SHOPPING

SAD
Two customers queued for half-an-hour to get into Next in Albion Street at 7am on Saturday 27 December, and spent one-and-a-half hours queuing to pay for their goods. One of them said, "We didn't know what we wanted until we got in there. Most of the items were half price."

PRICE FIXING
Two of Britain’s biggest retailers were found guilty of fixing the price of toys. Argos and Littlewoods must now pay fines totalling Ł22.65MILLION. A court found they colluded with US toy giant Hasbro.

An illegal arrangement meant Britain’s top two catalogue shops pledged never to undercut each other on kids’ favourites like Action Man and Tweenies soft toys. The Office of Fair Trading chairman John Vickers said, “Consumers suffered as prices were kept artificially high.”

WARNING
If you see a link to the www.shopderby.com website and you click on it, you'll be taken to a porn site with pop-ups that take over your screen. You have been warned!

ALLDERS GONE BUST
The Allders department store chain has gone into administration. Property group Minerva put the chain up for sale but failed to secure a buyer.... more >>>

COURTS GONE BUST
Courts collapsed into administration after its bankers pulled the plug on the struggling furniture retailer.... more >>>

BEST FOR DISABLED
Ann Summers sex shop has been voted the easiest place for disabled people to shop. Members of access group Disability Direct said staff at the shop on St Peter's Street in Derby were particularly helpful and friendly. The chain store has also fitted internal ramps, accessible changing rooms and was also praised for its open plan layout and thoughtful items such as low hooks for people to hang garments on in the changing rooms.

SHOPPING

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East Street The shops here are much the same as in any other city with the same 'names' in the High Street. The slogan 'Derby has everything you need' should actually continue, 'providing you need everything it has.' For instance, there's no point expecting to find an item of your choice - you have to choose from whatever's in stock at the time. When entering a shop, several members of staff will pounce on you within seconds of walking through the door. They'll ask if they can help, then leave you to browse telling you to call them if you need any advice.

After spending half an hour choosing a product you then discover the staff have all disappeared. But then, the product you've chosen probably won't be in stock anyway so it doesn't really matter. Many of the 'big names' in the High Street are actually the same company so there's little point going somewhere else as they're all much the same.

Currys for example, are well known for advertising and even displaying boxes for products they don't stock. And Powerhouse have admitted that some of their items on show are not actually sold in the store - the display models and boxes are just there to fill the shelves.

For specific items you have to use the A52 to Nottingham, A38 Burton, etc. In most shops Strand Arcade you'll find only half the checkouts open at any time, though to be fair, Derby is no worse than most other cities in this respect. This is a ploy to force customers to queue for everything and employers encourage this by deliberately employing fewer staff than is required. Customer service is not always high on the list either and in some cases not even on the list. Some of the worst offenders are Dixons, Currys, Comet, Powerhouse, PC World, Dollond & Aitchison and Allied Carpets.

Supermarkets in particular, are forever 'improving' the layout and service they provide which results in a worse system than before in most cases plus an increase in prices to pay for the alterations. For example, extra wide aisles are installed for the convenience of the shopper, then blocked by pallets, boxes and metal bins containing special offers.

Retail parks, vast out-of-town shopping complexes, also have the added frustration of possessing only one or two entrances thus ensuring maximum traffic congestion in accordance with the City Council transport policy. As long as customers continue to shop there though, nothing will change because shops are in the business to make money after all and as long as that continues we have to put up with it.

Customers however, are not exactly blame free and anyone who has ever worked in a retail environment will know all too well that far from always being right, some customers can be a total pain - even if they do pay their wages .... more >>>

The Christmas Day (Trading) Bill, which is co-sponsored by Tom Watson (Lab West Bromwich East) passed its final stage in Parliament and will prohibit large stores from trading on Christmas Day. Backed by the shopworkers union Usdaw, the Bill will prevent all large stores of more than 3,000sqft from opening on Christmas Day, whichever day of the week it falls on. Previous legislation did not prevent large stores from opening on Christmas Day, unless it fell on a Sunday.

Mr Watson said, "I was lobbied by a number of West Bromwich shopworkers to help get this Bill through Parliament and I'm delighted that it has now become law. Even Scrooge let his staff have Christmas Day off, although he did make them work late on Christmas Eve. This is the situation that most shopworkers find themselves in, but more and more they are facing the prospect of not even being allowed to take time off on Christmas Day."

He added, "Although most shops do not open on Christmas Day, more and more are doing so. This law will help to maintain the special nature of Christmas Day and ensure that shop staff in large stores are guaranteed a well-deserved holiday. Staff in large retail stores work exceptionally long hours in the run-up to Christmas. This new law should provide them at least Christmas Day off, to spend time with their families."

It's the week before Christmas and the busiest time of the year for traders with shops staying open until 9pm. But if shoppers want to take advantage of late-night shopping in Derby, they won't be able to use the park-and-ride scheme to get home. The council is forever banging on about keeping cars out of the city centre and urging people to use public transport, but instead of helping to ease traffic congestion, Arriva will stop running the park-and-ride service at 7pm, two hours before the shops close.

Peter Price, the council's transportation policy manager said, "We'd allow Arriva to operate the service commercially but we're not prepared to provide financial support to the service because usage is so low. The reason for this is that family cars are available in the evenings and there's more car parking space in the city centre, so the natural choice is for people to drive. The cost of extending the park-and-ride to cover evenings is therefore a waste of public money."

But weren't recently increased car parking charges meant to help pay for improved public transport? So much for the council's boast 'Promoting Public Transport'.

Debenhams, Woolworths, Sainsbury's, Tesco and Marks & Spencer are extending opening hours in the run up to Christmas in a bid to stop falling profits. Superdrug is launching 24-hour trading for the first time at its store in London's Oxford Street in the week leading up to Christmas and Comet plans to open at 7am in a trial run at some its stores, two hours earlier than usual. All major chains will be closed on Christmas Day but open on Boxing Day. (Source: Sunday Mirror)

Strand Arcade Work is set to begin on a The Strand shopping arcade to restore it to its former glory. The glazed roof of the arcade between The Strand and Sadler Gate in Derby will be refurbished and the floor will be replaced with stone paving slabs. The work is costing Ł414,000, made up of money from Derby Council and the Heritage Lottery Fund. Councillor Martin Repton, Derby City Council's cabinet member for planning and transportation, said, "This scheme will be a tremendous boost for this part of the city centre and will help improve its attractiveness to shoppers and visitors." (Source: BBC News, Feb/06)

Business owners at The Strand Arcade believe shoppers are being put off because the area has been turned into a building site due to a project to revamp the area over-running. They claim the work is threatening to ruin their Christmas custom. Traders welcomed the scheme when it was introduced, but they now say the council has gone back on a pledge to minimise the impact on customers. The city council could not confirm what extra work was required or when the scheme will finish. According to the traders, the noise of angle-grinders slicing through stone, and the appearance of cement being mixed up, is turning customers away. (Source: Derby Evening Telegraph, Dec/06)

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