Shop local this Christmas to save our Main Street urge Alexandria traders

02.11.2022 - 20:59 / dailyrecord.co.uk

Traders are urging Alexandria residents to get their Christmas shopping locally, with a nightmare six months of roadworks set to end this week.

Works as part of regeneration plans saw the heart of the Vale turned into a building site, with traders left counting the cost of footfall that dropped by up to 50 percent.

As part of a £12million masterplan to transform the Vale, the iconic Smollett Fountain has undergone restoration, the Main Street has been reprofiled and the eyesore Mitchell Way shopping precinct is set to be demolished.

Major works to the Main Street are set to end this week, with Sian Wilkie of Alexandria Traders Association urging people to shop local – or risk losing the independent stores that make the Main Street unique.

Sian, who runs Wilkie and Ryder, said: “We’re now on the run-up to Christmas and we’re really keen that people don’t forget about their local Main Street.

“We’ve got plenty to offer and with the cost of living crisis shopping locally can make a lot of sense.

“We’re really excited to get back to normal.

“We’re trying to encourage people whose shopping habits may have changed as to why Alexandria Main Street should be somewhere they choose to shop.

“Hopefully this is the start of a positive era for Alexandria.

“The place is starting to improve, money is being spent on it so let’s make sure it’s been worth everyone’s while by encouraging everyone back in to shop in the places that are here.

“We really need people to do that rather than bypass us and go into Dumbarton.”

And with traders having received little support for the duration of works, Sian has warned that they face a pivotal festive period.

She continued: “If you were a West Dunbartonshire Council tenant then there was support, but you had to