Support your local shops

We are sad to confirm that one of our favourite little quirky southside shops has closed its doors for the last time. Raw Vintage was a brilliant little clothing shop on Abbot Street which sold retro and refashioned clothing for men and women. They had a great range of unusual clothing and could quickly alter and adjust the style to suit you if you wanted. It was a really unique little shop, not just for the area but in Glasgow as a whole. The fact it has now closed highlights just how difficult it is for small independant shops in the current recession and why we should all be trying to help support them.

The Q+A on the Larkfield bus depot/ supermarket proposals touched lightly on this issue. It was a more sedate affair than expected, as it was really only a small part of a normal Community Council meeting. There were again mixed opinions and questions, both for and against. My favourite quote of the night was when the developers said they had been looking at a housing scheme but had now moved onto a "commercial employment development" which I thought was a fun way to describe a Supermarket. (We'll leave an update on the Q+A questions in the comments on the original Larkfield Depot post.) The next public presentation will be taking place at the Daisy St centre in Govanhill on Mon 26 Apr from 11am until 8pm if anyone hasn't seen the revised scheme yet and wants to give their thoughts to the developers pop along.

A while ago we started a use "them or lose them" campaign to get people to support their local shops, its one of the reasons we do the blog and its the reason that we've started running the Giveaway's. There are loads of great wee places in the Southside and with the support of the local community they can really thrive and grow turning our high streets into bustling, interesting and fun places to be.

In an attempt to try and focus attention on this Local Counciller Danny Alderslowe has organised a "Swim Local, Shop Local" event this Saturday on Victoria Road. The idea is just to get as many people as possible to take a wander round the array of shops.

How does this sound for a Saturday morning in the sunshine? Breakfast at one of the many cafes on Victoria Road, a stroll round the local shops, a visit to the Farmers Market then a walk through the Queens Park and a rummage through the shops we've highlighted on Skirving Street. Sounds pretty good to us.