Cambridge retailers strike back
Gift retailers in Cambridge have reacted angrily to a recent report by
the New Economics Forum (nef) which claimed that the picturesque
university town was the worst “clone town” in Britain.
The report, Reimagining the High Street: Escape from Clone Town Britain,
stated that Cambridge was “the UK’s most cloned town, managing only
11.6 on the diversity scale (out of a possible 100). Only nine varieties
of shops are found on the main high street.”
However, Cambridge-based retailers have hit back angrily at the allegation, alleging that the report only looked at one aspect of the city. Jagjeet Manku of Choices gift shop said: “Cambridge is not a bland town - that is untrue. The nef only looked at one side of the town when they were surveying. They haven’t looked at the historic centre.
“When Cambridge was named the blandest town in Britain it was headline news here. Local spokespeople argued against the result and I agree with them. The surveyors got it wrong. The Old Arcade is an indoor shopping centre that does have all the multiples but if they had looked at the historic part of the city then they would have got a different idea. We have been misrepresented and this news has gone out nationally - that is not good for our business.”
Katie Samuelson from the Daily Bread Co-op agreed with gist of the report, saying: “I do think that the very centre of town is bland, yes, but we do have other areas of ethnically diverse shops and there are lots of independent boutique shops.”
Penny Price from Heffers added: “Cambridge is certainly not the most bland town that I have seen.
“Rents need to be made cheaper for small businesses - this will encourage them to come into the town centre and sit alongside the big players and offer something different.”
Elizabeth Cox, co-author of the nef report, said: “We need to completely re-evaluate what we use our high streets for now that the age of mass retail is juddering to a halt. As the hub of our communities, the high street could be the place where we begin to build a more sustainable world.”
For the full story, see the October issue of Gifts Today - available
here.
Social Links