On 20 May 2015 at 10:12pm Lord Sugar wrote:
Two questions
1. Best primary school in Lewes
2. If a new business were to open in Lewes, what would work here (no more cafes, antiques shops..) what does Lewes need?
Ta
On 20 May 2015 at 10:15pm Lady Sugar wrote:
1. walls da
2. Good restaurant, something of a very high standard. Michelin star kind.
On 21 May 2015 at 7:25am Annette Curtin-Twitcher wrote:
A car accessories shop. It's annoying to have to drive to Newhaven every time you need a set of wiper blades or something.
On 21 May 2015 at 8:14am Humbert wrote:
Best primary school is impossible to answer because it depends so much on what is "best" for your children. What Lewes really needs is a pound shop though, or a cheap clothes shop. Somewhere selling every day items that don't cost so much only the privileged minority can afford to shop there.
On 21 May 2015 at 10:05am Motor wrote:
@ACT : CPA on Phoenix
On 21 May 2015 at 12:01pm Old Bloke wrote:
Most shops in Lewes sell junk or cheap clothes
Could be a good opportunity for a decent shop of any kind with a hint of originality about it
Beware local residents many comparatively wealthy but very tight so a decent restaurant probably wouldn't succeed
On 21 May 2015 at 12:18pm Mark wrote:
A newsagent in the bottom part of town. Used to be a thriving one. It was sold and became yet another trendy coffee, pastry place. Indeed motor. CPA in phoenix. No need to drive to rubbish Halfords and have your needs met by a spotty 16 year old.
On 21 May 2015 at 12:26pm Hungry wrote:
MacDonalds, please!
On 21 May 2015 at 2:02pm Mavis wrote:
I doubt there'll never be a pound shop in Lewes' they need thousands of sales a day, and there is never more than a couple of hundred people in the high street at once. Just look around and count them ! That's why most of the shops have to have high margin goods in order to survive.
On 21 May 2015 at 2:02pm Paul Newman wrote:
Wallands is the best Primary by a country mile
On 21 May 2015 at 2:41pm Mark wrote:
Paul Newman must be correct on this. After all, there's a statistic. It's better by precisely one country mile.
On 21 May 2015 at 3:06pm Lewes resident wrote:
We used to have a decent restaurant, "Thackerys" down in Cliffe, but IIRC it never returned after the 2000 flooding in that part of town :-(.
Likewise, we have had one or two "pound shops" (or near as), but they fell by the wayside.
No more coffee shops, no more over-priced artisan food or clothing "boutiques", no more hairdressers/barbers, no more antique/junk shops, thank you.
A "Woolworths" or BHS-type general store selling a wide range of reasonably priced stuff would be welcome, or perhaps more useful would be a "Mothercare/ELC" type store so that people could buy young kids clothes/toys/essentials at sensible prices rather than the over-priced "designer" stuff (never have understood the use of "designer" in this context, every single item has to have been "designed" by someone...?) that the trendy boutiques in town currently seem to think everyone can afford.
Or even an electrical goods/TV/white goods shop?
Whatever it is, it will have to compete with the xaning range fo stuff Tsco's offer, the "hgher end" offerings form the smaller independents, and the interweb... iand ina town of only 17,000, generating footfall and turnover in the face of those will be very difficult.
A really "unique" offerring rather than yet another clone of shops we already have is what we need - anything that tries to compete with exisiting stores of similar type simply risks spreading footfall even more thinly.
On 21 May 2015 at 4:14pm Plant Lover wrote:
South Malling is superb
On 21 May 2015 at 5:32pm Annette Curtin-Twitcher wrote:
Thackery's was a really nice restaurant: lovely menu, beautifully cooked and reasonably priced. A place like that would be great.
A proper bookshop would be nice, like the one that used to be in the Cliffe. I'm not impressed with Waterstones, it's nowhere near as good as the one in Haywards Heath.
On 21 May 2015 at 7:42pm Border Control wrote:
Well, ain't that just typical ! How many book shops are there in Lewes already, then the biggest chain opens a branch here, and even that ain't even good enough for some people !! So that proves there'll be not satisfying some people.
On 21 May 2015 at 8:38pm Owise1 wrote:
steak house, Mexican & American diner would be good in the town!
I agree there are too many coffee shops, charity shops, hairdressers, pizza parlours & antique shops but I see Lewes as a town caters for all ages.
On 21 May 2015 at 8:52pm Marks & Pirates wrote:
YARGH!!!
Somewhere to buy a nice cheap pair of jeans!!
And some pants.
On 22 May 2015 at 2:11am Fairmeadow wrote:
You will be lucky to find places for your children in any Lewes school. They are all full, as are most of the good village schools around the town. Whichever you get, it is up to you and the other parents to help the teachers make it the best.
On 22 May 2015 at 6:59am Sussex Jim wrote:
CPA are very reasonable. I paid £2.17 for a pair of wiper blades- you won't find that sort of price in Halfords! They are basically a trade parts counter, though. Not a place to browse for accessories.
But I hope they are still there after the redevelopment.
On 22 May 2015 at 8:21am Belladonna wrote:
No point in just 'hoping' Jim. You'll need to actively campaign for CPA to stay because if the Santon plans go through there won't be any room for the majority of the small business currently on the Phoenix
On 22 May 2015 at 8:28am Belladonna wrote:
I'd like to see a good quality neighbourhood Italian restaurant (not a pizza place) , a decent wine bar/ brasserie with some atmosphere , a good quality but reasonably priced men's clothes shop and the same for teenagers.
Shame Bright Ideas closed. And a good independent - not antique/second hand - bookshop would be great.
On 22 May 2015 at 1:37pm Bob and Jean wrote:
Bag of Books is a good indi book shop. Not just children's books - but they can get in any book you want. Use it or loose it - Shop local.
On 22 May 2015 at 2:54pm Annette Curtin-Twitcher wrote:
Bag of Books is a great shop, but being able to order a book is not the same as having a lovely wide range to browse through.
I really miss Cliffe Bookshop. It was lovely to browse in, they had nice music and would be happy chat if you felt like it and left you alone if you didn't. One of the assistants in there used to recommend books to me, and they were always books I really enjoyed. You don't get that sort of service in Waterstones!
The people in our Waterstones are a bit snooty imo and they should have less space devoted to greetings cards, giftwrap and coffee and more for books.
If there's one thing Lewes doesn't need, it's another place to buy cards and wrapping paper. Or another beauty salon. There've been so many new ones appearing in the last few years, I swear every woman in Lewes could have a facial a week and still not see them fully booked.
On 22 May 2015 at 3:15pm Town Flyer wrote:
I agree that a good modern French/English restaurant is needed. Think Thackerays Carpetbagger steak. I am sure we have discussed those before!
On 22 May 2015 at 3:58pm Southover Queen wrote:
Any shop which opens in Lewes won't be competing locally, it will be competing with the internet. That's why there are so many antique/junk shops, coffee bars and hairdressers: they're all things which you can't get on the internet. (Plus the mark-up on a cup of coffee is absolutely breathtaking - £3 or so when the ingredients add up to pennies)
Can a shop selling white goods or televisions really compete? I doubt it: that's why Comet failed and Currys left...
On 22 May 2015 at 4:18pm Time-keeper wrote:
Like a broken clock, Paul Newman can occasionally be right - but not this time. Truth is, they're all slightly different and all pretty good. And all quite full. Visit them and see what you think. South Malling have been taking the extra numbers locally to help with bulge years so you might have more luck getting in there, depending on what year your children are in.
And what Lewes desperately needs is a greengrocer. We used to have several, but two have retired (Vera on Western Road and the lovely ladies on Fisher Street) and one has converted into an (IMHO) increasingly overpriced and underwhelming snackery (Bills). Can't blame them, it's a tough business, and Bills was great when it first started serving food. *sniff*
On 22 May 2015 at 5:54pm townie wrote:
@Southover queen. If you think that a few coffee beans is the only cost in producing the coffee, you're seriously deluded.
Think, cost of premises, staff costs, business rates, Water, electricity etc, shipping costs, blah blah blah
On 22 May 2015 at 6:26pm PIRATE BLAH wrote:
YARGH!
Thars a big markup on the blah blarh blargh!
YARGH!
On 22 May 2015 at 10:17pm Southover Queen wrote:
How kind, townie. I don't. However a mark-up of several hundred percent for every cup of coffee served is pretty healthy, no? Better than what you get for a telly perhaps?
PS: Why are you always so rude? The Pirate has it about right.
On 22 May 2015 at 11:09pm Celine wrote:
Isn't Famiglia a local family Italian restaurant?