Six jobs to go in closure of Raspberry Village store in Lincoln
Six jobs will be lost when an upmarket interiors shop shuts in December.
Raspberry Village, in St Mark Street, is closing after seven years in the city.
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Raspberry Village in St Mark Street, Lincoln, is to close with the loss of six jobs
Bosses say the business can no longer afford its rent and rates.
Donald Clark, sales manager at Raspberry Village, said: "The business in Lincoln is just not sustainable.
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"It is with much sadness that we have decided to close our store after seven years of trading. Lincoln has become a very hard city to trade in.
"I believe rents and rates are too high for the potential business and catchment area.
"We are, of course, in a long haul recession and premium feel good home purchases such as those offered at Raspberry Village are the first to be hurt.
"When we opened in Lincoln there were great plans to open out this part of the city, with a new walk-through and high end residential accommodation.
"However, the plans came to a grinding halt and other changes made in the city have had real effects, such as letting high street stores move to retail parks.
"There is also the saturation of student accommodation.
"Parking in Lincoln is expensive and it's difficult to find spaces, especially at weekends, which is our peak trading time.
"I feel the planners have made some bad decisions and have a lot to answer for in Lincoln."
The closure comes almost two years after Venture Photography, the shop next to Raspberry Village, also called it a day.
Now, John Whitty, manager at Bathstore, in St Mark Street, says he is concerned by the lack of retail activity around his store.
"I have been thinking for a while that we may have to relocate, perhaps to somewhere like the High Street," he said.
"We have had people come in here who have lived in Lincoln for years and they say they never knew we existed.
"There is just no customer flow on this road.
"The vast majority of people are really young, studying at the University of Lincoln and with all respect, are not going to be buying the bathrooms."
Paul Seddon, development control manager at City of Lincoln Council, added: "Lincoln is a vibrant city that possesses everything a business needs to succeed.
"It is disappointing that we are losing one of the city centre's larger stores but we wish Raspberry Village every future success with their Nottingham store.
"There are currently very few vacant shops in Lincoln and I would expect this trend to continue."
Comments
by Steve_Lincoln
Thursday, October 18 2012, 2:36PM
“No doubt it will become even more student accommodation.”
by M_C_Donald
Thursday, October 18 2012, 1:51PM
“Never went in, it didn't sell anything that I wanted to buy. It has been called 'up-market' others might say frivolous.
Simple answer is: the wrong store, in the wrong location, at the wrong time (economically).”
by eatmygoal
Thursday, October 18 2012, 9:46AM
“So the reason for the store making a loss lies squarely with the students, town council, town planners, and car parks. Not with anything to do with the business itself of course.”
by OldLincolnia
Thursday, October 18 2012, 9:33AM
“Interesting that national statistics say the opposite to Paul Seddon, the number of vacant shops is above average in Lincoln. Wrong location, students are penniless, so they say!”
by 917199
Thursday, October 18 2012, 9:18AM
“I didn't know it even existed. Where is/ was it?
Soon be a Tescos express or Starbucks, it won't be empty long.”
by bobfinlayson
Thursday, October 18 2012, 8:52AM
“Quick - someone go and purchase a cushion or something; that should keep them afloat for the next few years or so”