VILLAGE IS A ‘DESTINATION PEOPLE WANT TO TRAVEL TO’
While city and town centres across Wales have been badly hit by the economic impact of the pandemic businesses in some communities have managed to buck the trend, as Jonathon Hill finds out in one such thriving village...
THROUGHOUT the pandemic bleak headlines have surfaced telling of the quickening decline of our town and city centres. Wales’ largest cities have experienced declines in trade after months of rolling lockdown restrictions, coupled with the loss of office staff popping out for lunch and a general decline in footfall.
But in these challenging times for retail one unassuming village square has mastered the art of creating a vibrant buzz for traders and shoppers alike – and it’s rooted in community.
Magor, a small village close to the Second Severn Crossing in Monmouthshire, is absolutely thriving.
Last summer several brand new businesses opened here unsure of what the future might hold, but they felt Magor was the basket in which to chuck their eggs – and so far they’ve been proven right.
Since then a pub has reopened, an Italian restaurant has joined, as well as a fashion and accessories store in the last month. Every shop is full and offers something different, and the locals – especially the many now working from home – are loving it.
“The way people shop and live has changed, and even the way people eat has changed,” said Sophie McCulloch, owner of Snow Boutique, who finally got her shop on the square in July this year. It’s been a long wait for Sophie, who has wanted a premises here for “years and years”.
“Now feels like the perfect time though, this place just felt like I was meant to be here,” the mother-of-four beamed, looking around her smart store. She is one of an abundance of locals to say this is the best the square has been in her lifetime.
“It’s gone full circle. Big cities once boomed for retailers, then it all went online, but people here seem to want to get out to their local butcher again.”
Sophie said she had worried about opening in the holiday season, but has noticed many holidaymakers travelling to West Wales stopping for a day in Magor.
“I’ve always known them stop at the [Magor] services, but now they are coming to the square to have something to eat and spend a few hours.”
It doesn’t worry her that it might not be like this forever, though.
“I’ve done pop-up shops when they were big, I’ve been in the city, and I went online during lockdown,” she said. “Now I’m here, and I’m doing homewares because that’s what everyone seems to be into at the moment – doing up their homes while working from home.”
It also allowed people to explore their local area, and Dawn Turner – who took over the running of the Golden Lion on the square with the help of six friends – believes traders have reaped the rewards.
“Monday is one of our busiest days now,” the former accountant explained. “The previous owners here used to shut on a Monday. We now see people popping into the square at all times of the day, because they can.”
But even if most locals return to office work, a legacy of what has happened during the last 18 months is that Magor village is now a destination, and Dawn hopes that can have a lasting effect.
She said: “The mix of shops has made it a destination where people want to travel to, and we’re fortunate we’ve got people coming from both sides [Bristol and Newport].
“It’s not only the traders either, we’ve got a new train station in the pipeline as well as a new community hub that residents have been fighting for for 30 years.”
There is something special about the place being full of real Magor people, and the pub is no different.
After a largely unsuccessful attempt by the previous owners to turn it into a gastropub, seven friends – all from the village – chipped in to take over from October 2020. It has reverted to a traditional pub grub location.
“It’s as it used to be,” Dawn said. “We think that is what people here want from their local.”
Susie Willet, who left the storage and removals industry after 20 years to run The Gate deli which opened in July 2020, said she’s been surprised at how good the last year has been for business.
“I vaguely remember the square being like this years and years ago,” she said. “But it’s been very quiet for most of my lifetime and mostly full of estate agents.
“Since restrictions were lifted we’ve found people aren’t cooking at home so much, they’re coming out for a meal instead. And because they are here more now, they know what is in the village.
“We’re a team [of traders]. I don’t sell eggs because Molly [the grocer a few doors down] sells them.
“That’s what it’s like here. What’s the point in competing? We all try to complement each other.”
Former 999 call handler and postwoman Molly Scott opened Village Greens in June last year.
She said she doesn’t think there is a better place in the region to have begun her business journey.
“It’s been a really good period, I can’t fault it, but I think if I opened this in Caldicot it wouldn’t have gone this way, because there is an Asda there and an Aldi on its way,” she said.
“Magor has gone back to being a village where people actually go to the fruit and veg shop and the bakery.”
Andrew Davies moved his barber shop from Blackwood to Magor in August 2020, and said the square now reminds him of a “cosmopolitan village hub”.
Life has gone so well in Magor that he needs to employ a new staff member, after initially thinking he might be able to run the shop on his own.
Like Molly, he said residents in Magor are loyal to those traders who get to know them.
“People here will support you if you support them,” he said. “I’m doing a sponsorship for the local football club and I think people have recognised that.
“The square looks great, and the new Italian restaurant has been a brilliant addition.”
That Italian is Fantastico, owned by Damiano Argentieri and Angelica Ruifernandez. The pair worked for Susie’s family at a separate restaurant owned by The Gate, so already knew all about the local ethos. When the option to take on the premises came up in February, Damiano said it was the perfect time and place to take a risk.
They’ve been an instant hit, with their outdoor area in the middle of the square making for a brilliant atmosphere akin to something you’d see in Damiano’s home in Puglia, where he moved here from four years ago.
“We have tried to bring a little bit of Italy, and people seem to love it,” he said. “We want to interact with people and make them feel special.
“We have regulars coming every night for a drink and to have a chat, maybe because they’ve spent so long at home. I know their names and they know my name. I really like that.”
Damiano, who began at Gemelli’s in Newport, added: “If you work in a restaurant in Newport or Cardiff you won’t be asked for your name, because most of the time customers aren’t coming back very often.
“But in Magor people want to know about you and your life. They say they are coming for a coffee with Damiano and Angelica. That reminds me of Italy, it’s the Italian way.”
Leeann Davies, who has owned Village Treats sweetshop on the square for six years, said she used to feel lonely at work, but not any more.
“For a long time it felt like I was the only shop here,” she said. “I didn’t care who moved in and took a shop on as long as they filled a shop and made it look a bit busier. But the mix of shops has just brought a massive buzz. On sunny days it’s a holiday atmosphere.
“It’s undoubtedly bringing more people here and is helping all of us.”