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Gosport locals speak on the state of the high street as another store announces its closing
The News, Portsmouth
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02/10/2024
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News
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00:00
For some people, the announcement that Power Stretcher is closing in Gosport is a further
00:04
sign of the death of the High Street, particularly Gosport, or some have described it as a ghost
00:08
town.
00:09
I head into the High Street to get the local people's perspective.
00:13
There are obviously a lot of vacant shops in the High Street, we've had a lot of comments
00:18
about people saying it's a bit of a ghost town, what's your thoughts on Gosport High
00:21
Street?
00:22
I think it's what you make of it, there's stuff if you want to come here, there's plenty
00:25
of nice little coffee shops, the library's very good, if we can get some grants to get
00:30
some more interesting shops in that would be good, but everywhere's struggling, I don't
00:36
think Gosport's any different anywhere else really.
00:39
What I would like to see is the parking made easier, especially for pensioners like me,
00:45
because you get an hour free, but you can't pay by cash or card, you have to use the app,
00:51
which is fine for me, I can use it, but not everybody can, and I think it's shooting themselves
00:57
in the foot a little bit.
00:58
Quite good shops down here, worth supporting, there's the New Look, and the Leacocks, so
01:08
I just think you've still got to support your High Street, I mean it's like any other High
01:13
Street really, but I still think it's worth supporting.
01:16
Hi, I'm James and this is Jonathan, from the Sweetshop, who's got the bag in Gosport
01:21
High Street now?
01:22
Yeah, who's got the bag, he's been there a year, he's been a rocky rollercoaster runner.
01:26
It's been a rather pleasant promotion.
01:28
What's your experience, certainly the footfall over the last year, has it gone down, has
01:33
it fluctuated?
01:34
For this time of year it's got a lot easier, but in the summer it was up and down, it was
01:39
unpredictable, you couldn't predict your paydays or anything.
01:43
One minute it was really good, the next minute it was down, but like I said, because we've
01:47
got our online and we do local deliveries as well, that does seem to aid us in keeping
01:51
a steady income, but I think next year will be our year.
02:00
Market day is what's bringing people down the town, the market, when it comes down on
02:04
the weekend, that's what drives footfall, so that's one positive.
02:08
Yeah, big ups to Angus.
02:10
Obviously with some of the bigger chains, lots of stores across the country are closing,
02:15
obviously you see Pound Stretcher here, but some of the more traditional ones are closing
02:19
everywhere.
02:20
Do you think a return to some of those bigger stores in the High Street, that would increase
02:24
footfall?
02:25
No, personally I think it's the big ones need to go and let the small guys come back.
02:30
We have niche products, and we have stuff that you can't find anywhere else.
02:35
We get stuff from Japan, we get all of our drinks from America, so we have really created
02:40
something that people come down and they get something that they can't get in their local
02:43
supermarkets.
02:44
And I think it's people like us.
02:46
It would be a shame if this was a chain sweet shop.
02:50
The bigger stores have got too much of the same stuff, Tesco, Asda, they're all selling
02:55
the exact same sweets and candy, where we're selling unique products.
02:58
Yeah, and for High Street I think it's got to be unique, like the beauty parlour just
03:02
started doing our permanent jewellery, that's really unique.
03:04
That's right, yeah.
03:05
So everyone's got to be small and unique I think for High Street, not just...
03:09
It's really sad the amount of empty shops, but I don't think we're unique, I think it's
03:14
country-wide, and I'm really hoping that our new bus station, with then the waterfront
03:19
being developed, will just maybe boost Gosport a little bit more, and realise that we're
03:24
just not Portsmouth's poor neighbour.
03:26
Right, okay, yeah, yeah, interesting.
03:28
Is there anything you'd like to see introduced back into High Street, certain types of shops,
03:32
or you think that would make a difference?
03:34
I really don't know what shops would want to be associated with Gosport at the moment.
03:40
I just think the whole facade needs to be jazzed up and made more welcoming.
03:46
We're always in the dark as well because of the way the sun comes up in Gosport High Street,
03:52
so it's almost really sad.
03:55
But I think there needs to be more for youngsters to encourage them to come to the High Street
04:01
to make it happier and more vibrant.
04:05
So I think, not necessarily nightclubs, but maybe some soft play, indoor markets, just
04:13
I don't know.
04:15
Do you come into the High Street often yourself?
04:18
Maybe once a week, just to use the library.
04:21
The library's great.
04:22
Okay, yeah, so the library brings you in.
04:24
Okay, interesting.
04:25
And I was speaking to a couple of small businesses as well, and they said that some of the small
04:28
businesses are thriving.
04:29
Is that something you'd like to see more of, rather than some of the bigger chains?
04:32
Unique shops would be perfect, because I think that's what people like, is stuff that you
04:38
can't buy elsewhere.
04:39
So if we had more unique shops that sold own crafts and things like that would just be
04:47
great for this town.
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