Gosport locals speak on the state of the high street as another store announces its closing

The News, Portsmouth

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00:00For some people, the announcement that Power Stretcher is closing in Gosport is a further

00:04sign of the death of the High Street, particularly Gosport, or some have described it as a ghost

00:08town.

00:09I head into the High Street to get the local people's perspective.

00:13There are obviously a lot of vacant shops in the High Street, we've had a lot of comments

00:18about people saying it's a bit of a ghost town, what's your thoughts on Gosport High

00:21Street?

00:22I think it's what you make of it, there's stuff if you want to come here, there's plenty

00:25of nice little coffee shops, the library's very good, if we can get some grants to get

00:30some more interesting shops in that would be good, but everywhere's struggling, I don't

00:36think Gosport's any different anywhere else really.

00:39What I would like to see is the parking made easier, especially for pensioners like me,

00:45because you get an hour free, but you can't pay by cash or card, you have to use the app,

00:51which is fine for me, I can use it, but not everybody can, and I think it's shooting themselves

00:57in the foot a little bit.

00:58Quite good shops down here, worth supporting, there's the New Look, and the Leacocks, so

01:08I just think you've still got to support your High Street, I mean it's like any other High

01:13Street really, but I still think it's worth supporting.

01:16Hi, I'm James and this is Jonathan, from the Sweetshop, who's got the bag in Gosport

01:21High Street now?

01:22Yeah, who's got the bag, he's been there a year, he's been a rocky rollercoaster runner.

01:26It's been a rather pleasant promotion.

01:28What's your experience, certainly the footfall over the last year, has it gone down, has

01:33it fluctuated?

01:34For this time of year it's got a lot easier, but in the summer it was up and down, it was

01:39unpredictable, you couldn't predict your paydays or anything.

01:43One minute it was really good, the next minute it was down, but like I said, because we've

01:47got our online and we do local deliveries as well, that does seem to aid us in keeping

01:51a steady income, but I think next year will be our year.

02:00Market day is what's bringing people down the town, the market, when it comes down on

02:04the weekend, that's what drives footfall, so that's one positive.

02:08Yeah, big ups to Angus.

02:10Obviously with some of the bigger chains, lots of stores across the country are closing,

02:15obviously you see Pound Stretcher here, but some of the more traditional ones are closing

02:19everywhere.

02:20Do you think a return to some of those bigger stores in the High Street, that would increase

02:24footfall?

02:25No, personally I think it's the big ones need to go and let the small guys come back.

02:30We have niche products, and we have stuff that you can't find anywhere else.

02:35We get stuff from Japan, we get all of our drinks from America, so we have really created

02:40something that people come down and they get something that they can't get in their local

02:43supermarkets.

02:44And I think it's people like us.

02:46It would be a shame if this was a chain sweet shop.

02:50The bigger stores have got too much of the same stuff, Tesco, Asda, they're all selling

02:55the exact same sweets and candy, where we're selling unique products.

02:58Yeah, and for High Street I think it's got to be unique, like the beauty parlour just

03:02started doing our permanent jewellery, that's really unique.

03:04That's right, yeah.

03:05So everyone's got to be small and unique I think for High Street, not just...

03:09It's really sad the amount of empty shops, but I don't think we're unique, I think it's

03:14country-wide, and I'm really hoping that our new bus station, with then the waterfront

03:19being developed, will just maybe boost Gosport a little bit more, and realise that we're

03:24just not Portsmouth's poor neighbour.

03:26Right, okay, yeah, yeah, interesting.

03:28Is there anything you'd like to see introduced back into High Street, certain types of shops,

03:32or you think that would make a difference?

03:34I really don't know what shops would want to be associated with Gosport at the moment.

03:40I just think the whole facade needs to be jazzed up and made more welcoming.

03:46We're always in the dark as well because of the way the sun comes up in Gosport High Street,

03:52so it's almost really sad.

03:55But I think there needs to be more for youngsters to encourage them to come to the High Street

04:01to make it happier and more vibrant.

04:05So I think, not necessarily nightclubs, but maybe some soft play, indoor markets, just

04:13I don't know.

04:15Do you come into the High Street often yourself?

04:18Maybe once a week, just to use the library.

04:21The library's great.

04:22Okay, yeah, so the library brings you in.

04:24Okay, interesting.

04:25And I was speaking to a couple of small businesses as well, and they said that some of the small

04:28businesses are thriving.

04:29Is that something you'd like to see more of, rather than some of the bigger chains?

04:32Unique shops would be perfect, because I think that's what people like, is stuff that you

04:38can't buy elsewhere.

04:39So if we had more unique shops that sold own crafts and things like that would just be

04:47great for this town.

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