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Life is sweet for Mr Brown

With over 800 stores around the UK and a trading history a year shy of a century, the collapse of Woolworths highlighted the downwards spiral of the economy towards the end of 2008.

In Ipswich the closure of Zavvi left a noticable gap on a high street which is also losing women's fashion store Oasis and children's clothing retailers Adams.

The recession may also have sounded the death knell for some of the independent shops in the town, but on a visit to a selection of self-owned retailers in January 2009 the overall mood was surprisingly upbeat.

Not out of time yet

Out of Time Records has been selling music for "about 20 years". For "about 18" of these Chris Mortimer has been working as shop manager.

Chris Mortimer, Out of Time Records

"We've seen them come and go," said Chris, who believes HMV and Zavvi's move away from music and towards the broader realm of entertainment has been detrimental.

"We listen to people who have been to the main shops and have been looked at blankly - they don't really know who the artists are. We've been here a long time so we know the artists, and know the older stuff."

Chris says Out of Time has seen a reduction in business but is confident that the reputation, specialised knowledge and established customer base will see them through a lean period.

The shop has also benefited from bucking the trend and continuing to stock vinyl, which is enjoying a resurgence and is even being bought by youngsters without turntables: "People just want to own bands like Led Zeppelin on record."

But despite Chris's optimism for his own shop's future, he fears that business rates and the cost of leasing in Ipswich are going to drive retailers away.

Adams and Zavvi in Ipswich

Out of Time's location on Fore Street is a 10 minute walk from Tower Ramparts but it does have the benefit of being close to the University Campus Suffolk headquarters.

"We are stuck out of the way a little bit and the rates and rent are cheaper. I think they really need to lower business rates and get people back in wanting to open shops again.

"If you go two roads up from where we are the rates are double what we pay."

Black cat brings bad luck

Chris's fears ring true further up Fore Street, where in an area rebranded as Little Camden an alternative clothes shop is treading water.

After three years of researching its viability, Angie Martin decided to open Cat Black - an alternative clothing and accessories shop which many would brand 'gothic', but Angie believes this is too dark a term.

Angie's mantra was to sell "anything that you won't find in Debenham's or Next" and for the first year of trading from 2006 things were happily ticking along.

But then things dried up.

"It's been going downhill since last year," Angie said. "The money's not out there.

Cat Black

"They've been promising to redevelop this area for as long as I've been here but that hasn't happened. The new campus has helped the passing traffic pick up a bit but it's still not what it should be.

"I'm probably in the wrong place but I can't afford to be in the middle of town."

Angie says things have become so bad that some days will see a maximum of two people visiting the shop in the seven hours it's open.

"It's going downhill quite rapidly and I'm probably only sitting here until my lease runs out in September.

"Because I'm tied into a lease I can't get out - I'll still owe them money so I may as well be here trying to make some money.

"I didn't want to do a website because there's more competition, being the world wide web, but also with clothing you need to touch it and to feel it, and you can't do that online.

"But because business isn't good here I have started an online shop so, if the worst does happen here, that hopefully will carry me over until I find somewhere else."

Attack of the clones

A few doors closer to the town centre from Cat Black is designer street wear shop MILSAM, whose stock includes jackets at Β£400 and jeans costing over Β£100.

They started small but in the space of five years they've built a regular customer base which has grown as the business moved from their Foxhall Road beginnings to the centre of town.

"We've found that it's slowed down, but we're quite lucky because we've got loyal, regular customers who keep coming," said joint owner Sam Begg.

Sam Begg, MILSAM

"If it weren't for them we'd be in trouble as well. There's been a decline in sales but our regulars are helping us through."

Sam says the shop has evaluated how it operates and has taken steps which will hopefully see it through the downturn in business.

"We're being smarter in the way that we buy. Before we'd buy a broader variety of clothes, now we're trying to just buy what we think people will buy.

"And not buy so many excessive sizes, so just one of each size rather than two. We've streamlined the way we buy clothes."

Although Sam is confident for MILSAM's survival he has concerns for other independent shops in Ipswich, and in turn for the town's identity.

"They should definitely be worried. Up and down the country it's rubbish anyway, but Ipswich seems to be one of these places that has been really affected. In general people haven't got a lot of money here anyway so things are getting even worse now.

"It's not all about the high street shops - it's the independents that make a town. You want variety and something that you can't get up and down the country in every town.

"If that goes we'll all be walking around like clones in the same clothes and there won't be nothing different to offer anyone."

Life is sweet for Mr Brown

Mark Brown, owner of the eponymous old fashioned sweet shop in Upper Brook Street, is in a jovial mood.

Having recently celebrated a successful first year in business he's not concerned about the recession's impact on his shop which sells "four to five hundred different types of sweet".

Mr Brown's sweets

"It doesn't seem to have affected us at all," Mark said. "It seems that people won't buy the bigger things, perhaps a new piece of furniture or a car, TV or holidays but they're certainly happy to spend Β£4 or Β£5 on sweets."

Buoyed by the initial success Mark is actually looking to expand the business by opening other sweet shops in the region.

So what's the secret to his success?

"I haven't found anybody who doesn't like some sort of sweet. Whatever age they are, their gender, they'll like some sort of sweet that we sell.

"If you're an independent you have the ability to run the business the way you want to run it. If you offer a good customer service, which is what we try to do, then it seems to be successful."

The price is right at former museum

The ability of an independent to have things just the way the owners want, without having to bypass regional or national headquarters guidelines, is another strong point in the eyes of Arlingtons on Museum Street.

The cafe, bar and brasserie opened shortly before Christmas 2008 and came after a year's worth of careful planning.

"The owners Ken and Lis Ambler bought the site about a year ago with the intention of creating this informal cafe, bar and brasserie for Ipswich," said Bar Manager Morgan Decker. "The site had laid derelict for about 18 years so it needed a long time in the planning stages to get the site habitable."

Arlingtons

Although Arlingtons itself doesn't have the safety net of an established customer base, the historical building has resulted in a number of curious visitors.

"It was the original museum here and more recently was the Arlington Ballroom and dance school. So there's a lot of history and feeling for the building in Ipswich. People have been wanting to come see what the building is doing these days."

But it's the food and drink which will make or break Arlingtons and Morgan believes they have the mixture of quality and price spot on, with the nature of being independently owned helping them stand out from an increasingly homogenised high street.

"It's more about giving people an alternative to the mass market, and this seems to be what people want nowadays - a nicer, more individual environment.

"The big players will always be safe, you can go to any city, any town in the world and before you walk in the doors of Starbucks or Costa Coffee you know what you're going to get.

"That's a big strength for them but it's also a big weakness. There's always room in the market for an independent."