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My sister who lives in Edinburgh but was brought up in Dumfries visited me recently and we were walking through the town. She was visibily upset at what she saw having not been ' doon hame' for a while. This got me thinking that locals only see a gradual deterioration where as visitors ( who know the area) see a massive difference. This certainly is not the bustling town I grew up in the 70s and my opinion is that the retail side has gone forever. Online shopping , out of town retail parks and trains rammed full of Doonhamers going to Carlisle to spend their hard earned money have seen to that . -----------The question now is what can be done to improve this very dire situation ? I remember a letter to the Standard around a month ago about this particular subject. This person said shopping was now dead and forget about it coming back because it aint. He/she suggested that the future of Dumfries was making the town centre a one of leisure/ entertainment for families. Sounded interesting to me . Thoughts ?
Last edited by JRSLEFTPEG; 21-07-2018 at 09:53 AM.
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Originally Posted by JRSLEFTPEG
yes i agree something new needs to be done here ,most the shops now are either coffee places ,discount pound stores ,vape shops and too many bookmakers on the highstreet ,dumfries is severely lacking the big designer chains for which are the main reasons people go on the trains to either glasgow or carlisle .oh and the current shops you can buy clothes and other stuff are way overpriced compared to carlisle and glasgow thats also a massive prob .
Last edited by Francis_begbie_HFC; 21-07-2018 at 10:59 AM.
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More blows this week for Dumfries with Evans womens wear in the High Street, the Original Factory Shop in Irish Street and Poundworld at the Peel Centre closed or closing. Another blow was a fire ripping through the Burtons / Dorothy Perkins Store last Saturday following the closure of the Odeon / Regal cinema and Next in the Loreburn Centre.
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Wow JR simple question for the pundits to ponder over!!!!
Dumfries is currently slowly dying and desperately needs something to increase the footfall and to do that you need something to attract those people back to the town centre. Shopping is out as we simply cannot attract the major outlets who have left due to the lack of custom. Therefore we need to look for other attractions and it is shocking that the town, being the major hub for the region, has neither a proper cinema complex nor bowling alley with the accompanying food outlets which accompany such mall type structures. This needs investment and the only place where this could come from would be through government or EU grants if the area was deemed to be deprived and in need of such funding. Private investors are hardly likely to take the chance as the risk would be too great unless a fairy godfather with local connections suddenly popped up to help the community out. Not an easy problem to solve but someone needs to do something shortly or as Fraser would say "were all doomed".
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We could certainly do with some investment from somewhere. The poverty is there for everyone to see and this area is historically the lowest wage area in the country.
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How to solve the general UK retail decline problem ? Bring in a stealth tax for online shopping / goods, simple !
Greedy landlords and a stubborn council has been Dumfries's major problem.
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Nail on the head Deek
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I have heard that the landlords of these buildings actually get money if they are empty. They are in no hurry to get rid of them. This from an ex council housing officer . You couldnt make it up !
Last edited by JRSLEFTPEG; 22-07-2018 at 08:33 PM.
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http://www.midsteeplequarter.org
These people are trying to make a difference and I take my hat off to them and people like the Peoples Project
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