Nationwide it appears we are no longer in the words of Napoleon Bonaparte ‘a nation of shopkeepers’ as more and more of us shop online.

Before councillor Liz Frappell pointed out the error of their ways even Nailsea Town Council was buying items via Amazon.

According to economic long-term forecasts it is all ‘doom and gloom’ for retail therapy although trading figures currently being released for pre-Christmas 2018 aren’t nearly bad as first predicted.

The face of the High Street is constantly changing and a quick flick through an old Nailsea official town guide published at the start of the new millennium reveals the names of many businesses no longer in our town.

The Courtyard Wine Bar, Inside Art, Friendship pub, Nat West bank, Britannia building society,

Johnson’s Cleaners, Ethel Austin, Peacocks, Ronto, Let’s Walk, Trevor Ward, Rosebys, Gifted…I could go on as Colliers Walk has certainly seen some shop-hopping – Chic Blooms has expanded moved to 15b Crown Glass Place in the shopping centre - may have coined a new word there! 

It was a blow when award-winning High Street bridal shop Abigail Westrup moved to Portishead but Coates House continues to attract patrons thanks to its energetic staff.

Surprisingly there is only one charity shop listed – CLIC in the 2005 guide.

We now have seven and a plethora of For Sale and To Let signs in the town centre.

But it is the latest names to add to this list have made people very unhappy.

The Original Factory Shop which opened in 2009 after the old Woolworth store ceased trading at 61-63 High Street.

This was a year before Waitrose supermarket arrived in the town and next door was Gilly's cafe and the toy shop.

Sadly, The Blue Room arts and crafts centre closed three days before Christmas after five years trading at Crown Glass Shopping Centre.

As well as exhibiting and selling work by North Somerset artists, jewellery makers and potters it also hosted a variety of workshops.

Owner Sharon Brown had invested time and money in anticipation of Lidl opening in the Stockway South car park by installing a niche cafe but when the bargain basement supermarket failed to find approval with the residents or planners that was the end of that.

The treasure trove which was Beautiful, at 132 High Street, an emporium of vintage and designer ware closed after 14 years in business.

But there is lots of horizon for Nailsea to be happy about.

Ian Thompson, of Thompson Commercial, said: “There are a lot of changes going on in Nailsea and a lot of social media comment which is utter rubbish from the doom mongers.

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Retail gets some therapy

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“At Crown Glass Shopping Centre, Colliers Walk is being redeveloped.

“The phone shop is moving to the old Italian deli, the next shop to that will be a new much enlarged shop for The Works, then again a much larger unit which will be a new Greggs, and next to that a new enlarged CHSW shop.”

The Works is a discount retailer selling an extensive range of books, art and craft materials, gifts, toys, games and stationery.

Ian said: “We have one large unit then left running down to the old wool corner shop.

“All these should be up and running by Easter, we avoided affecting Christmas trade by not doing it earlier, but the site works and services diversions at the rear have been ongoing for some weeks already.

“With the Blue Room has closed - CHSW are moving into that on a temporary basis next week, while their shop is expanded.

“I then have a permanent tenant lined up to take over Blue Room in around April or May.

“Another shop I will have coming available in around late Jan/early Feb is Moonrise, next to Lisa Gregory's - the silk flower lady’s - new shop on the corner by Dominos, and of course Lisa’s old shop the kiosk on Colliers Walk, and I'm already getting keen interest in that. I can add that we had four offers for the old Silversmith shop – there is no lack of interest in shops in Nailsea.”

Ian blamed venture capitalists for the demise of the Factory Store which is going to rise from the ashes as Bargain Buys owned by the Poundstretcher Group.

Beautiful is re-let and new tenants move in soon once the ‘legals’ are sorted.

Ian said a nationally run nursery group and gym franchise want to move into the old filling station site opposite Tower House medical centre if the proposed development gets planning permission.

He added: All the negative comment about my town is really depressing, as the prophesies then stand a real chance of becoming self-fulfilling.

“Nailsea’s townsfolk will get the shopping they deserve, a dead town - they need to change and vote with their feet and use their town not walk away, not use the internet, actually shop Nailsea.

“It is no good saying there is nothing there they want to buy, there was, and they weren’t buying so the shops have gone.

“And to say they were forced out by high rents is also utter rubbish, rents are less than half what they were under the shopping centre previous owners 10 years ago.

“Yes, High Streets up and down the country are struggling but Nailsea has good prospects and is faring better than most, it just needs some stronger support through this transition, not constant berating.”

And 2019 will see lots of initiatives with a shop locally campaign, foodies promotion, all the school holiday fun building to another fantastic Christmas fair at Crown Glass Shopping Centre.

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Carol Deacon​