Lockeys Closing
My oh my! It has been reported on here that Lockeys, at the top of St Martins Walk, is closing down soon. If that is the case then I really do hope that a new tenant will be in place asap!
The area which can really be considered the centre of the town is looking bleak right now. The massive refurbishment of the shops which used to be WH Smith and Halfords is still a long way from completion, thankfully Halfords is due to return to the unit when it is finished. Still, Lockeys is a key shop at the front of St Martins Walk and has rarely been empty. Lets hope that something interesting opens up there soon - we cannot afford many more gaps appearing in the High Street.
posted by The Cockerel @ 12:54 AM
9 Comments:
St Martins Walk has been a planning disaster from start to finish. Nothing seems to last down there and with another key unit to close shortly. Are Thornfield (who own St Martins Walk on behalf of Sainsburys) forcing the retailers out by increasing the rents and service charges to unrealistic levels?? Very shortly, the empty units will outnumber the units which are actually occupied.
It is very sad, that the centre of Dorking is looking very run down and that no-one is being taken to account over the number of shops closing, going into administration etc. A cock on the Deepdene roundabout, is NOT going to increase the number of shoppers coming into Dorking. I agree that this unit (Lockeys) needs to be a retailer that will pull the punters in ie. Next, Pilot etc. It is a very prominent unit and the longer that it is left empty, the more people will go elsewhere to shop. By the way, the rent on this unit is a whopping £35,000 per annum!!!
Also notice that the jewellery shop (Silk Road) further down St Martins Walk has reverted back to ONE unit. They occupied two units before Christmas. Also heard that Scribbles (the stationery shop) will close very shortly because of lack of custom. My goodness, it is really bleak down in St. Martins Walk and all the managing agent does is sweet fa.
Much of the blame has to go to the Shopping Centre Manager. He has been in the job for donkeys years and hardly ever seems to do anything.
Other issues apart from the silver cockerel on the roundabout and the number of shops closing in the town centre have sprung to mind. First of all, Surrey County Council really should be congratulated for not clearing the snow adequately or at all, on the pavements in the town centre last Thursday. Whilst the main arteries / roads were kept clear of snow, the pavements were treacherous. They were icy and I saw numerous people fall over especially elderly people. Some shops (including Dorking Flowers) decided to clear the pavements outside their shop themselves and put salt down. It is not up to the shops, as they pay business rates to Surrey County Council, for these things to be done.
Secondly, it is my imagination, are the roads in and around Dorking in very poor shape? Vincent Lane has numerous potholes which could severely damage a car. Another honourable mention is the High Street near Pump Corner where it looks like the road works have come to a halt. Come on Surrey County Council, I have reported these issues a good month ago and have had no response.
Finally, on the front page of last week's Dorking Advertiser, about the young girl who was sexually assaulted in an alleyway near Pixham Lane. It is shocking to hear this type of thing happening on your doorstep. Lets hope that can find this person who is responsible for this heinous crime as soon as possible. Have noticed that the thin blue line gets thinner and thinner every weekend in Dorking. Obviously, Dorking is not much of a priority for the Surrey Police, as I often see the blonde community support officer doing her shopping in Sainsburys and Boots rather than fighting crime in the Meadowbank and the mean streets of Dorking!
Sadly, the reason Dorking is struggling is the proliferation of charity shops in the town centre. People who come to shop in Dorking tend to make their way to the charity shops and look for a bargain. It is nothing short of a disgrace that this is allowed to happen.
I am a big supporter of Dorking and shopping locally but, even I am finding it a struggle to do my shopping there. Look at places like Ashtead, even with a Tesco Express it has two greengrocers and about three or four butchers and a couple of independent bakeries. Dorking has one butcher shop, Surrey Produce and no greengrocers and no fish shop. As for Sainsburys in Dorking -- it is easily the worst in Surrey!! Cramped, out of stock of numerous items, poor selection of vegetables and fruit. Morrisons in Reigate has improved dramatically.
Mole Valley, Dorking Town Centre Management and the local people need to come together now and bring Dorking into the 21st Century before it is too late. We desperately need a department store that will pull the people in. As it stands, Dorking is falling further behind the competition and if we don't act now, it will be too late. Sadly, when I walk around Dorking, it is a truly depressing experience.
Even LEATHERHEAD is busier, has more people shopping in it than Dorking at lunch times. Why are a lot the restaurants closed between the hours of 12pm and 3pm? Dorking IS dying and a lot of it has to do with greedy landlords, lazy and incomptent council officals and Dorking Town Centre Management! They should hang their heads in shame for destroying a historic market town with so much potential and reducing it to the charity shop capital of the south east with every other shop closing or going bankrupt!! Cheers...
Yet more changes amongst the retail sector in Dorking. First of all, Surrey Gourmet is relocating from the High Street to Pippbrook. This is not a joke, check out their website www.surreygourmet.co.uk/.com
Apparently, Surrey Gourmet is keen to focus their business solely on the internet and move away from the traditional climbs of the High Street. Taking the place of Surrey Gourmet which sold local produce from farms and sold all sorts of goods from vegetables, cheeses and take home dishes is VANDEVI.
Vandevi, has been situated down at the bottom St. Martin's Walk for almost three and a half years now. It is a shop that sells Fairtrade goods from furniture to mirrors to clothing. Yes....the exodus continues from St. Martin's Walk!! It is high time that the manager of this shopping centre gets his marching orders, as it is getting beyond a joke now!!
Have mixed feelings about this news. It is a real shame that a suitable retail unit could not be found for the Surrey Gourmet. It paints a depressing picture that Dorking only has ONE butcher shop, NO greengrocers and a crappy bakery in the name of Watsons. I guess it is only a matter of time before Sainsbury's, Waitrose and M&S will fulfill all our needs! Thankfully, an independent shop in the name of Vandevi, has taken over the lease of this unit and has had the guts to stay in Dorking after dealing with the incessant increases in service charge(s) and rent down in St. Martin's Walk. I wish Vandevi, the very best of luck in their new premises, and hope that they can continue to spread the Fairtrade message.
To be fair, I didn't move here from Guildford for the shops, but there seems to be a real down-turn in Dorking.
As ex-Guildfordians we appreciate quite a few things about Dorking:-
* having a butcher
* more trees, hills and countryside in general
* far less drunken teens/drunks/tramps/weirdos
* pubs where you don't feel old at the age of 29 and where someone might actually talk to you
* less petrol fumes and dirty windows
Things I badly miss:-
* the range of restaurants, coffee shops, sandwich shops etc..
* shops selling decent clothes for the under 40s
* a music store
* a decent bakery (not Watsons)
I'm about to start working in London, so I'm sure I can get my fix of many of those things there, but I still want Dorking to sort itself out.
I heard that stores are bursting to move in, but the retail units are too tiny for many. The fight between keeping it largely independent versus the big retail companies moving in has to be balanced, otherwise Dorking will be what my friend Charlie said..
"Isn't Dorking just for old people?"
Somebody do something!
Well said popjc. Nice that somebody has given a balanced account of the positives and negatives of Dorking. I moved out from Putney and have to agree that the postives far outweigh the negatives. Dorking is surrounded by beautiful green belt, has very good schools, is served by three train stations, has an unique range of shops, has a cinema / theatre, good leisure facilities, is generally a safe place to live, has decent pubs and is ONE of the most underated places to live in Surrey (when you consider most people who come from London choose to live in dull predictable places like Cobham, Weybridge etc).
The negatives of Dorking are the restaurants (mostly consist of Thai, Chinese, Italian and Indian), St. Martin's Walk (far too many empty shop units), the lack of police around the town centre at the weekends, the lack of things to do for the teenagers, the kebab shop / Malthouse (how does it stay open after all these years!), NO decent places to buy children's clothes, cakes / pastries etc.
On the whole, Dorking has often been seen as a place where nothing has changed for years and years. That is very harsh, as it is a wonderful place to bring up a family and sadly, it is hardly ever promoted by the Council, estate agents, the property sections in the newspapers etc. I love it here and there is NO place like Dorking in Surrey. ~Ciao.
How about a Tesco Express?? I would like one of these convenience stores to open up where Baby Boom used to be in St. Martin's Walk. This is the huge unit which went into administration. There is also an empty unit adjacent to it. I know it is impossible as Thornfield (who act for Sainsbury's) own St. Martin's Walk.
Another shop that Dorking desperately is a decent toy shop. At the moment all there is Woolworths and the smallish battery free toy shop at the very end of St. Martin's Walk. I have noticed more and more youngish families moving out from London to bring their little one's up. A few more trendier clothing shops would not go amiss either!
DORKING Dan
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