Polly’s Bazaar may close – does the community want to keep it open?

by Lib Dem Team on 29 March, 2017

When it comes to local shops, we often say “use it or lose it”. Polly’s Bazaar in Gatley looked set to close for good in 2014, but was rescued by Brian and Dawn from Bargain Booze.

The businesses that are doing well in Gatley are the ones people are choosing to use and spend their money in. The community is voting with its wallets and purses for cafes, takeaways, hairdressers and restaurants. The community is choosing, for the most part, to shop elsewhere for the sorts of products Polly’s Bazaar sells.

We can change that – it wouldn’t take many people switching to use local village shops like Polly’s Bazaar to make them viable and keep them open.

Here’s what Polly’s owners Brian and Dawn posted on the Gatley Facebook page:

 

In the summer of 2014 Pollys bazaar was about to close, we thought this was not in the interests of the village and many residents seemed to agree, in fact some were quite upset by this news
Despite having other business interests we decided we were going to try to keep Pollys open. We fully stocked the shop with household products, homeware, DIY, stationary, gifts, garden essentials, house plants, shrubs and plants for the garden etc etc
We have some lovely loyal customers who enjoy coming to our shop and they give us as much support as they can, Thankyou to you all

Unfortunately these days there are not enough people using the village shops, some days we stand in our shops looking up or down the village and just wonder where everybody has gone, and this seems to be happening more frequently

When we made the decision to keep Pollys open we new because of other commitments we would have to pay employees to run the shop most of the time and this is what we do, we pay Jean and Julian to look after the shop we pay the rent and all the overheads for the business. Our job is to go out and buy for the shop, which luckily we enjoy doing, we try to find new things to sell in the shop to keep it interesting.

Unfortunately this is still being done at our expense, we have not yet been able to take any money out of the business, when we started out we hoped we would be able to take out our expenses and a small wage, we would have been happy with this, but this has not been the case
The months have rolled on quickly and unless we have new customers the shop will have to close in the near future, as we are not prepared to keep working for no return

Gatley village is dying, if you want to keep your village shops you will have to support them make no mistake this is a reality

Kindest regards
Brian & Dawn

   15 Comments

15 Responses

  1. John Hartley says:

    I think the problem Polly’s has always had is that the stock overlaps that of other local shops and, to be frank, has rarely had the range of stock of those other outlets. So, if I want hardware, etc, A & I Supplies has always been better. If I want stationery, the newsagents also does better. I’m a keen gardener and would always rather buy at the garden centre, than either of the local shops that stock plants – the quality is simply better.

  2. DR C says:

    Glad to say some of us have ‘kept the faith’ with ‘Pretty Pollys’!
    Whilst it is true that they do not have quite the range of stock of other more specialised outlets, they do have a good general range AND are usually cheaper than those other outlets – including the previously named one!

    Pollys Bazaar RIP? – hoping not.

    • John says:

      I shop at Pollys often, but i accept that what i spend there isnt going to keep them going as a business. I have read Brian & Dawn’s message above and completely understand what they are saying. Sadly, the local village shop business model rarely stacks up any more without a niche market and/or specialisation.

      But where will elderly people be able to buy what they sell if Pollys closes. Those that can’t walk more than a mile, or use busses, and can’t cope with computers smartphones etc. Which local shop or organisation is going to pick that up?

  3. Denise Regan says:

    We regularly shop in Polly’s it’s well stocked and very competitively priced. Please do not close. ???

  4. Hill Ruth says:

    I have always supported all the shops in Gatley especially Polly’s Bazaar. I am really upset that it will close, tho’ I can see where the owners are coming from. I do hope that it will stay open.

  5. Karen Sandler says:

    Cheadle is also suffering. In the last few weeks we have lost Ennerdales, a fantastic greengrocers, and Leaders, that great tobacconist and old-fashioned sweet shop. We have also lost our only newsagent. Surprisingly, we have heard nothing from our local Councillors about this. Are we to be a village of coffee shops and mini-supermarkets, or do we value our local shops?

    • Bruce says:

      Karen – if you have ever read any of my comments you will realise that I am no fan of the LibDems. However, even I have to say that they are not to blame for the changing scope of shops – it is the way retail is evolving.

      Yesterday I ordered two items from my armchair from Amazon and they will both be delivered today. In certain areas they just cannot compete.

      • Tony Kaye says:

        I agree with Bruce. It is not a political issue. When it does become a political issue is when the council approves applications for more and more licensed premises which can lead to local problems; or approving applications for unsuitable businesses.
        We have indeed chosen to ‘vote with our wallets’ so we really can’t complain. I have never been into Polly’s Bazaar, although my wife has, on occasion. I did not like the Ennerdales shop in Cheadle. They never spent any money on it, the atmosphere was awful, the staff very ambivalent, bordering on unpleasant, and the quality of the goods debatable. Whilst I agree it is nice to have a local independent greengrocer, and every town or village should have them, we cannot complain when they close if we don’t support them. However, they also have to learn to compete with the supermarkets in terms of quality and presentation. It is not always just about price. Marks and Spencer charge top end prices, give excellent quality, present beautifully, and sell LOADS! I always tried to avoid Ennerdales if I could. It was not a pleasant shopping experience. I am not sad that it has closed but would love to see a new one open. There is no independent greengrocer in Gatley any more – thats also a shame.

      • John says:

        Bruce – that is fine for those that can. But i recently went through managing the last years of my mother who could still manage walking to local shops but was never going to be able to handle anything on’line, computer, mobile phone etc. We must not forget the needs of the elderly.

    • Ian. says:

      Agree with Karen 100% it is such a shame. With Regards to Ennerdales it’s a pity that the Guy who owned it was not as cheerful to his customers as the two ladies who serve at the Grocers next to Natwest.

    • Lib Dem Team says:

      Hi Karen – you’ll recall that the local councillors did a huge amount of work over parking when Cheadle traders complained their businesses were being damaged. We can’t micro-manage the High Street and we can’t force local people to shop in certain shops, but we can and do work to keep our villages successful.

    • John says:

      Leaders had closed? That is so sad to hear. All the people there were always so nice. A big loss to the High Street.

  6. David Thornton says:

    Unfortunately it is a fact of business life that if a business is failing to attract customers it will close. Range of products, sufficient stock levels, pricing, target market, convenience, public awareness are all factors. Maybe Polly’s customers are not necessarily price led, I would review Polly’s prices. It’s a convenience store and convenience store prices are usually a step up. There used to be a saying- The businessman complains he cannot understand why he went out of business, ” I gave the best discounts in town!” he exclaimed. The problem with Polly’s is that the products on sale are available elsewhere in Gatley. Perhaps a re-focus on the target market and local needs is required, replicating products sold just up the road, in my opinion, is not a good idea, there just aren’t enough people in Gatley. Extended opening hours at Polly’s might help, Sunday all day and evenings until 7pm? A major negative for Polly’s is parking, or lack of it, compared to A & I, which enjoys lay-by parking as well as an adjacent car park.
    No point in carrying on just on the basis of well wishers support. The owners need to come up with a viable business plan.

  7. Stuart Thompson says:

    If Polly’s can hang on until after Brexit, if it happens, (perish the thought) Amazon will be uncompetitive, especially for cheap items which currently are often shipped overnight from Luxembourg. We can expect them to become extremely expensive and take weeks to arrive because they would have to enter the UK accompanied by a mass of unproductive paperwork as in the pre-common market days. You as tax payers would have the doubtful pleasure of funding the vast army of bureaucrats who would process it. Ask anyone with experience of international trade in the bad old days and they will confirm the paralysis it would cause to our economy and the damage to once-thriving business enterprises.

  8. margaret jones says:

    Before I came to live in Gatley I used to come to the village to shop. I used to park on the Cinema car park and spend a time browsing and shopping in the little shops. There is no where to park now to entise people to shop in the village.

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