Do you have to be born in an area to be a patriot? I donâthink so ââ only lived here for five years, and I have to say it: Leamington Spa is my kind of town.
South of the river, at least. North, if you look above the shopfronts you can see the Regency grandeur, but most people donâ They look at the shops, and what they see looks exactly the same as every other shopping street.
A Very Strange High Street
In Old Town, though, we have a very strange High Street. A High Street with no âgh Street storesâ
If you buy at a chain store, how much of the money stays in the area? Rates, staff wages, and very little else. And most big chains try to screw both of those figures down to the smallest they can get away with. Stock comes from large warehouses that could be anywhere in the country. Accountancy, legal advice, advertising, repairs... you name it, they handle it all from Head Office.
But an independent trader mostly spends locally. The money stays here, and gets spent again and again. What makes a region prosperous isnâjust how much is earned, but how much of it stays in the area. Iânot saying that we shouldnâuse chain stores or buy online. Sometimes itâthe only way you can get what you need, and sometimes there are big savings in doing it that way. Not always, though. A few months ago I needed some blank DVDs. I nearly bought them at Asda, but in the nick of time discovered that they were actually cheaper at Click Ok! in Bath Street.
And itânot just about the money. If you need solid advice, youâ more likely to get it from an independent trader. If I want advice about a DIY project, for instance, Iâ buy from Lamats in Regent Place. At Classic Printers weâ help with wording a leaflet or poster, or laying it out for best impact. And so on.
This site started because I was looking for a domain to host my employerâwebsite. ClassicPrinters.com? Gone. ClassicPrinters.co.uk? Gone. And anyway, not quite what I wanted. The ideal would be something that says âis is who we are; this is where we are; this is what we do.âurname@cv31.biz.â