Just like its eponymous pattern, Paisley’s town centre has long fallen out of fashion with shoppers.
Unable to compete with the nearby shopping centres in East Kilbride, Braehead and Glasgow city centre, its high street has felt the pinch, with several shops left empty for years.
Even local hero, singer-songwriter Paulo Nutini, has in the past criticised the town’s shopping facilities and amenities, and said Paisley risked becoming no more than “a housing estate off Glasgow”.
Now local councillors have come up with an idea to bring the town out of the slump by embracing the second tier of retail with the aim of becoming Britain’s first “discount town”.
Instead of trying to compete at the high end of the market, the council will take the lead in a daring attempt to attract shoppers to the town with an innovative marketing scheme.
With many shop fronts in Paisley having laid empty for up to seven years, Renfrewshire Council has stepped in to help private landlords sell or lease their properties.
As part of its effort, the authority will foot the bill for false shopfronts to promote the empty premises – £14,700 for the six-month project – with support packages to help landlords revise their commercial expectations.
The council has also hired a commercial property company, Colliers International, to target potential retailers and encourage them to open outlet stores similar to those at McArthur Glen in Livingston.
The idea has come on the back of a successful opening 18 months ago of Marks & Spencer’s discount outlet on Paisley High Street.
At the launch of the drive by the council and the Scottish Government yesterday, Amanda Moulson, Paisley town centre manager, said: “The performance of the M&S outlet has been really successful. So we thought, as a town centre how do we differentiate ourselves? The success of the M&S outlet has been the catalyst to look at the whole of the High Street.”
Outlet stores offer brand names at a discount – typically between 30% and 70% off recommended retail prices –through discontinued lines, blemished articles or last season’s designs. Although they are rarely housed in factories, the concept is based on the factory outlet where manufacturers offer goods direct to the public at a lower cost than at their high street branches.
The project is part-funded by the £1.8 million Scottish Government’s Town Regeneration Fund and involves creating a facade on empty shopfronts in a bid to display the potential to interested retailers.
Derek Mackay, leader of Renfrewshire Council said: “Today is two-pronged: it is physically making the vacant units more attractive, hand-in-hand with actually headhunting the retailers that we believe there is a market for in Paisley.
“This is the first time in the UK an innovative concept like this has been introduced to a traditional high street. It’s quite radical.”
Stewart Stevenson, Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change, said: “I think the 2010s have every opportunity to be the decade of the high street. Many have been run down in favour of out-of-town shopping. “Every town has to find what suits it, clearly Paisley is a town that is within a relatively short distance from Glasgow so they have to differentiate.”
Shoppers’ view of Paisley
Amanda Meeten, 17
Office junior, Barrhead: “I work in Paisley but I don’t really shop here. I would rather go to Braehead for shopping. If they got some more high street shops then I would shop in Paisley.”
Mary Quigley, 50
Housewife, Paisley: “I don’t really like to shop in Paisley to be honest because it’s not very nice. There’s better places to shop like Braehead. So many shops keep shutting down here.”
James Hogg, 70
Retired, Barrhead: “I don’t come here a lot but I think nice, better shops would make a big difference. I tend to go to Braehead or Silverburn to shop and eat out.”
Winifred McIver, 61
Retired, Bishopton: “I shop in Paisley now and then but I tend to go to Glasgow city centre or Braehead more often. I don’t know if I would like more outlet stores in Paisley but it would be great if they attracted department stores like Littlewoods. It would definitely make Paisley a lot busier and nicer.”
Fiona Fairbrother, 41
Human resources manager, Paisley: “I don’t really shop in Paisley at the moment because I prefer Braehead. It would be great if we got more shops in Paisley though so I think the regeneration is a really good idea.”
