris Beef (upon the retirement of the owner). Add to this the long-time empty off-licence closed for, oh, more than five years and that end of town is looking quite poor.