What shops do you use regular in marple .

[acoustician]

I use regularly

Coop & Coop 24hour (old morrisons)
Bargain Booze
Hollins
Iceland
Whites
Littlewoods
Alan the paint
Greggs/greenhalghs/archers
Turkish cafe (forgot name)/Derby Way Chippy
Pet shop
Fruit shop on precinct

Others eg Halfords etc use occasionally.

Although possibly a bit more expensive than the larger chains, they offer much better service (Alan in particular was very helpful vs the useless people at Homebase regarding advice for decorating noobs like me), are more convenient and I like to support smaller local businesses.


I am still gutted Grenaby Farm is shut, i used to go there all the time, 2-3 times a week at least.

Ring O Bells and The Crown as well

[Dave]

Marple will really struggle if the college closes. Do you know if the Marple traders association has anything to say about this? The campaign needs more publicity!

The college closing?  Where did that come from? What campaign?   

[tinkerbell84]

Although I think it would be awful for Marple to get another supermarket, I feel the loss if the college students will cause an even bigger problem. The students use many of the food outlets and I think Marple will really struggle if the college closes.Do you know if the Marple traders association has anything to say about this? The campaign needs more publicity!

[Bartlett]

I use most of them and it is really special to be able to go into a shop and have a conversation with people that you have known for a while.  It is even better because I know that my children should anything happen to them that they know these people as well.  The community is the most important factor in all of this.  We need to support the local shops from closing and Marple becoming a ghost town.  If a supermarket comes to Hibbert lane with free parking Marple will not be used at all.

Houses will go down in value because of this!  Think of the people who live in the area around the college and what they will have to go through with building and traffic and pollution just so some of you do not have to travel to Hazel Grove of Bredbury or if you really need to go to Tesco Glossop or Whalley Bridge.

Community first.

[Duke Fame]

If it costs you £6 in petrol to get to and from Hazel Grove, Bredbury or Stockport then I think its time you reconsidered your choice of car.

It is worth spending £1 travelling to save £6, or to be more realistic, to save £30 on a weeks shop.

My wheels for now is a very stylish 960cc 20yr old Japanese number but given the 12 mile round trip, stop - start traffic, even in my little wheels, it's a highly inefficient trip.

As for a £30 saving, I don't spend £30 on a week's shop. I can shop locally at £1 a day.

[Harry]

Or perhaps saves the money they spend on petrol & parking!

It's a shame that people who are trying to save don't take into account the cost of fuel. The Bakery, green grocers, Iceland & the Co-op is no more expensive than Tesco & Sainsbury's for most things. Sure Moggy's may be a bit fresher (than the co-op) & cheaper  + Aldi & Lidl will be cheaper but otherwise, is it worth spending £6 travelling to save £6?

If it costs you £6 in petrol to get to and from Hazel Grove, Bredbury or Stockport then I think its time you reconsidered your choice of car.

It is worth spending £1 travelling to save £6, or to be more realistic, to save £30 on a weeks shop.

[ericthehamster]

I hadn't spotted the post about being flush with cash!

I don't think I am, and yes, I think I save a lot of money by walking to the shops (did this afternoon, and managed to buy a reasonable amount of groceries).

I also remembered Badged and Sew-in whilst in the precinct!

[Duke Fame]

I know Marple is seen as an affluent area but not all its residents are flush with cash. In my view, anyone who does all or most of their shopping in Marple must have plenty of cash

Or perhaps saves the money they spend on petrol & parking!

It's a shame that people who are trying to save don't take into account the cost of fuel. The Bakery, green grocers, Iceland & the Co-op is no more expensive than Tesco & Sainsbury's for most things. Sure Moggy's may be a bit fresher (than the co-op) & cheaper  + Aldi & Lidl will be cheaper but otherwise, is it worth spending £6 travelling to save £6?

[ericthehamster]

OK here's my tuppenceworth (and it is a "use it or lose it" thing, but to be fair, I am not sure how representative of the whole of Marple are posters to this forum?)

Regular use
Co-op - yes I do my main food shop here (occasionally supplemented by forays to Aldi and Sainsbury's the latter because it has a slightly wider range of veggie food) - it may be slightly more expensive, but this is weighed off by the saving in petrol either because I walk or because it is a shorter drive. I prefer their more ethical stance as a supermarket.
Iceland (more to supplement my co-op shop)
Boots
Toast
M&Co
KayDee (hair cut!)


Semi-regular
Hollins hardware
Pink Parrot
Toast (not tried the new wine shop yet!)
The tea shop near Littlewoods (All things Nice?)
Martins
Stationery Shop
Greengrocers (I can't remember the name, how bad is that!?)
The Health Food shop (opp Post Office)
The Book Shop.
Couple of others whose names I can't remember!

I don't use Littlewoods (see above), but do try to encourage meat eating friends to buy there (note your comments Lisa - I suggest that the expense would be worth it - would your lot accept the occasional veggie meal if the pay off were tastier meat?)




By the way, in relation to the survival of the traditional high street, and the relentless onslaught of the big supermarkets, I highly recommend Joanna Blythman's "Shopped".

[marple_syrup]

I know Marple is seen as an affluent area but not all its residents are flush with cash. In my view, anyone who does all or most of their shopping in Marple must have plenty of cash

Clearly someone thinks they can afford fish nibbling at their feet though...?

[Marple Business Forum]

many people are on a budget and things are cheaper online

But you have to pay carriage when you shop on line and you invariably have to pay to return things, you have no prior knowlege of the quality, you don't know 'til it's delivered if the sweater fits and then you have the fag of waiting in to sign for it and when it doesn't fit, taking it to the post office or arranging for the carrier to pick it up.

Both good points.

Speaking personally (i.e. not for the MBF), we have both the shop on Market Street (Paul Howard) and a specilist e-commerce website (The Knitwear Shop).  The e-commerce side of the business is already (only been going 2 years) a decent size operation that brings in a lot of added business for relatively low overheads.  It's certainly a revenue stream that can't be ignored.

From our expereince, a lot of people shopping online are buying products that they have prior experience of.  That way solving the problem of questioning sizes, quality and the issue of returning when either of those things go wrong.

Personally, I feel that traditional 'high-street' shops have to be more than just a retail outlet.  They have to provide an entertainment value to the customer that goes beyond what is possibe online, whether that be through interior decor, personal customer service or some other means.

[Taurus]

I know Marple is seen as an affluent area but not all its residents are flush with cash. In my view, anyone who does all or most of their shopping in Marple must have plenty of cash

[Taurus]

True, he looks miserable every time I walk past. The original Mr and Mrs Mulligans got out at the right time

[My login is Henrietta]

The pound plus store has taken a lot of custom from Mulligans

The new Mulligans wasn't very well stocked and the chap serving wasn't very enthusiastic about his job

[Taurus]

The pound plus store has taken a lot of custom from Mulligans