June is bursting out all over.

Pity Rodney’s haberdashery shop is closed. As no-one has shown any interest in taking this blog on I thought I might as well pen a few more words whilst it’s quiet.  So what’s new on Chants Avenue ? The People’s Gallery has finally shown it’s face on the space vacated by the advertising hoardings just down Chanterlands Avenue short of St Nininians Walk. Splendid it looks too and the brain wave of the new Residents and Traders Association Chairman, Angus Young. The placards were sourced from the Hull Daily Mail and were part of a bigger People’s Gallery on show down Whitefriargate during the City of Culture celebrations. They are a welcome addition to the avenue and evidence of what can be done to make Chants a better place to want to live, shop and do business.

We are never going to attract the type of funding that has been poured into Newland Avenue over the years, ( I don’t know why they are always a special case either) so we have to do it ourselves and hopefully the People’s Gallery is just the start of more things to come. Well done to all involved.

Bad news about House of Fraser closing down isn’t it ? Not so much so about Poundworld being in difficulty too although it does show how difficult and aggressive the retail world is at the moment. The internet will be the undoing of all us eventually and I had to contend with it this week. A young lady came into my shop wanting a special type of sash window lock. These are not the every day type of window lock either, and I do stock them simply because some houses down the avenues still have the original wooden sash windows, and I would bet not another independent DIY shop in the city has these or even know they exist, however….

Mine are £8.95 each with a 5 year guarantee, which I think is good. This young lady got her mobile out and showed me a very similar looking item available ‘on-line’ at £8 for four plus free postage ! It was difficult to tell if they were the same make because the image was tiny, but they were the same idea. They could have been made of balsa wood for all you tell but the fact remain that the price had been set. £8 for 4, £2 each. I cannot buy them for that wholesale so I contacted my supplier asking why, they contacted the manufacturer and were  told me they cannot make them for that ! Something is seriously amiss. They must have been very cheap imitations but again they had set the price to joe public.  How do you compete with that ?

My family have always tried to use Hammonds at every opportunity. My grandfather was the commissionaire there many years ago ( car park attendant) After the demise of Carmichaels it was the best shop in town without a doubt, something a bit special, the opposite to Primark. We thought it was our duty to spend something in there every time we visited the city centre even if it was only a coffee. On my last visit I paid over £20 for a can of deodorant, seriously, and whilst I was buying it three young lads were dousing themselves with gallons of the stuff from the free testers. I bet they smell lovely and fresh even now, three weeks later and all for free.  I tried to buy some expensive perfume from there just before Christmas and couldn’t find an assistant to serve me, they were either ‘busy’ or still at lunch. I actually went back three times before I found anyone who could assist me and they told me  ‘try Debenhams’. I finally bought it in Beverley. A shirt I wanted was only available in sizes to fit a 14 year old and they told me I could order it on line, I didn’t want too, that’s why I was in their shop ! I did order it on line and when it arrived it was made from awful cheap material and, yes, the size to fit a 14 year old boy. Poor quality rubbish, total waste of time and money. However it is still a sad state of affairs when the best and biggest shop in Hull is closing down. It will effect the other shops in the vicinity and it is another reason for people not to visit the city centre.

Then there is the trouble Walton Street Market is in. Another venture reported to be losing £2k a week. I don’t know how because it was always teeming with punters when ever I visited it. So the trouble must have stemmed from the falling numbers of traders who were actually paying rent. By traders I mean the proper market traders who on some week end’s you could count on the fingers of both hands. This is a classic case of going down the cheaper and even cheaper route because in the end there is not enough to go round.

I was one of the original traders on Walton Street Market when if first opened over 20 years ago. I had to be vetted first and I also had to pay three months rent in advance plus only two of each trade were allowed on. I was Tools and Hardware, the other toolman was at the opposite side of the market to me and the pitches were situated in a big circle so no-one had a better pitch then anyone else. There were no car booters either.

The first Wednesday of trading was very good and I sold plenty of sweeping brushes at a fair price. It was hard work setting up at the crack of dawn and re packing everything, stall and all at the end of the day but I was happy with my day’s takings. The next Wednesday I noticed several other traders selling sweeping brushes and similar stock to mine, but a few pence cheaper and the trader next to them was a few pence cheaper then them ! So it snowballed around the market that everyone was watching what everyone else was selling then getting that item in themselves and under cutting on price, resulting in everyone working for nothing ! Three weeks down the line and it had developed into a free for all and many of the decent traders, including myself left. I went from a trader to a ‘punter’ and you could visibly see the market deteriorating week by week and becoming more and more of a glorified car boot sale. The trouble was though it was the same ‘car booters’ occupying the same spot and selling the same stuff every week.  I can see some one else taking it on though and tightening up the rules which is inevitable if it is to pay, which it has too.  Let’s see how long it last’s.

Anyhow it’s home time now, thanks for reading and remember, shop local whilst you still can.