Kendal traders stay upbeat as K Village opens (From The Westmorland Gazette)

Kendal traders stay upbeat as K Village opens

5:58pm Thursday 29th July 2010

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THE opening of the new K Village complex has divided opinion among Kendal shop-keepers and market traders.

While a straw poll of town centre businesses suggested many were unsure what the impact of the new development would be, many were firm in their views.

Barry Speak of Robinsons Elec-tronics, said: “It’s a positive step. I think the whole of Kendal will see the overflow of people visiting K Village and it will let the country know Kendal is open for business.”

John Matthews, of nearby Cobbler John’s, said he was ‘opti-mistic for the future’, adding: “Even if it only brings an extra four or five people a day, it could make the difference.”

However, Geoff Waites, who runs Carlson’s Fishing Tackle Shop, said it would make Kendal a ‘ghost town’.

“It is a disaster as far as I’m concerned,” he said.

Market stall holder Margaret Mason was one of those unsure about the likely impact.

“I think it could go either way for us. At the moment we feel like it’s a totally unknown thing.”

Footwear trader John Rowe said: “I work in Fleetwood, too, and there’s a Freeport outlet village nearby. Everybody worried about that but it didn’t do much damage to trade after.”

Clothing trader David Goldman said: “I wouldn’t be too disturbed about K Village. Those shops don’t seem like big competition to me and hopefully I won’t be proved wrong.”

Karly Green, manager of Cafe Nero’s in Market Place, noticed how quite the town centre was yesterday (Wednesday).

“But it could be just because it’s the first day of opening. Usually coach parties of tourists coming to Kendal are dropped off in the town centre but if they are going to K Village instead then it could be a really bad thing. The town centre is quiet enough already without this happening, too.”

Sian Leigh, assistant manager Thorntons chocolate shop, added: “K Village’s new shops can only be a good thing for Kendal in the long run in terms of employment and bringing people to the town.

It could take some trade from us but if people know it’s only 10 minutes into the town centre then it shouldn’t be a problem.”

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