Forbidden Fruit, 119 Queens Road

[Richard]

Hi MJ,

We must be the self-styled Yin and Yang of retail business health in Hastings.
I tend to look on the brighter side here as I have seen a lot of renovation, improvement and development on the Queens road in the last couple of years, during times of a particularly deep recession and sluggish economy.
Whilst it is true that numerous smaller shops come and go as 'pop-ups' on short leases, it is clear that there are many, including the 'Rue de Pera' Coffee shop and the Imperial Pub that have recently been bought outright by the owners and should be around for much longer.
There are many larger shops such as Halfords and the Lighting and the Plumbing shop that have been around for many years.
EPIK (trading card games, board games, Warhammer etc ) seems to attract many customers, so I hope it stays, despite the recent 'Bricking' attack.
It is a rough area unfortunately and more CCTV coverage is helpful in that respect, I believe there is a drug problem at one of the pubs down a road towards ST Andrews Square.
One of the Hairdresser's went because the owner had a worsening medical problem.
Junk shops merge into Antiques shops and get split up and refurbished as we see now happening.
A few others have been sold as the owners have retired and may be converted into private property.

The Old Town has a fairly brisk turnover of (in particular) smaller shops trying to find a successful business formula and nobody sees that as an indicator of doom and gloom.
They have a drugs problem too but not the same degree of attacks on shops probably because everyone knows the local culprits.

Property prices are now increasing at a healthy rate, Hastings is one of the top three towns in the South East in that regard and to be welcomed as it shows that people think there is great potential and opportunity.
There are some fairly wealthy residents at the Alexandra Park end of Queens road, which is a main thoroughfare into Hastings and on those accounts there is much passing trade to be had, despite Queens Road being situated along a rather poor area of town, for a very long time.

The 'Junk' shops are not exactly cheap but cheap enough to attract people who know that some items would cost two or three times more in London.
Hastings has always been known for Antiques and a few dealers in London started out in this town.
Anyway, at least we have different views and can throw a few thoughts around, I expect the area will always be dynamic and changing with new business ideas and success as well as failure.
Overall I do feel more optimistic about Queens road now than previously, despite the zonal nature of the surrounding area being not much above poverty levels, it seems to attract a lot of foreign businesses who work hard and create real jobs, whilst we pump up our youngsters with false dreams of a career in Film, TV, Fashion and the like, instead of a solid reliable trade, or a decent apprenticeship.

[moonjiver]

Yin and Yang, that's precisely it!! You represent my view of Hastings in my more positive moods and on a beautiful day like today beside the sea. But I have had a love-hate relationship with the town ever since I've been here. Not resolved. I do actually love the area, the music, the creativity, the friendly bohemian atmosphere. As you say, it has a lot of potential and others clearly believe that and are willing to keep investing money and trying to start small businesses here.

But so many wasted opportunities and lack of action from those who should know better. If you talk to small traders, they often go red in the face when talking about the shortsightedness and incompetence of the council - despite all the "public consultations" (just a PR exercise), the authorities generally seem to ignore local people's concerns and wants and do nothing unless they have to.

There is street drinking everywhere in the town, youths racing on bikes along pavements and weaving through traffic the wrong way, countless aggressive beggars. Is this really what visitors and tourists from abroad wish to see around them? Police or any kind of street wardens are almost non-existent, except very occasionally a van outside the discos on a Saturday night.

When I came to Hastings in 2000, the swarms of language students began arriving in early spring and that continued until autumn. I gather that the student influx is now a tenth of what it used to be and you only really notice them during the peak period of maybe June to August. Because of that, several internet cafes lost their custom and some language schools also closed or relocated.

I'm not sure I'm a pessimist, still think Hastings could be thriving if imaginative people were in charge, but definitely I prefer to be a realist!

[Richard]

Hi MJ,

Admittedly it's a bit Dickensian at times, down here in Hastings, with the begging which should be cleaned up, but the Police haven't got the resources, and the council haven't the money to provide wardens, or even community Police really.
You would expect to see a bit of a downturn in a recession, the dearth of foreign students from Italy and France and Spain may well be connected with that, and don't forget conditions have been much worse over there, in many cases.

I agree kids are reckless on bikes and skateboards, and with Hastings at the top of the charts for youthful pregnancies, there are some pretty awful examples of bad parenting too.
I saw an example yesterday of a small child being very forcibly dragged along the pavement, sobbing and screaming his head off, by a 17 or 18 y.o. 'father', unable to deal with the situation any other way.
The foreign students looked on in horror as the small kid was abused openly in public in such a deplorable manner.
When you consider street life in France or Italy and see some gentle behaviour and good manners, it makes you cringe to see scenes of domestic abuse, in full view, on the streets of Hastings Town centre.
Not so happy about the numbers of cheap off-licenses opening along Queens road recently, they attract undesirables, with no intention of working, who really bring the neighbourhood down.
What are the council thinking of when they allow planning applications?

I am really going off-topic already but can't go without citing the rough area near the MacDonalds, just before the underpass bridge below Wellington Square, that should be cleaned up and beggars and alcoholics moved on, it is another eyesore to behold.

[Geoff]

Unlike you to stray off topic Richard

Feel free to start a new one and keep everything relevant for future readers. You can always link from one to the other if necessary.

[Richard]

I was led astray your honour!! (story of my life)

More news about 'The IMP' asap - I expect a grand opening date to be declared shortly!!
At least the renovations (as elsewhere along the road) are providing local employment.

[moonjiver]

Partly my fault for straying off topic, getting carried away about Hastings, sorry!

I'll look forward to news of the Imperial. The exterior looks smart, hope the pub lives up to its external promise.

[Richard]

The new owner is James Braxton, BBC antiques expert, he was working there today, getting his hands dirty, and said they hope to open on the 9th August.
James and his family also run the popular 'Lamb Inn':
http://www.lambinnwartling.co.uk/

The revolving steel table I mentioned earlier is in fact part of the hand-built, brick pizza oven being constructed inside the pub.
They intend the interior to be bright with a light-well above the bar.

[moonjiver]

That DOES sound promising. Someone normal moving into Hastings and optimistic enough to invest some money!

Can't wait to poke my head in there.

[Richard]

The 'Imp' has been up and running for about 3 weeks now.
On the outside, this small and rather exclusive dispensary of beers and oven-baked pizza, sits well in the area adding character, with bold colours of orange and black, neither bland nor pretentious and copper lamps, being the old original ones - now stripped and polished.
The internal seating is somewhat limited at present and the prices are set to keep out the local drunkards and rough-stuff.
The pizza-dough is hand-made, in small batches, 'proved' overnight and cooked by an industrious Italian chef from N.W. Italy and the micro-brewery stainless-steel tanks are a prominent feature of the Bar area. (they had to remove the front door frame to get them inside!). They are not all running yet as they had to install new electrical circuits.

I am somewhat surprised that such an entrepreneurial young team decided to venture into this remote location, but perhaps it is proof of the old adage 'build it and they will come'.
They saw a need for their business in the area and here they are - I think we are very fortunate to have them!!

[moonjiver]

I have to say that I poked my head in there recently and walked away immediately. The interior decor is pretty awful, spartan and ugly, one long plain bar running the length of the room and the seats looked hard and uncomfortable. I'm afraid I find the garish red and black exterior ghastly!

Maybe it will improve as the place mellows and more fittings are installed, but there were only two people sitting inside and it's hard to see what would tempt customers to go there, out of their way and far from the town centre.

The bottom line is whether the punters bite. The "Palace" (the old Pig in Paradise) on the seafront now looks very dark and intimidating and is almost always nearly empty. Hardly a cosy pub to relax in.