Newport Specsavers store loses trade during council’s repaving work

1:10pm Monday 18th February 2013 in News

CONCERN: Jason Williams, store director at Specsavers in Newport High Street CONCERN: Jason Williams, store director at Specsavers in Newport High Street

A NEWPORT store director says his trade has fallen during the past week after his shop was left blocked off by the roadworks in High Street.

Jason Williams, the store director of Specsavers, High Street, said he arrived at work on Tuesday to find the shop had been completely blocked off by temporary safety barriers leading to him having to ask workmen to create a path into the store.

On Thursday he said that due to digging work outside his shop, one of the double doors was also blocked off.

He said that this has led to a drop in custom during what should have been a busy week due to the halfterm holiday as people thought the store was closed.

While he would have expected custom this past week to be 10 to 20 per cent higher than a normal week, he said it has actually been 10 to 20 per cent down on a normal week.

Mr Williams said he believes the work being done was council work to repave the area.

The Argus asked Newport council for a comment relating to the issue but received no response.

Jon@thekiosk of the newsagents on High Street posted this picture of the works on Twitter, saying it was "the final straw..."

BLOCKED OFF: A picture tweeted today by Jon@thekiosk, the newsagents on High Street

Comments(13)

Russpy says...
2:32pm Mon 18 Feb 13

The Council make no comment because they are busy pretending its all the contractors fault and nothing to do with them!!!

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portforever says...
2:44pm Mon 18 Feb 13

ah, the charms of newport city shopping just leave the high street well alone as most are doing anyway, and come to us at newport retail park.the future is out of town shopping not going to places like newport high street and having to mingle with the ferrel chavs who chose to hang around spoons and the like. high street is over and council are just wasting our money trying to bring life in a dead area,,,

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freshnreal says...
4:21pm Mon 18 Feb 13

Oh dear, poor High Street stick with it though local traders in the end it will be lovely! I for one know where I would prefer to spend a day shopping, the city centre with it's beautiful historic architecture, one off shops and helpful friendly shopkeepers is a much better choice than an ugly white superstore with it's unsourceable produce, shops that sell the same clothes in every town in the country, and restaurants that have the same menu in every town in the country!

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On the inside says...
7:28pm Mon 18 Feb 13

So now it is wrong to try to improve the area and attract trade. So trade was down 10 or 20 percent was it. Well which, because it cannot be both! Another incompetent small trader trying to blame everyone else.

btw - For Director, read franchise owner.

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andy83 says...
11:09pm Mon 18 Feb 13

why bother going to town when you can get your eyes tested a spytty tescos buy specsavers and you don't have to pay for parking over there and your under cover from the time you leave the car that's what I did a few weeks ago also you don't have to fight your way past all the dirty stinking pigions and homeless tramps begging on the streets of Newport city

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Magor says...
8:25am Tue 19 Feb 13

We keep hearing about the death of the high street,its come to Newport sooner.The place is ahead of its time.The future of shopping for the UK is out of town and internet.

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Magor says...
8:29am Tue 19 Feb 13

freshnreal wrote:
Oh dear, poor High Street stick with it though local traders in the end it will be lovely! I for one know where I would prefer to spend a day shopping, the city centre with it's beautiful historic architecture, one off shops and helpful friendly shopkeepers is a much better choice than an ugly white superstore with it's unsourceable produce, shops that sell the same clothes in every town in the country, and restaurants that have the same menu in every town in the country!
Where is this City centre?

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billy boy 2 says...
11:45am Tue 19 Feb 13

Breaking news monsoon going now

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sperduti says...
12:52pm Tue 19 Feb 13

well spec savers will be the next to go and cant see BHS lasting much longer either!!! we have to move with the times and people want less hassle and that means car parking is not a problem over spytty and cwmbran , tesco has every thing under one roof even card warehouse where you can browse for cards better than the one in commercial street !!! newport has sadly gone down hill and will continue to do so no amount of road works will make any difference!

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Bobevans says...
1:11pm Tue 19 Feb 13

BHS I suspect will go. No money has been invested in the store for years and it shows. HMV will almost certainly go as will Mothercare & Argos

Smiths will probably stay but will move into a smaller store. Boots may stay but again move into a small store

With Smiths there is a big question mark over the future of the busines. Its core product range is Music CD/s & DVD's that already all but gone

Newspapers & Magazines a market thats in rapid decline the other main product line is books again in terminal decline. THe rest is an assortment of overpriced product lines

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Alfred1508 says...
2:17pm Tue 19 Feb 13

O Dear

Just like Newbridge, Abertillery and Pontypool. ask the traders who have suffered this in their towns. They have to earn a living unlike those planning such work.

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amandaajd1 says...
3:34pm Tue 19 Feb 13

Bobevans wrote:
BHS I suspect will go. No money has been invested in the store for years and it shows. HMV will almost certainly go as will Mothercare & Argos

Smiths will probably stay but will move into a smaller store. Boots may stay but again move into a small store

With Smiths there is a big question mark over the future of the busines. Its core product range is Music CD/s & DVD's that already all but gone

Newspapers & Magazines a market thats in rapid decline the other main product line is books again in terminal decline. THe rest is an assortment of overpriced product lines
Mothercare has already gone..guess what is in there now.....a lovely charity shop...surprise surprise...

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Exile Elmo says...
6:40pm Tue 19 Feb 13

Russpy wrote:
The Council make no comment because they are busy pretending its all the contractors fault and nothing to do with them!!!
I think you'll find that it is written in to the contract for the works that the contractor is to maintain access to businesses at all times.

So yes if access was prohibited to specsavers it is the responsibility of the contractor and not the council.

Perhaps they should only work on weeksends and nights multiplying the cost to the tax payer by a factor of four..mmm.

The council seemed to be damned if they do and damned if they don't..

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