Word on the Street

ColneLife took to the streets to discover what some of our local businesses think of their home town, and what they love about Christmas in Colne

MEET… CLARE MEAD FROM THE LINGERIE BOUTIQUE

“There’s so much more to Colne than people realise…”

“It’s nice for people to support the high street, if people don’t it will become a ghost town! I offer a personal one to one service. People get the hour-long appointment with me, I build a rapport with the customers in Colne, some I might only see once but I purely focus on them instead of them being shoved into a cubicle in a bigger shop. If they’re passing they pop their head in. People in Colne warm to each other!

“I love getting my decorations ready for Christmas in the window! It’s a great place to be for Christmas. There’s so much more to Colne than people realise…”

MEET… ASH SUTCLIFFE FROM LIVE LIKE THE BOY

“My heart is here.”

“We know our customers really well because we’re a local business, we know what people want andlook for. We compete heavily on price, sometimes you can find some of our products in other stores but you’ll usually find that ours are under RRP. My heart is here, you never know who is going to walk through the door. It’s probably the most cosmopolitan place I’ve been in my life. People tell me we should be in the Northern Quarter in Manchester and I think no way. There’s such a range of people, it’s bizarre! You don’t get the variants of people that are in our town elsewhere, there’s nothing like Colne.

“We have a range of gifts, people want to buy good quality gifts for their home for Christmas!”

MEET… HOWARD IBBITSON FROM WEST END MODELS

“People come from all over the place.”

“We can offer a full service, and advice which people don’t get with big nationals. They can come in and see the models and we can help and explain how it’s done. People come from all over the place. The models are brilliant for kids as it gets them using their hands again instead of always on the computer.

“For Christmas we will have working steam engines on display, the kids love it and they will be a sale. We will have a box where everything is 50p and it all goes to the Macmillan charity.”

MEET…MARIE FROM BAT HOUSE EMPORIUM

“Christmas is great in Colne because it helps to support smaller businesses.”

“We have items such as jackets and hats that are so much more affordable for people in our town, some things we sell, might be on sale in bigger stores for double the price! Lots of people passing through like to come here too and have a look. We have made Christmas earrings, we’ve got some great winter coats too!

“Christmas is great in Colne because it helps to support smaller businesses.”

MEET… HELEN LAMBERT FROM SWEETS ‘N’ TREATS

“I’ve lived in Colne all my life, it’s home.”

“We sell traditional sweets at a good price, as well as jams, chutneys and cordials so plenty of variety for people to choose from. I love the excitement of Colne at Christmas and the buzz, there’s load of different events happening, there’s the torch lit parade and lots of different activities which will keep the shop busy.

“I’ve lived in Colne all my life, it’s home, and the people are nice and friendly.”

MEET… STEVEN REED FROM COLNE MARKET

“We’ve created a Santa’s Grotto!”

“Colne is such a unique place, it has so much to offer on the high street with the independent businesses, it’s so different to the other surrounding towns. Our market offers a personal touch. You go to a supermarket and all the other big stores and you don’t get to stand and chat with the person that works there for ten minutes, it makes it a bit more special.

“We’ve created a Santa’s Grotto, so we’re looking forward to welcoming Santa to Colne for the we’ve got that for four weeks from the 26th November.”

To share your views on Colne email editor@looppublishing.co.uk

ColneLife Winter 2022