Small traders in Brighton fear they will soon be swallowed by the big fish swarming onto our streets.
Residents put up fierce resistance whenever the likes of Tesco and Sainsbury’s announce plans to move into an area.
A new Tesco to open in Hangleton, Hove, early next year but many shopkeepers who already do business near the big boys say the supermarket invasion is actually a blessing.
They say the sad fact is that the small fry who once competed directly with the supermarkets are already long gone.
Steve Lin, who runs the Daily Catch fish and chip shop in St James’s Street, Kemp Town, says he “welcomed” the opening of a new Tesco opposite his shop in July 2009.
“There are always moaners,” he said. “People are so negative. We’ve been here 15 years and I’d rather have the street full with busy shops than empty ones.
“The street probably isn’t as busy as it used to be, but we’ve got our regulars and they don’t care about a new Tesco.”
Inevitable
Sainsbury’s has ten stores in total in Brighton and Hove. Tesco already has five stores in Hove, five in Brighton and another in Portslade – as well as a superstore at the Holmbush Centre, Shoreham.
Many traders say the rise of the supermarkets is inevitable, and ultimately that shopkeepers will either sink or swim.
Ray Scroggins has been running Dean’s Electrical Shop, next to the St James’s Street Tesco, since the early 1990s.
He says all the smaller bakeries and butchers that used to serve Kemp Town closed down years ago.
Now he says those traders that are left need to move with the times and learn how to profit from the footfall attracted by cheaper goods.
“There used to be so many more independent shops – fishmongers, bakers and butchers – but they were put out of business years ago.
"Now all the supermarkets are more in competition with each other than anyone else,” he said.
Something different
The opening of a new Tesco Express in Queen’s Road in August 2009 prompted fears that cafes and newsagents in the area would be put out of business.
But Adal Abanob, owner of nearby Robyn’s newsagents, said: “It’s not been a big problem for me. We have our regulars and they keep coming.
"People still come in here when they don’t want to queue so we haven’t really been affected.”
Corinna Lebon, manager of the Cocoa French patisserie, which is opposite Tesco, said the cash machine outside attracts people to the area. And they then often pop into her shop for an impulse snack. “For me Tesco has been a good thing,” she said. “People come out of Tesco, see us, then they come here. And if people want a croissant, they would come here, not Tesco.”
Emilia Wojcik, manager of Ellas Yummy Delights in Queen’s Road, makes sure she can offer something unique to the area.
“I do toasties so that we can offer something they haven’t got,” she said. “Having Tesco opposite is probably not a good thing for our business. But if you make sure you can give the customer something different, they will always come back.”
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