CLONE TOWNS

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Head off NOW to the NEW ECONOMICS FOUNDATION site. You need to follow the links to a great resource. It's a report published in December 2003 by the NEF which goes by the full title:

The report can be downloaded as a PDF file, which runs to almost 60 pages, including illustrations and evocative photographs. It looks at the decline in town centres, associated with a fundamental change in the nature of the ownership of the High Street. There is also the pressure from out of town shopping centres and outlet villages.

The basic premise of the report is that there is a change in most town centres, which has led to local independent stores being unable to compete with the chain stores. There has also been the growth of TESCO, which has moved into the 'corner shop' arena with its TESCO EXPRESS stores.

The idea was that there were a series of CLONE TOWNS growing. Truly independent stores were closing. This is a staple of local news magazines nationwide: the closing of a local store that has been going for decades....

http://www.neweconomics.org/gen/news_clonetown.aspx - is a link to another NEF article relating to CLONE TOWNS.

This would make an interesting enquiry for a group of students. What else has been written about this issue ?

They were featured in a short film on the ONE SHOW in November 2007.

There has been some criticism of the methodology, in that only the first 50 shops are used, and also they ignore the important role of the secondary shopping centres which are perhaps more likely to contain small independent shops.

CLONE TOWN STUDY EXAMPLES

You can download a QUESTIONNAIRE by clicking the link HERE, or following the link below:

http://www.neweconomics.org/gen/uploads/mrrefr55lroqjwrefpvg525528082004130744.pdf

My idea is to try to collect some of these forms and results which have been carried out in TOWNS and CITIES around the UK. This challenge has been taken up by members of the SLN Geography Forum, and some results will be posted shortly....

Have you carried out this activity ?

The idea is that you put towns into one of three categories: CLONE town, BORDER town, or HOME town...

1. SHREWSBURY

Dr. Stuart Hitch sent the results of a CLONE TOWN survey he carried out.

Here are the figures for Shrewsbury from the Essex Jury ! We divided the town into 4 zones for mapping and then also had some of the students assess the nature of the shops in the Darwin and Pride Hill Shopping centres ..... from the guides we picked up in Shrewsbury (unlikely to be allowed to collected data openly in the centres). We also allowed students to randomly select just 50 shops from each area.

A = 42.3
B = 16.7
C = 40.5
D = 42.5
Average: 35.5

High street very much a clone town but the rest of the town has a wide variety and number of local independent shops making the scores more akin to Home Town

The figures from David Holnes and Lee Swain's report showed 35.8, rather close, which is encouraging.

2. KING'S LYNN

Went into King's Lynn one afternoon in January 2006 and recorded the shops from one end to the other. What has changed since January 2006 ?

I started at the famous TUESDAY MARKET PLACE, and carried on all the way through to the SATURDAY MARKET PLACE next to St. Margaret's Church.

The table below represents the shops on the left and right hand side as you walk from TUESDAY MARKET PLACE to SATURDAY MARKET PLACE.

SATURDAY MARKET PLACE THIS END

TUESDAY MARKET PLACE THIS END

I also didn't necessarily include all the smaller businesses occupying the first floors of premises...

3. DUNDEE

Thanks to Val Vannet for working out a score of 11.2 (CLONE TOWN) for Dundee City Centre.

Also had a recent visit to St. Andrews, which we reckoned was getting closer to being a CLONE TOWN over the last year or so...

4. BRIDGEND

Thanks to Tom Biebrach for providing a score of 22.5 (CLONE TOWN). He commented:

"On the main street there are hardly any independently owned shops, however just one street away it is much more like a 'home town'. The choice of location will skew the results to what you want. I tried to maintain a balance by including both streets."

5. LERWICK, SHETLAND

Thanks to 'Viking Dave' Grieve for  reporting a very high score of 49.1 for Lerwick - very much a HOME TOWN.

"This was for shops in our main street only and within that are there are only three national chain stores Boots, MacKays and Scottish Hydro-electric. Anyone found anywhere more "homely" ?"

6. BRENTWOOD

Thanks to one of Stuart Hitch's 'Clone Rangers' - score of 15.5 (CLONE TOWN)

7. BRAINTREE

Thanks to one of Stuart Hitch's 'Clone Rangers' - score of 36 (a HOME TOWN - just !)

8. ABERDEEN

Thanks to Liz Crisp and her Advanced Higher Class.

"My Advanced HIgher class have been out to do the survey for Aberdeen surveying the west end of Union Street ( the end nearest to school !).

Our score is 18.2. (CLONE TOWN)"

9. ROMFORD

Another clone ranger returned a score of 25.5 (CLONE TOWN)

Interesting suggestion from Tom Biebrach:

Is there enough data to compare results with socioeconomic levels? Is there an available database or do we need to get more clone rangers? I feel like a spot of GIS. There seems to be a link in my particular location.

10. CROYDON

Thanks to SLN Forum member Hiltom for working out a score of 12.3 (definitely a CLONE TOWN)

11. HANLEY (Staffordshire)
Thanks to SLN Forum member Imogen Smith for these scores and images:

Potteries Shopping Centre: 13. 5 (CLONE TOWN)

Main Street to Parliament Row: 15.5 (CLONE TOWN)

Cultural Quarter: 31.95 (BORDER TOWN)

Hanley area of discard - old shopping centre	Hanley - Cultural quarter	Old Shopping Centre	Parliament Row

Thanks to Imogen Smith for these images of Hanley

12. STOKE

Thanks to SLN Forum member Imogen Smith for returning a score of 37 (LOCAL TOWN)

13. BIRMINGHAM

Thanks to Stuart Hitch for providing a score of 13.5 (CLONE TOWN)

14. SOUTH WOODHAM FERRERS

Thanks to Stuart Hitch again: a homely score of 44.7

15. SAFFRON WALDEN, Essex

Thanks to Alison Ainsworth for reporting a score of 37

16. CAMBRIDGE

Visited the city in March 2006 with a group of 'AS' students who recorded the following scores: they are average scores based on the work of 30 students:

Cambridge CBD: score of 10.3 (based on Market area...)

Mill Road: this is an OBD on the eastern side of the CBD. It is a street which has developed on one side of the street only, with residential properties on the other side. It is also an area where we have had a number of interesting 'encounters' over the years, and also has a good wine merchants with some decent malt whiskies... comes in with a score of 46.4

MILL ROAD has also been in the news in 2007 due to a campaign against a plan by TESCO to open a store on the road. There did apparently used to be a Tesco.

Check out the website

17. NEWTONARDS

Thanks to J Quinn from Newtownards for sending me his clone town scores from November 2007 - he says in his e-mail that:

Below are the results of the students' surveys - thanks for the contribution !

Clone Town Britain Survey

Town: Newtownards Co Down    Name of high street:  High Street

SHOP COUNT                               Private owned               chain store

1 Food retailer                                     2                                    0

2 Newsagents/tobacconists                    3                                    1

3 Stationery/books                                1                                    1

4 Department and cat  stores                0                                    0

5 Rest /t away/fast/coffee                     5                                    0

6 Pub/bar                                           5                                    1

7 Off licence                                       2                                    0

8 Professional                                     2                                    0

9 Estate agents                                  0                                    2

10 Health care shop/pharmacy            3                                    1

11 Household items                           3                                    0

12 Clothing retailer                            4                                    0

13 Cinema/theatre                           0                                    0

14 Electronic/IT                               1                                    0

15 Pet shop/pet supplies/               1                                    0

16 Barbers/hair salons/               3                                    0

17 Toys/sports/cycling/outdoor l    0                                    1

18 Mechanics/car accessories/petrol station   0                                    0

19 Music/games/DVD/video                    0                                    1

20 DIY/builders’ merchant              0                                    0

21 Garden centre/florists                1                                    0

22 Dry cleaning/launderette            1                                    0

23 Travel agents                             3                                    0

24 Camera/photo developing shops   1                                 0

25 Other                                           1                                    0

(Apologies for formatting - when I have a moment, I'll tidy it up)

TOTAL Points

Number of types of shops  21 x5 = 105

Number of independently owned shops 42 x50 = 2250

Number of chain stores 8 x5 = 40

Total points  2395

Total points / Number of shops = Score 2395 / 50 = 47.9

Definitely a home town – there are very few chain stores in Newtownards – Woolworths would be the major attraction in the town! Consequently many people come here to shop for the independent shops of more expensive but more individual clothes ranges and home interior shops.

In contrast we have a shopping centre outside of the town which is filled with chain stores. The plans are just in for a new shopping centre closer to the town on a Brownfield site (http://www.castlebawn.co.uk/)  – this will be full of more chain stores – Newtownards trade and commerce group are fighting against it as the more independent stores are worried at the proximity of the new site to the town centre – to ‘overcome ‘this the new store owners plan to make a walkway form the CBD to the shopping centre to help create passing trade for the independent stores- but they are not convinced!

18. LEWES

Lewes is a small town in East Sussex.

It was recently surveyed by Terry Jones, who told me:

"Completed a clone town survey of the whole high street of Lewes in East Sussex and seem to have scored off of the scale with 121 independent shops against 20 multiples we had score of 125."

Thanks Terry.

COMING SOON: Cambridge 2008

Keep the scores coming...

The author of the report, and the person who coined the phrase now has a new book out called 'TESCOPOLY'

Recommended read. Also a good article in The Guardian in March giving the Tesco point of view.

More of this on the Tesco page....

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