Blundells Dronfield Civic Centre

[Dronfieldshops 0]

I have heard that Blundells in the civic centre is closing this week does anyone know if this is true.

Soon there will be no shops left in the centre, I guess it might be the usual high rents together with a decline in people visiting the centre.

[willman 10]

Apart from the civic centre itself and the sports centre, why would anyone need to use the shops there except as they're at the leisure centre. Sainsburys close by has everything most people want. Now with the likes of Purple Bricks and online estate agents the need for such bricks and mortar agencies are on the decline,much the same as banks.

[DerbyTup 10]

20 minutes ago, willman said:

Apart from the civic centre itself and the sports centre, why would anyone need to use the shops there except as they're at the leisure centre. Sainsburys close by has everything most people want. Now with the likes of Purple Bricks and online estate agents the need for such bricks and mortar agencies are on the decline,much the same as banks.

You are correct of course, but you also highlight a modern problem.  It's about a sense of community.  Something that has been eroded by "out of town" shopping centres, huge hypermarkets that sell everything and the ability to buy anything online.  Personally I think it's a shame that things are evolving the way they are.  You mention banks, I think this is a classic example.  I opened a bank account with HSBC because they had a local branch.  It closed about 4 years ago now.  So I started using the one in Dronfield Civic Centre, seeing as that was the nearest.  And then that closed too! 

 

I do think that change is inevitable, but I also think we will reach a point in the not too distant future, when the general public actually want that human contact back.  When they don't want to serve themselves and check out their own goods in a supermarket either.  When the art of "serving the public" comes back into fashion.  And I believe it will.

 

 

[willman 10]

I agree with you - the human interaction skillset is going to be lacking soon. "We" are too busy to pop into the bank , and i admit i don't, i bank online, yet my wife refuses to move from the Halifax as it has a local branch still.

I've just done a mortgage app on line - the downside is that when it goes belly up i'm grasping for help.

[DerbyTup 10]

9 minutes ago, willman said:

I agree with you - the human interaction skillset is going to be lacking soon. "We" are too busy to pop into the bank , and i admit i don't, i bank online, yet my wife refuses to move from the Halifax as it has a local branch still.

I've just done a mortgage app on line - the downside is that when it goes belly up i'm grasping for help.

Yes I do all my banking online now, just about.  I'd find it difficult to do it any other way because I'm all over the place with work.  I run two businesses and have separate bank accounts for them, one with HSBC (as mentioned) the other with Barclays.  We have our personal account with Santander - that's an evolution from the old Alliance & Leicester, Abbey National thing many years ago.

 

There's quite a big difference between the banks in terms of their online capabilities.  HSBC are nowhere near as easy and intuitive to use as Barclays.  I really like the Barclays online stuff, makes it so easy to bank and shift money around.  Santander is better than HSBC but still not as slick and easy to use as Barclays.

 

I do find myself going into branches occasionally though - usually paying in cheques from institutions that still write cheques.  It's rare I ever write a cheque for anything thesedays.  Another occasion is when I need to withdraw cash over and above what I can get from the cash machine.  A few years ago when we were doing some building work on the house I used to be able to phone Santander and tell them I wanted to withdraw a grand or so and they'd authorise for me to get it at the local post office.  They don't do that anymore either.  It's "off to the branch with you" if you want to do that now.  That's a pity too because it was a reason to go into the Post Office in the village - which has also shut down now!

 

 

 

 

[Stoatwobbler 10]

On 18/04/2019 at 07:32, willman said:

Apart from the civic centre itself and the sports centre, why would anyone need to use the shops there except as they're at the leisure centre. Sainsburys close by has everything most people want. Now with the likes of Purple Bricks and online estate agents the need for such bricks and mortar agencies are on the decline,much the same as banks.

Sainsbury's doesn't have everything I want, and smaller shops can do a lot of things better than Sainsbury's. 

On 18/04/2019 at 09:03, willman said:

I agree with you - the human interaction skillset is going to be lacking soon. "We" are too busy to pop into the bank , and i admit i don't, i bank online, yet my wife refuses to move from the Halifax as it has a local branch still.

I've just done a mortgage app on line - the downside is that when it goes belly up i'm grasping for help.

I'm really glad that I didn't take the online option for my mortgage broker. The personal service was invaluable. 

[barnie41 29]

Blundell leaving leaves another hole in an ever more depressingly empty Civic Centre.

I still shop at Geoffs and have done for years. I'd far rather pay a bit more occasionally and use small local shops. Stuff the chain stores, and speak to the staff who care about what they're doing for us.