Shades of Grey

Morley was busy today, a St. George’s Market with lots of craft stalls and such along with some small fairground rides & sideshows courtesy Mr. Tuby. One retailer commented that there may as well be parallel lines down the centre of Queen Street though, such little difference it made to footfall towards him. It was very cold and rather windy but at least the rain held off. (The BBC are forecasting light showers for tomorrow which may well put a dampener on the St. Georges Day Parade).

Like most small Towns, Morley isn’t really self-sustaining enough for many to make a decent living out of retail. Specialist shops come and go whilst others scrape a living, hoping for a good Christmas. (A jeweller friend of mine put it more succinctly- “Retail is F*cked”). Morley has developed a niche in charity shops but that isn’t overly welcome by many, especially when they sell new goods with a much lower cost base (volunteer staff, free or much reduced rates etc.) There is talk of a “Cafe Culture” but it isn’t something Councillors will ever achieve in a talking shop, only the people with flair, talent and financial backing who decide to set up. The other downer on this is a certain level of Chav culture that make many of our Town Centre Pubs not overly attractive.

Morley has not yet succombed to a Netto (although one has been previously planned) and even Fine Fare pulled out a few years ago. Morley does have the advantage of free parking but there is not quite enough and about the only thing we specifically go into Morley for regularly ourselves are Wilsons Sausages.

Thinking back to Forty years ago, there seemed to be a shop on every corner. When we lived in the West End of Newcastle, we could get all our daily needs within 200 yards of our terraced flat and there was even an electrical goods shop on the corner. About the only thing not close by was a furniture shop- you needed to travel a bit further afield for those.

A shop very close to us was Quinns the Butcher- ran by a friendly Father & Son team and part of my schoolboy round of saying hello. They showed me how they made sausages with the mincer, first of all sliding yards of cat gut onto the nozzle then skillfully knotting them into bunches as the tube extruded itself onto the block. I can remember having a swordfight with the old man once, him holding out his knife sharpening round rasp whilst I “on guard”ed him with my John Steed Avengers sword hidden in an umbrella. Being made of plastic, it sheared after my third playful tap. He was mortified that it broke so I took the opportunity to disembowel him with my razor-lined bowler…

Now I have no idea of the gross margins the shop took but I recall that his equipment was fairly new and the Son ran a large Motorbike so they must have done OK. (I was fascinated by the cylinder head on the bike and foolishly touched it one day to feel the texture, leaving a lump of skin behind!)

I contrast that with my visit last year. The Son ran the shop, the sign was hand painted (& peeling), the opening times appeared to be in crayon on a paper bag in the window and the proprietor looked as clapped out as his equipment. It wasn’t actually dirty but it did look rather worn out. Most people don’t want skilled butchery any more, they would rather go and pick a cut from the shelves where it is presented in the best possible light (although often a misleading one). So begins the vicious circle of perishable retail- the less customers the less stock and the less choice. Of course, the Quinns would have gone to the local cattle market to choose their own stock but cattle markets are regional now, slaughterhouses are bogged down in EU red tape and it wouldn’t surprise me if he just buys from a wholesaler these days.

Morley Market still seems to be able to support several butchers but the mighty Wilsons just seems to be a retail outlet of the mail order now, with all but the pies pre-packaged. (they even keep some lines in the freezer in the cellar for when they run out of fresh).

Should we be worried about the death of retail? Well, if we all worried about it to the point of not shopping at the big supermarkets then it wouldn’t occur. If we didn’t live in vast urban conurbations where the nearest shop is a drive (or bus ride) away and it is just as easy to go a bit further and have lower prices/more choice, not a lot will change.

How will retail look in another forty years? I can’t even guess.