Independent Forfar traders are preparing to mount a customer offensive to stave off a hit from the crossfire of impending ”store wars”.
The beginning of next week will see Asda take the fight to rival Tesco when it opens a supermarket on the site of Angus Council’s former St James House HQ.
Tesco has launched a pre-emptive strike with a revamp of its Castle Street store.
And while the mood among the town’s high street shopkeepers is defiant, there are fears the battle for shoppers could bring commercial casualties among smaller concerns.
Among the businessmen concerned about the impact of the supermarkets is the Earl of Strathmore, whose David Irons & Sons hardware store is one of Forfar’s oldest remaining independent businesses.
He said: ”With the imminent opening of Asda and the revamping of Tesco, this probably heralds the beginning of what can be described as ‘store wars’ in Forfar.
”With a UK-wide economy having almost stagnant growth this leaves independent retailers in the centre of Forfar facing a major challenge for survival.
”Indeed, at David Irons we have already lost two traditional aspects of the business in order to try and survive, namely staying open at lunchtimes and also on Thursday afternoons.”
Lord Strathmore said he remained ”saddened” by the planning green light given to Asda.
He said: ”Despite claims of job creation, it will inevitably lead to small independents suffering. We see all too regularly television broadcasts on the plight of the high street including a rapid expansion of charity shops, and I can only appeal to the good burghers of Forfar and the surrounding area to support their local shops be it butcher, candlestick-maker or, indeed, ironmongers.”
He added: ”The titanic power of supermarket chains seems to overwhelm councils up and down the country and whether we like it or not, for all the convenience they provide by shopping under one roof, they tear the heart out of a small town centre like Forfar.”
Jonathen Smith of electrical retailer Colin M. Smith said job creation claims had to be set against losses resulting from situations such as the closure of the Co-op’s Abbeygate store, which will take effect by the end of the year.
But he offered a sanguine assessment.
Mr Smith’s shop is in the so-called ‘funnel’ between the two major supermarkets which, it has been claimed, might see shoppers walking through the high street and providing potential spin-off business.
He said: ”I think we have to play to the strengths which have served us well over many years and the main one of those is the service we can offer which the big supermarkets cannot.
”I believe it is good that there is someone else coming in to town to perhaps stop some of the dominance of Tesco because it has maybe had a bit of a stranglehold on Forfar.”
He added: ”Competition is a healthy thing, as long as it is on a reasonable playing field. If there’s no competition people will go out of the area to shop.
”At the end of the day it doesn’t matter if it is Asda, Tesco or anyone else times are very tough and we must do what we can to attract customers.”
Forfar Photo Centre owner Bruce Robertson said: ”I think we’ll suffer, no doubt, but I have yet to see if Asda will be offering a service which directly competes with our business and if they do that would be a worry.
”My other concern is that with new supermarkets in Forfar, Arbroath, Montrose and probably Kirriemuir, I can’t see Forfar benefiting as some say it will because people will not be willing to travel here for something they can get in their own town.”
He added: ”I’m not down at the chin just now, but it is not going to be an easy situation.”