At the St Albans market today, I came across this scene of George and his pet, Fetita curled up on his lap. George allowed me to take his photo, saying that he welcomes any publicity to help him sell his Big Issue magazines.
George sells the magazine whatever the weather, in order to earn an income. The magazine supports homeless people all year round and the £2 you pay for the Big Issue supports this cause. It also gives you a good read with inspiring stories, arts, insights into the vendors’ lives, plus competitions and crosswords. The Big Issue Foundation gives homeless people the opportunity to spread their wings and fly so it’s ironic that the editor’s name is John Bird!
George and Fetita can be found outside Marks and Spencers on St Peter’s St, St Albans. Information on The Big Issue at www.bigissue.com or phone 02075263200.
When one door closes, another one opens; but not in the St Albans! In recent times, St Peters Street has witnessed so many closures and few openings.
However, Tescos has moved into the old Woolworth premises and Poundworld has opened up where Tescos used to be.
Despite my past attitudes to the quality of Pound stores, I must admit that this new one is fab!
The shelves are adorned by all sorts from sweets, party gear, DIY bits and halloween decorations to walking sticks and stationary. And all just for £1. Great for filling the kids’ party bags and letting kids go wild on their pocket money! The garden gnomes have got to be the best buy!
It’s official, the Christmas lights of St Albans are switched on! Entertainment and fun started yesterday at noon.By the afternoon, the town centre was filled with hundreds of happy little faces who were all set for the countdown with Santa, Elvis Schmelvis, Sarah-Jane Honeywell and The Little Mermaid Pantomine Stars. At exactly 5.30pm the canon went off shooting glitter into the sky and the lovely lights of St Albans were switched on. This officially starts the shopping season!
Another event worth attending this Christmas, is the Festival of the Trees (05-06 December 2009), organised by The Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust.This is a new event and hopes to be a major fundraiser.It will be held in the Town Hall and 50 decorated trees will be on display. Each tree is exhibited by a charity or group. Children can vote for their favourite tree (the People’s Tree Award). Entertainment will be laid on all weekend and the money raised will go towards the trust’s work. Entry for the weekend is £2.
Email Danielle.porteous@hmwt.org
Phone 01727 858901
In August this year, we experienced the closure of Borders Bookstore in Colney Fields Retail Park. Along with that, the popular Starbucks Café closed too. This weekend, the fashion store, New Look has opened in its place. The presence of silver decorations, Christmas music and a huge range of winter clothing, creates a vibrant atmosphere thats worth checking out!
Starbucks Café has reopened too (upstairs) with a brand new look of its own! Its entrance has changed and it is not as exposed to the store as before. It also lacks the cosy atmosphere although the new decor is more upbeat. Never mind, no doubt the double-shot, skinny latte is as good as ever!
Links -
www.newlook.co.uk, http://wordpresswebservices.com/stalbanslife/shopping/local-shops/farewell-to-borders-bookstore, www.starbucks.co.uk
The recession has had a negative effect on many of St Albans shops. Woolworths was the first to go and many others like Tchibo, Jaeger and West One have followed. However, it is not all doom and gloom in St Albans town centre. Today, I came across three new stores.
Mr P’s is a newsagents which has such delights as Pic n Mix as well as toiletries, food, drinks, magazines and papers. It is situated where the jewellers was, opposite the Town Hall. Although there is another newsagents further up St Peter’s Street, this one is handy for those catching the nearby buses. This store is sterile and clean and the staff are open and eager to answer my questions.
Another shop known as ‘Near, Far and Fair’ has opened up near Tesco’s on St Peters’ Street. This is full of locally sourced produce, Fair Trade foods and Eco products like toilet rolls and soaps. Free range eggs, including duck eggs and fresh bread are also sold here. I have just tasted their cherry scones and they pass the test! For those who enjoy the Farmer’s Market each month, this is a sort of miniature version of it. It felt a bit cluttered but was full of shoppers.
Another recent addition is The Calender Store, which has opened in the place of the Tchibo store in the Maltings shopping centre. Full of calenders to suit every possible taste, I would assume this is just for the Christmas season! It will be a big hit with the masses of teenagers who fill this centre every weekend.
The sad news is that the Woolworths building is still empty and forlorn. There was talks of a restaurant opening in its place but who knows…..Seriously, who knows? We would love to hear from anyone who does!
Loading ...