Streetlife

Hello.
I would like to see more clothes shops or shops that offer something different.

Cotton Traders sell good quality clothes at reasonable prices.

I know it has been said before, but a new department store would be a great draw for the town, it is what people travel for - how many tell you they are going to Cambridge or Norwich for John Lewis?

It would be great for the Town to have big stores like John Lewis in the Town centre, it would surely attract more people into the Town which must benefit the smaller shops also?

My understanding was that John Lewis was coming to town, but someone decided that it should go out of town with Waitrose on the old Cranes site?

Well it's certainly coming to Town but it's a John Lewis at home rather than a fully fledged store? It's great for John Lewis to finally have presence in Ipswich none the less.

It is going to the old Crane site, will be good for after work shopping but if it were in the town centre it might bring shoppers with money into town and help revive the high street a little.

It's such a pity isn't it. the town centre always seems so down at heel and the two shopping centres are so sad looking. High time someone did something to pep things up!

The Buttermarket feels echoey these days, needs a flagship store fast.

It seems to be OK if you want a coffee or a mobile phone!

One thing we're spoilt for in Ipswich are our Kebab options, there are five kebab shops on the short stretch of Upper Orwell Street alone!

We need more quality shops. Shop owners letting out to charity shops to avoid rates doesn't really help.

there would probaly be more shops if ibc didnt charge such outrageous buisness rates a friend of mine has a shop in a prominent part of the town centre and has to pay in excess of £50,000 in buisness rates before he even starts to make a living.which put to gether rip off car parking charges you cant wonder at so many shops being empty.perhaps one day somebody with a little common sense at the town hall might have a brain storm and think about what results might happen if they where to reduce rates and charges they might just entice some leading retailers to think about ipswich but allthough there is a reccesion on they seem hell bent on putting up every thing .got to pay for the jewel in the crown that is the waterfront what a wasre of time.

Pop up shops are the answer,landlords with empty shops letting them out for peanuts. All income from business rates goes straight to the government for your info!

I certainly think we need some quality shoe shops. We used to Bowhill Elliott who also stocked narrower shoes. Why are shoes always made so wide?  We could also do with a John Lewis in the town, House of Fraser - more department stores. In the 60's we had Corders, Cowells, Masons, Ridleys, now all we have are cloned shops with other towns.  Buck up Ipswich.

What we want and what we get/have are two very different things Double Dee!
Those lovely shops we had when we were young like the ones you mention above have long gone and will never be replaced with similar department stores.
Our town centre shopping is a disgrace. The only ones that get catered for now are the young. As for you wanting a John Lewis - we're getting one in December
on the old Cranes factory site at Nacton Road.

We are too London via train for department stores. Plus the likes of John Lewis taking over the Co-op is a non starter. Ipswich shopping is based purely on the Golden Mile as it is called, and a lot of the shops are too small for large retailers.Waitrose were interested initially in the old Civic Centre site, until Tesco received planning permission to build a big Tesco on the old B & Q site, and you wonder if and when it will actually start building.

Hi B!!  The John Lewis we are getting is a home store. Plenty of those now that Next have a bigger one and they will be putting an M&S where Glasswells was at Martlesham Heath. Everything seems to be happening on the east side of town, maybe a home store as our nearest one is Norwich.  A John Lewis on the old bakery site near Asda would be good, but traffic would be a problem there also.

I want to see a health shop that has nothing but healthy food in :-)

I am disappointed to find a lot of evil products on the shelves in the new Holland and Barrett! However I am glad I have a new supplier of coconut water. Wow.

I thought we had been chosen  for the Mary Portas turnaround scheme, is that not so?

I wonder how members of ITC would fair if they had to carry a heavy load of shopping from one end of the town to the other, to then have to walk a quiet a way to either the Car Park or the Buses.  (By the way do not try taking any large or heavy shopping on the bus  - there is barely room to sit let alone have any shopping bags.).   I remember Ipswich when it was a super town until the so called planners got their knives out and started building monster grey buildings every where e.g. Grey Friars  - remember that!!

Yes I remember that. The other comment I have is when I have had visitors here from London and we have been to the Buttermarket car park, they have commented that it seems to be the most expensive car park they have seen. I too think that the car parks are expensive and now I do most of my shopping on line, not so much food but clothing, furniture etc.  That is possibly the reason so many shops are boarded up.  You can order £30 worth of goods on line and get free delivery to your address within 2-3 working days.  I used to love going in the shops but those that are left are always pretty crowded and many of them dishing out really loud music which for me personally doesn't help.

i feel we need to take stock on what types of shops we have and open some types that we do not have.  We do not have many decent shops that are not too expensive to purchase things from.  There is no fruit or veg shops except the mini supermarkets we have and their stock is limited.  I am also purchasing more things on line now due to expensive car parking and lack of what I need and deivery works out cheaper.

I wasn't around when stores such as Corders, Cowells, Masons, and Ridleys were around but if i'm correct and they were like the old co-op store then they must have gone into admin/closed for a reason? I can only guess that it was because people were not using them enough to keep them open? There are incentives to shop in Ipswich centre. Sundays for example there are car parks around the town that offer parking for £1 all day. Sorry but you cannot get much cheaper than that! The waterfront has been a great success in my view. If it had not gone into re-development we would still have old empty crumbling buildings. There are still small independant shops in the town centre - fruit and veg stalls on the market for example with parking/bus stops/taxi ranks nearby. This town has many great things about it and i feel it's knocked too often and easily !

Well to be honest the stores I have mentioned were used quite a bit but the population was smaller then.  Masons and Corders were similar to Debenhams but laid out in a more traditional way, we are talking about the 60's.  I would think their leases ran out and were too expensive to renew. Cowells was used a lot and it was situated in the Buttermarket, more or less where the Buttermarket Centre is now. They traded a lot in furniture, curtains etc., and were there for many years.  We don't really all want to shop on Sundays but I take your point.

I remember parking at the car park near Willis (can't think of the name at present) to walk down to the Waterfront but had a lot of problems with a parking ticket which had no right to be issued - long story - but certainly wouldn't park there again. There are buses - 1 an hour from our estate - but makes it quite a walk to the Waterfront and we are elderly, although reasonably fit.

I think Ipswich itself has a lot going for it and wouldn't want to return to London but the town centre is lacking when compared to Bury St.Edmunds or Norwich but that's the view of some people.