New 99p store for St Albans (From St Albans & Harpenden Review)

Hard pushed Market traders & Independent shops in St Albans will be thrilled at the prospect of another £1 competitor. Why are they advertising for Polish workers though? The job ad on the window says:
"pilne do nowego sklepu poszukujemy pracownikow na caly etat" this translates: "Urgently looking for new store employees working full time".
Surely an English Language advert is sufficient in these times of high unemployment?

Can't say another pound shop is going to be a good thing, St albans city centre is a dying place nowadays and unfortunately the council doesn't seem to care a jot.

They should get the empty shops let to firms that offer services rather than cheap tat, unusual independent shops should be encouraged into the centre of town, maybe with free rent periods to give them a chance...

Surely the council would prefer to lose a few months rent and rates rather than have empty shops for years on end?

Another thing I would do about the town is bring back short term parking into St.Peter's Street and REDUCE the amount of buses allowed in the road.

After all, they are FAR more polluting to the air quality than any car on the road... Why can't people get off in Hatfield Road or Holywell Hill and walk?


If the council continues to persecute people with cars (which is everyone) from coming to St.Albans to shop, they will simply go to other towns instead and it will become a ghost town like Hatfield.

They could then organise getting rid of those lights and replace them with zebra crossings all along St Peters Street. They were surely only designed to make traffic worse, they are always changing every 5 seconds...

SORT IT OUT COUNCIL!!!

rant over :)

Mr.B wrote:
Can't say another pound shop is going to be a good thing, St albans city centre is a dying place nowadays and unfortunately the council doesn't seem to care a jot.

They should get the empty shops let to firms that offer services rather than cheap tat, unusual independent shops should be encouraged into the centre of town, maybe with free rent periods to give them a chance...

Surely the council would prefer to lose a few months rent and rates rather than have empty shops for years on end?

Another thing I would do about the town is bring back short term parking into St.Peter's Street and REDUCE the amount of buses allowed in the road.

After all, they are FAR more polluting to the air quality than any car on the road... Why can't people get off in Hatfield Road or Holywell Hill and walk?


If the council continues to persecute people with cars (which is everyone) from coming to St.Albans to shop, they will simply go to other towns instead and it will become a ghost town like Hatfield.

They could then organise getting rid of those lights and replace them with zebra crossings all along St Peters Street. They were surely only designed to make traffic worse, they are always changing every 5 seconds...

SORT IT OUT COUNCIL!!!

rant over :)

I find it hard to accept all the bigotry, snobbery, lack of knowledge & NIMBYism that is encapsulated in this comment.

The council do not have a direct responsibility for St peters Street - they can not control who private landlords rent properties out to - subject to new tenants breaking bye laws.

Why are the council being bashed here? This is a community problem that can only be solved by community action - the empty shops are owned by pension funds who only care about returns for their investors..........

So as a community if we don't like what is happening we have to take action ourselves - with the support of our local councillors and other interested parties like St Albans Chamber, St Albans Local Strategic Partnership, St Albans CVS - http://www.whatsonst
albans.co.uk etc.
The 99p shop is a great idea for St Albans. It will attract shoppers of all types to the city centre, if offers value for money in times of austerity, competition for the £1 shop, a further alternative to the market.