Guardian Profile of Shopkeeper: Whole High Street Under Threat

Saturday's Guardian carried a profile of a shopkeeper in Stalham near Norwich that should serve as a cautionary tale for the people of St. Albans and, in particular, local businesses and market stall holders. Soon after an edge of centre Tesco was built there, several local shops and "most of the town's old market" went out of business and were closed. It's a realy shame because, as we all know, owner-operated shops offer individual products and services and are often run by people who genuinely care about and enjoy dealing with their customers.

"Like most small businessmen, Dowdney works long hours... But it is not for the pay that he likes being a shopkeeper. 'I like dealing with people,' he says. "And I enjoy selling.'" In fact, Dowdney's salesman's instinct is irrepressible. "If I see somebody looking at some baked beans, I say... 'would you like some eggs and bacon to go with that?' I also follow people round and put things in their baskets, but that's normally as a joke."

To those who live in the area near the Evershed site, shopkeepers like the subject of this article are the norm - the brothers who run Londis, one of which never takes his mobile from his ear, Tony and Max at the Italian deli, Graham at Grapeland, etc. It's a far cry from the typical Tesco.

The life of a small businessman isn't always pleasant. Dowdney, according to the Guardian article, has "been chased with a syringe, hit on th head witha plank and challenged to fights by indignant fathers demanding that he sell alcohol and cigarettes to their 13-year-old sons." He also once had to defend himself from a man who attacked him with a knife whilst under the influence of a cocktail of booze, heroin and amphetamines.

You'd think that crime would be top of Dowdney's list of worries, but it's not. Tesco is.

"Despite days like these, what worries the Dowdneys most is not violence, but something altogether more difficult to defend against: the 1,4000 square metres of Tesco that now dominate the entrance to Stalham. Along with may other local businesses, they opposed the supermarket at the planning stage, and thought they had prepared for the worst when they lost. But in the first week of the superstore's opening in 2002, the Stalham Shopper's turnover fell by 60%, and stayed there. "I didn't expect anything like that," says Dowdney."

"Several other shops and most of the town's old market have now disappeared from Stalham high street and, worryingly, Tesco has now applied for permission to double the size of it's store. "We're still under threat," says Dowdney, grimacing. "The whole high street is under threat."

"I have been known to shout insults at Tesco lorries. The problem is that shouting at lorry drivers doesn't actually achieve very much." He smiles, and there is yet another break in our interview as a young man approaches the counter. "Seven pounds exactly," says Dowdney after ringing up his groceries. "There should be a bell that goes of when that happens."

Let's not relearn the lessons already learned by other communities.