Local tackle shop

[mikench]

I recall Trevs of Wilmslow from over 20 years ago when I bought some sea fishing tackle from them and a coarse rod, reel and ubiquitous Shakey box for my son. It later became Tacklesaver and moved to Handforth a few miles away. I believe NWAC owned Tacklesaver. Anyway it is now part of Angling Direct as of yesterday! Time will tell if the staff and customer relations remain unchanged!

I always tried to buy all my stuff from them and gave them the opportunity to supply and quote. Only if they couldn't supply( often) or their price was significantly higher did I revert to the internet! I won't feel guilty now!

Ps as suspected North West Angling Centre based in Hindley Wigan ( NWAC) is now part of Angling Direct!

 

[peter crabtree]

Not sure if you are bemoaning the fact that angling direct have taken over your local tackle shops? In my opinion it's a good thing as more likely than not these independent shops would inevitably close and not be replaced...

 

[mikench]

I was Simon to the extent that I like to support local and individually owned enterprises whether they be tackle shops, fishmongers or camera shops. I am not a fan of the big chains and will not favour them with my custom if at all possible. I have nothing against Angling Direct per se and have bought stuff from them but it is another sign of the large chains taking over our high streets !

They may not have survived but at least I did my bit to maintain their independent and solvent status! Our town centre was full of individual shops 20 years ago but no more. You could be in any town in the country when you look at the large multiples and the coffee shops

 

[nottskev]

I agree, Mike.... and yours is a prosperous little town. There are small towns around here that are a wilderness of downmarket chains, charity shops and pound shops. I'll be in a tackle shop later that looks as if a cave full of tackle has just been burgled. But the owner match fishes twice a week and knows the local waters well, treats his customers like his mates and has great bait. Who wants a superstore?

 

[Teabreak]

I live in the Slough area and there used to be at least four shops but now all gone so most of my purchases have been on the internet. Angling Direct have just opened a store here and I think it's great to have one. It big bright and well organised. Most of the independants I remember were cramped and a bit dingy.
The fact that I can get things quickly makes a big difference and I think they open 7 days a week. The guys in there seem friendly and helpful. Parking is free and right outside so no trekking back to the car. If price is a concern at least I can see the product there and maybe find it on the web if I want to. Maggots worms and casters available which has been a problem for me but now it's on my doorstep. What more could I ask for. It's just shopping after all. For those of you who have a chat and a cup of tea, well that's just a sales tactic that you enjoy. Me, I'm in and out and thanks for the convenience.

 

[peter crabtree]

Love them or hate them, shops like angling direct are better than no shops at all innit....

 

[mikench]

I agree Simon. It's just the Starbucks model I despise. My local tackle shop were friendly and offered members who purchase a members card for a fiver 5% off all purchases . Maggots are £1.70 a pint and generally are fresh and in good order( I am no maggot expert). I found their prices were keen and they had good stock. Their other shop in Hindley, trading as NWAC was a converted chapel and one could have a good waggle of all their rods from the upstairs pews!

I will certainly continue to visit and observe the changes if any!

 

[binka]

I have to admit that my instinct tells me to favour the local tackle shop and past experience outside of fishing would back this up time and time again.

I feel uncomfortable about big chains selling us what they can supply at the best margin, as opposed to what we actually want and the inevitable dropping of non-profitable lines which might just one day include maggots, casters, worms etc.

We talk about those things being the essentials that initially get us into the shop where we then buy more but the world has changed and I can't help but see any attempt at monopolisation as an intermediate step to the shop becoming extinct altogether, in favour of an online offering at a far lower cost to the retailer.

There's always the case for shopping around and buying on price, I'm not rich and I have to do it occasionally but whenever I can I support my local tackle shop as a pound or so saved now could well end up as a future false economy should the big boys ever get it all their own way.

And...

They've got the finance and the suits running the show to be able to speculate to accumulate, the old 'sprat to catch a mackerel' saying springs to mind.

It's just a shame that they break so many viable small businesses along the way, replacing viable livelihoods with the mass scrum for minimum wage employment and maximum profit Directors whilst the publicly funded benefits system tops up the purses of their poorly paid staff.

That seems to be the world today, I'm not saying that I understand it but so many people appear to roll with it without giving a second thought as to the longer view

Rant over!

 

[thecrow]

What happens to the "low" prices once all the small places have been devoured, I have a feeling they will disappear.

 

[tigger]

I agree Simon. It's just the Starbucks model I despise. My local tackle shop were friendly and offered members who purchase a members card for a fiver 5% off all purchases . Maggots are £1.70 a pint and generally are fresh and in good order( I am no maggot expert). I found their prices were keen and they had good stock. Their other shop in Hindley, trading as NWAC was a converted chapel and one could have a good waggle of all their rods from the upstairs pews!

I will certainly continue to visit and observe the changes if any!

You got a better deal on your maggots from the shop over your end Mike...the tight ar$ed Wiganers charged me £2.60 apint a few weeks back and i'm sure the scrotes counted 'em:eek.
I'm not too bad for shops round here, I have one small shop just over a mile away and several others within a 6 mile radius. I do remember when I was a kid and even into my late teens there was 15 shops in that same radios!
I've got to admit to buying the majority of my gear online, reasons being the local shops don't stock the items I use and if they did they'd be way too expensive.

Regarding maggots and tackle shops making nothing on them, that's not what i've been told by people who've owned shops and staff who work there!

Regarding worms, i'd never buy them as they're so easy to get myself, proper earth worms n'all, not those smelly stripey ones I used to get out the midden on my grandads farm....they oozed yellow juice when hooked and the only things that would occasionally have a go was perch and they where only used in times of desperation lol.

 

[tigger]

What happens to the "low" prices once all the small places have been devoured, I have a feeling they will disappear.

Same thing crossed my mind Graham but I think it'll be the larger organisations that will be competing as I think it is now anyhow.

 

[binka]

The race to the bottom springs to mind, and I'm not talking about a scrum in a prison shower when someone drops the soap

 

[mikench]

You've just put me off the rugby!

 

[nottskev]

It's just shopping after all. For those of you who have a chat and a cup of tea, well that's just a sales tactic that you enjoy. .

I'm glad you're enjoying your AD - as has been said, any tackle shop is better than none.

But I disagree it's "just shopping". I do plenty of shopping, and for me there's a qualitative difference between visiting Sainsbury's and going to my local tackle shop. At Sainsbury's , they don't know my name, and no-one enquires how my eating went last week, or discusses the finer points of the food on offer.

"Just a sales tactic that you enjoy"? Thanks for offering to explain me to myself, but I'm not so cynical and nor is the tea-maker - the cup of tea is a recognition that we're fellow enthusiasts who fish the same waters, and, with other regular customers, have a real connection beyond the usual retailer/ customer have-a-nice-day interface.

 

[markcw]

NWAC and Tacklesaver were bought for £450000 plus s.a.v
I don't know how AD will go on with the North west Angling, I am sure there was only a short lease left on the building.
At one time they would prce match anyone but now if you go in and say you have been quoted a price, they will more than likely tell you to take it because they cant match it, I had heard it had a few problems last year,
Tacklesaver are asking customers who have gift vouchers with them to bring them in and transfer them to angling direct gift vouchers,
Mike have you tried Daves of Middlewich , Vale Royal or Leigh tackle and Bait ?
Angling Direct also bought Fosters of Birmingham not so long ago, and rumour has it there is another big buy in the pipeline, I am convinced they are going head to head with Fishing Republic.

 

[sam vimes]

My nearest Angling Direct is over 90 miles away. My nearest Fishing Republic is over 40 miles away. I've the odd bit and bat from AD quite a few years ago. I've never knowingly bought a thing from Fishing Republic. There's absolutely no point whatsoever in driving the 40+ or 90+ miles to visit either.

I doubt anyone from further afield could put a name to any of my local shops without the aid of Google. They aren't likely to be familiar due to their distinct lack of internet presence. Most have been surviving on local custom and little else for many years. I suspect that they'll be able to survive just as well for as long as their owners wish to continue. No doubt they'll have a decision to make should AD or FR come to them bearing pots of cash. However, as we don't have shops with widely recognised names such as Climax, NWAC or Fosters, I'd wonder if either AD or FR would actually be interested.

My biggest concern for the welfare of my local independents would be the arrival of a big new warehouse type outlet. It's a good 50 miles to the nearest place like this, and plenty make the journey on a fairly regular basis. If someone went for it in this area, and got the location and stock right, quite a few shops could potentially be in trouble. Fortunately, I doubt anyone would take the risk, especially as the disastrous Dragon Carp in Peterlee is the only example to see.

 

[mikench]

I haven't tried any of the other shops as they are too far to go to really but I may do. I will visit my local AD next week to have a look . I wonder what the price of maggots will be!

 

[seth49]

My nearest tackle shop is a twenty minutes drive away, luckily I pass it every Friday when on my way home from food shopping with the wife, so I just call in and get what I want then.

Steve the owner of Padiham Angling is great, only a small shop, but it’s packed with tackle, and if he hasn’t got what I want he will order it for me, even gives a ten percent discount on larger items.

I would much rather buy from a shop, where I can look at and handle what I’m buying, don’t trust online shopping, get useful info in the shop as well, only drawback is the wife moaning if I’m in to long.

 

[steve2]

Shops like Angling Direct are able to buy in bulk and will always get discounts t that the smaller tackle shop can’t. When I do shop there I can’t see any cheap discount prices only those that quote below RRP and we all know that RRP is a farce. They are just doing what all large supermarkets do to the local shops putting them out of business.
Where does the blame lie, with all of us, we are the ones that shop local.

 

[nottskev]

One of the remarkable things about fishing - maybe other interests are like this, I don't know - is the way you can greet anyone else who is fishing, and , provided you haven't annoyed them by some crass approach, be enjoying a friendly conversation within moments. The local tackle shop is a mix of amenity and social hub; it doesn't come free as there is a small premium in higher prices. Whether it's worth it depends on whether we're more interested in saving a few quid or in maintaining a bit of what historians will come to call "community". Since I buy bait and bits and pieces weekly, or even more often, and I'm well-stocked with rods and reels, usually only topped up with occasional second-hand buys, I'm more in favour of angling corner-shops than fishing superstores.