Jane Shilton is preparing to shut their shop on the corner of Water Lane and Grove Street, although no date has been confirmed for the closure as they need to find someone to take over the lease.
The family owned business, which is based in London, has been selling handbags and shoes at the prominent town centre location for decades.
A member of staff said the shop has been there for nearly 40 years.
She told wimslow.co.uk "We don't know when we're going to close. We were supposed to close in August but the people who were taking over the lease pulled out. We've got to sell the lease before we can go so we're just working a month's notice at a time.
"They are closing because of the lease, it is too expensive. Obviously we are trying to sell it on but still have about two and a half years on it."
2-4 Water Lane is being marketed as being available for rent at £51,950 a year with rates of £26,611.50 per annum.
Comments
Here's what readers have had to say so far. Why not add your thoughts below.
The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) are responsible for assessing rateable value every few years, defined as the open market rent obtainable at time of assessment and this is multiplied by the rates multiplier set by central Govt each year (currently 47.1p/£ in Eng, exc London) or approx. 47% of current market rent. CEC only collect the business rates and keep approx. 50%
I remember the manager of Cellini's saying the proposed new rent was approx. £25K pa just before the shop closed.
High rents do affect any business' viability, included in any business plan, but the recent significant increase in internet shopping also had an effect on the High St, to which landlords and shop owners are only now reacting.
Perhaps contributors can nominate businesses they would like to see in C Wilmslow at a commercial rent that reflects local private residential house values over the next 25 yrs?
I also wonder how much rent our favourite "developer" takes from the three retail units and offices in our prime sited job centre? That leaves phone shops and then banks/building societies - draw your own conclusions on the rents they pay out of your money.
John, don't take Simon's comment personally, I doubt it was meant that way. Of course one can shop in charity shops and all other shops too but Simon is right in saying that a raft of charity shops attracts the type of clientele who wants only more of it, it's called their target market. And their target market isn't gonna be the same as Worthington's target market, except it will impinge on the look and feel that will keep Worthington's target market away from the current Wilmslow scene (see what The FT has to say about it, this isn't my personal agenda, it's the principle of like attracts like).
However, shops should have a business plan that includes their rates and costs, while my impression, corroborated by the extremely short-lived experiences of Lola especially and Caroline of Water Lane, to name but only two, indicate that too many people operate under the assumption that 'if you open, they'll come'. They don't. And when they don't come, that's usually because you don't give them what they want when they want it. The prospect of an empty unit isn't thrilling but I won't miss Jane Shilton, for I never found anything remotely to my taste in there. Rent (and other rates) notwithstanding, if they actually sold stock like hotcakes (say... like Nero and Starbs and SpaceNK do), they wouldn't be closing down.
So, I had an interesting conversation with a group at a networking event in Wilmslow regarding our residents fear of entering a independent shop. They said they were basically scared of entering a local shop, due to the fear of pressure, the guilt of not buying- and the prices. They also assume the choice isn't there and assuming the same product can be bought in Stockport, Trafford Centre and online- and a lot cheaper- without even entering! This wasn't just about our shop but about indies in general in Wilmslow. It's also hard when locals write off indies without giving us a chance and by saying, "oh, I'll give them 6 months..." It takes a lot of planning, graft and guts to set up and run a business and it's easy to overlook this. Most are family run, residing in Wilmslow. The money isn't channelled to HQ- it is used and spent locally.
There seems to be a lot of people concerned but are they actually supporting local businesses? I'm not alone when it comes to this but some of the complainers about the situation in Wilmslow seem to be the ones not supporting by going to Manchester, Stockport or online. There have been some great events to help such as Artisan Market, which we love and wish were on Saturdays ( btw, we were the the handful of shops that opened last Sunday to support the market when we wanted the market to stay on a Sat), The Wilmslow Motor Show is fab! And the Gingerbread Hunt was so much fun and was a great way to get people out. So, we can do all these things and do more with marketing, loyalty schemes etc but surely more can be done by the people who reside in Wilmslow.
On the other hand, many locals value the indies here. For example, we've built a lovely client base with people from Wilmslow, Alderley Edge, Prestbury and Hale as well as Lindow School, Gorsey Bank School, Rileys, Wilmslow High School, and Premier Football Coaching (PFC) in just 6 months of trading and we hope more people, schools and local businesses will follow as we grow so we can improve the variety of brands and service we can offer. These are fine examples of how to support local businesses- they've taken a chance. Indies only need a few more to follow their example and it could be a jumping, and bouncing high street. There's a very fine line in retail in a town...it's not like indies here need hundreds and thousands of people to shop.
Finally, what's happening this month is quite normal in business. It's notoriously slow following xmas. Some businesses decide to pull the plug after a disappointing xmas and avoid more loss. But I'm sure it will settle down in Feb. Retail, and especially in this town, is about waves and indies must be ready to adapt when these come by- and prepared when they don't. We need more unique, friendly shops with a good variety providing exceptional service and competitive prices, always! The people of Wilmslow and beyond do appreciate friendly and top service.
We firmly believe that Wilmslow can be great again! We're remaining positive and a big thank you to those working on projects/events to increase footfall and obviously our awesome customers! We enjoy being here.
Tate (The Goal Post).
My point was intended to be that the high costs of running retail premises will be reflected in the prices. If you can sell online from cheaply run warehouses and then evade tax by international skulduggery then, as we have witnessed countrywide over the last few years, the shops will close!!