Hard Times of Old Scotland..
Things don't look good for Airdrie.
I've known since the first time I visited that Airdrie wasn't an affluent town, but things seem to be getting worse and worse round here. Since I moved up in March 2006, we have gained more empty shop properties every month..
The once well-known (albeit small) department store lies locked and unused while the windows still forlornly boast '145 years of service'. We lost, of course, our Woolworths. The only chains left of any note are Boots, Holland and Barrett, W. H. Smith, and the inevitable Subway. I can't honestly see it being long before Holland and Barrett and W H Smith move down the road to the only marginally more lively Coatbridge.
There is a tangible air of depression and hopelessness throughout the town, reinforced by the crop of new charity shops which appeared late last year. Airdrie's only growth market, it would seem. Even Poundstretcher and the clearance branch of Ethel Austin seem to be struggling somewhat.
I went into three shops on Wednesday. In every single one of them, a slightly desperate looking assistant asked, at the checkout, whether they could interest me in anything else. In every single one of them, the number of customers was... well, if not 'nil', certainly negligable. The same seems to be true of all the shops in town.
Things don't look good for Airdrie.
I've known since the first time I visited that Airdrie wasn't an affluent town, but things seem to be getting worse and worse round here. Since I moved up in March 2006, we have gained more empty shop properties every month..
The once well-known (albeit small) department store lies locked and unused while the windows still forlornly boast '145 years of service'. We lost, of course, our Woolworths. The only chains left of any note are Boots, Holland and Barrett, W. H. Smith, and the inevitable Subway. I can't honestly see it being long before Holland and Barrett and W H Smith move down the road to the only marginally more lively Coatbridge.
There is a tangible air of depression and hopelessness throughout the town, reinforced by the crop of new charity shops which appeared late last year. Airdrie's only growth market, it would seem. Even Poundstretcher and the clearance branch of Ethel Austin seem to be struggling somewhat.
I went into three shops on Wednesday. In every single one of them, a slightly desperate looking assistant asked, at the checkout, whether they could interest me in anything else. In every single one of them, the number of customers was... well, if not 'nil', certainly negligable. The same seems to be true of all the shops in town.
Things don't look good for Airdrie.