Tackle shops

[Dick Dastardly]

I always go into the shop first and see if they can come close to matching the online price (+P&P) first. As I said Im lucky in Ashford the other shop Invicta angling is also ran by some nice guys.

 

Kind of strange re reading the older part of this thread especially my old mate Gerry's (Argyle) posts.

[Guest tigger]

I was reading a recent issue of A times and it reckons it's a case of RIP for the London based Angling shops due to the fact that London is a city of immigrants who have no interest in fishing. It says that the East end of London is 70 percent muslims with no interest in fishing.

Edited January 28, 2009 by tigger

[Rusty]

Perhaps the motto for most tackle shops might be 'adapt, or die'.

 

These days though I can't help asking myself "adapt to what?" I'm sure most retail outlets would be capable of saving the cost of their high street presence and selling solely via the web, but I don't want a town square full of just newsagents and charity shops.

 

If I can buy locally then I'd prefer to do that, if we want our communities to stand a chance in this shredded economy then those who are able need to subsidise them......by shopping locally.

[Anderoo]

I get whatever I can from local shops (which is most things, big and small) but if I see a great deal online I will always go for that rather than a costly local purchase. It's actually a double saving buying from the web - the price of the thing you actually want is less, plus you don't end up buying another £20 of stuff on a whim!

 

I do support my local shops, but I have to say that I hate it when there's a pile of boring old sods crowded round the till getting in the way. I avoid those shops as much as I can.

[Andrew Boyd]

This tread takes me back to the 70's and 'Ken Browns' in Bromley, Kent. A small shop that stoked a lot with loads of helpful advice. The shop closed year ago and I though I would not see Ken again . . then I noticed his name in the register at a club meeting a couple of months ago so went over and said hello. Now in his 80's he's fit and fine with a fine number of tails 'from the old days'.

 

My local is A & I in Green Street Green, Orpington. Could do with a bit more stock, but a frendly service and always keen to help with the occasional cup of tea and I nomally find what I want. Worth a visit.

 

Near work it's 'The Tackle Box', got everything for the Carp man but top dollar but coupled with excellent service, then there's 'Danson Angling' near Bexley who do better price wise. The store has expanded and one can take a age looking around and as always . . picking up and buying those few bits and pices that will come in handy !!

[Guerilla]

Tackle shops shutting down is very disheartening to see. As Elton just found out, Brundall Angling centre has apparently ceased trading.

Now I know that online sales offer some competitive prices, but there really is no substitute to actually going into a shop and having a waggle of the gear you want to buy.

 

I just bought a Wychwood Barbel Twin Tip rod online. None of my local tackle shops stocked the particular model however one did have the normal Avon top rod which I did have a look at.

So, I order the Twin Tip thinking how well it will suit my needs, but alas, on arrival it's not *quite* what I want - Brundall Angling Centre would have had that particular model in stock for me to have looked at.

 

If anyone's interested, it's a Wychwood ; 1.75tc Avon Top, with an additional 2 seperate 6 foot Quiver Tips. Lovely rod for the money, just not for me. You might see it for sale in the classifieds soon!

[Peter Waller]

Worry not, Rob. There is always Angling Direct and Lathams. Yes, angling shops are getting a bit thin on the ground in the Broads area.

[Dick Dastardly]

So why are they (tackle shops in general) closing? We arnt talking of small set ups here quite a few of the big long established buisnesses are closing? Is it that every shop (due very much to the internet) does "mail order"? People are still buying regardless of the "credit crunch" so i cant be just that? Maybe many have simply "over priced them selves?

 

Anyone else read the posts about the camo bedchair cover that had a RRP of just over £80 but is now on "sale" at every single outlet for a vastly reduced £29 ish? You might say thats good but I for one would take mine back and stuff it up the proprieters ar$e if I had brough one at the pre "sale" price! I certainly wouldnt shop there again.

 

Maybe people are favouring the more up front shops or simply the less greedy shops? Some claim their higher prices are to cover the higher overheads that their specific location has.Fine but thats just down to their (in my opinion) poor buisness acumin! Price and service are both important when you have the choice but Johny No cash hs to always go for the cheapest.

 

Be interesting to here of other peoples shops that have closed recently and not only why but things like what their prices were like , their service,location stock ,parking ec etc to see if there is a pattern.

[Angly]

Can I tell about a shop that almost certainy won't be closing?

 

I have a local shop Budgie that I'm sure you'll know of called Gerry's of Wimbledon. Not that local mind, I have to detour past about four other shops to get there! His prices are a fair bit over what I would pay at one very cheap (but extremely unreliable and dishonest) online UK Tackle store on many items, but very competitive on others. Still, you don't get home to find completely the wrong items in your order that they then refuse to then accept back, pretends they haven't got back, and you're well out of pocket (like the aforementioned UK Tackle outfit) It's a fairly large shop, about ten bivvies erected on a quarter of the sales floor, and rumour has it that people come from quite a distance to shop there, so he obviously has a decent customer base.

 

No parking, no web ordering, and I've never been offered a cuppa! Oh, and even mid-week, I've never been the only customer in there.

 

The shops I miss out to get there are very small, maybe a twentieth of the size, and I just prefer to be able to have an uninterrupted browse of a large range of items.

 

As most of you know I only started fishing again last year, and so far I'd say 90% of my purchases have been online. I would never try an item in the shop and then buy elsewhere online, I just think that's a little cheap. So my online purchases were all reviewed online and bought because I was fairly certain that's what I wanted.

Edited February 2, 2009 by Angly

[Anderoo]

Gerry's was my local shop for about 5 years before moving here. It is very good, nice and professional, but very inflexible on price. I've got used to a shop offering a bit of a discount when spending a lot, but Gerry's never did, so I stopped buying big items there and got them online instead. The one instance that broke the camel'd back was buying two carp rods and two baitrunners plus some bits, totalling £350+, and they wouldn't even knock a fiver off. At one of my local shops now I get a 10% discount on literally everything I buy, plus free old maggots and bait tubs. At another (bigger shop) they always knock a few quid off when buying big items, meaning I don't have to buy online.