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Axminster Cardiff Shop

T

Tellurian

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Found myself in front of the Axminster Cardiff branch on Friday. It's about 45 minutes drive for me and in an area we don't normally go and so I wasn't really aware it was there. So I had to have a bit of a mooch around inside and my other half insisted on accompanying me as the responsible adult. I was allowed to buy a couple of things and as I was paying, I mentioned how nice it was to find the place. The cashier then told me that I should take advantage of it while I can as the store is closing in three weeks time. Very sad to see it is going, especially as I've only just discovered it. This is the way the world is now I guess. Our high street is almost dead and even the charity shops seem to be struggling now, although the Turkish barbers never have any customers but the four blokes working there don't seem too bothered about it. I think that most former shops will be gradually turned into HMOs.
It's been a long time since I've been able to have a wander around a physical tool shop so this was a real treat in what was otherwise a pretty horrible weekend.
But if anyone is nearby, they have a 15% off everything at the moment and a buy one get one free on bandsaw blades.
 
The barbers shop books probably say that they are taking £100,000 a month.
All are money laundering schemes.
As for decent physical stores, we are all responsible for their demise.
 
The best tool shop in Salisbury was the old Penny Farthing Tools, unsurprisingly in Penny Farthing St. Owing to a distinct lack of footfall, the owners relocated some years ago to a business park on the outskirts of Oxford. I bought some real gems in there, one of which is my (late) Norris A1 panel plane which still has pole position on the shelf under the bench. There was another tool shop in Fisherton St (of Russian spy notoriety) which sold a range of kit and ironmongery that was quite useful at times, but that closed when the owner retired.

The old Penny Farthing Tools shop is now, ironically, an undertakers - Rob
 
Tellurian said:
Found myself in front of the Axminster Cardiff branch on Friday. It's about 45 minutes drive for me and in an area we don't normally go and so I wasn't really aware it was there. So I had to have a bit of a mooch around inside and my other half insisted on accompanying me as the responsible adult. I was allowed to buy a couple of things and as I was paying, I mentioned how nice it was to find the place. The cashier then told me that I should take advantage of it while I can as the store is closing in three weeks time. Very sad to see it is going, especially as I've only just discovered it. This is the way the world is now I guess. Our high street is almost dead and even the charity shops seem to be struggling now, although the Turkish barbers never have any customers but the four blokes working there don't seem too bothered about it. I think that most former shops will be gradually turned into HMOs.
It's been a long time since I've been able to have a wander around a physical tool shop so this was a real treat in what was otherwise a pretty horrible weekend.
But if anyone is nearby, they have a 15% off everything at the moment and a buy one get one free on bandsaw blades.
Click to expand...
Did you notice any planer/thicknessers, by any chance?
 
I think sadly Axi is on the slide. My nearest is Sittingborne, which is probably quite a cheap site as it's in the middle of the countryside, but last time I was in they had depleted stock and few customers. If Axi survives it may end up as just a warehouse and on-line operation. It's a great pity but even their own on-line offering cannibalises their stores.
 
AJB Temple said:
I think sadly Axi is on the slide. My nearest is Sittingborne, which is probably quite a cheap site as it's in the middle of the countryside, but last time I was in they had depleted stock and few customers. If Axi survives it may end up as just a warehouse and on-line operation. It's a great pity but even their own on-line offering cannibalises their stores.
Click to expand...
When I worked for them some years ago, they were in the midst of enlarging their stores throughout the UK. My guess is that overheads etc for big shops in outlying towns and cities degrades profits by quite some margin. They will survive as an online t'interweb outfit with one large shop right next to AxHQ - Rob
 
It is a shame to see another one closing as it is nice to have a look round at stuff, but I'm not exactly a regular visitor. The Cardiff shop is probably our closest one in terms of travel time, but there's really not much in it between that one and the Axminster one (or the Nuneaton one when it still existed). We visit Lyme Regis (near Axminster) a heck of a lot more often than we go near Cardiff, so I'm much more likely to pop into the main shop. Hopefully that one will remain so that I can still enjoy my roughly biannual visits!

It's enough of a journey (an hour and half each way minimum) that I wouldn't go there if I wasn't in the area, so it's never going to be somewhere I pop in regularly. That's an inevitable challenge with relatively specialist shops like that: the people who are likely to be customers are going to be spread out over the country, but the cost of maintaining (what have to be very large) shops to support all of those people probably isn't going to ever be viable for any niche interest unfortunately.
 
It would seem that having started mail order with a small shop in Axminster they’re heading back that way (albeit with a larger warehouse as well).

Good job I live quite close!
 
The only reason charity shops are struggling is because they upped their prices, when they are charging a similar or greater price than a proper shop then there is something wrong. I understand resellers were buying there stock from them but the purpose of a charity shop was to help less well off buy things whilst raising money for the intended charity. Baring in mind stock is donated, there is no need to charge silly prices, oh and ceo's ludicrous salaries.

I think we are upto 6 turkish barbers in a small town :mad:
 
RogerS said:
Did you notice any planer/thicknessers, by any chance?
Click to expand...
I didn't really look at the machinery, but there was definitely some on display there and I noticed a big planer and possibly a thicknesser.
 
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