John Lamb: Hail small traders
As you travel the world, most city centre shopping malls look pretty much the same.
There is a familiar mix of chain shop outlets and a layout similar to ones you have seen many times. Go to Dubai, for instance, and the Emirates shopping centre could be Touchwood in Solihull – excluding the huge, indoor snow-covered ski slope and an outside temperature of 40 degrees, of course.
But as far as the shops are concerned you could be in Bullring, Birmingham, or Merry Hill, Dudley.
So it is refreshing to hear that Birmingham is planning an Independents Day – fittingly on July 4 – to celebrate the city’s independent traders.
Amazingly, there are more than 100 in the heart of the city alone.
As new shopping centres are developed, populated largely by the great chains, it’s easy to forget the small independent traders.
You only have to walk through the Great Western Arcade in central Birmingham to appreciate their plight. The other day there were 11 empty units on the ground floor alone.
However, the arcade has undergone a refurbishment to return it to its Victorian glory.
There are few examples throughout the Midlands where towns and cities have encouraged independent traders. Knowle and Leamington Spa are notable exceptions.
Independence Day is the brainchild of Retail Birmingham and is one of the latest initiatives to promote the city’s growing reputation as a major European shopping destination. It has also been ranked as the best UK shopping centre outside London.
It is the independent traders who can make a difference to a city, marking it out from the stereotypical shopping malls you see worldwide.
Birmingham City Council has already launched a scheme offering financial assistance and advice to independent traders and Retail Birmingham will launch a directory of all the stores on Independents Day.
This will mark a welcome fillip for independent traders, whose presence can really make a difference to the character of a city even as large as Birmingham, which has 1,000 retailers in its centre alone.
Independent traders can offer additional choice to the High Street brands and they should become an important part of the city’s retail make-up.
John Lamb is press and PR manager at Birmingham Chamber of Commerce and Industry
