To wonder what shops would you add to our village

[DemGirls]

Lighthearted but a conversation coming up frequently in my Village.
I live in a village population around 2250, we have a “main street” which has all the shops/amenities on it, currently 3 of these units are vacant and their is a lot of convo on what it would be nice to have fill them. Here is what we currently have

• A co-op
• A Spar with a post office
• A pharmacy
• A hairdressers
• A barbers
• A coffee shop
• 2 Gastropubs
• A Bakery/Deli
• A tiny little bookshop
• A cycle shop/club
• A Chinese take away
• A fish and chip shop
• A little independent artists studio/shop
• A library (although hardly open these days)

People mainly come to the village as slightly further out we have a golf course and lots of good walks. The cycle club is very popular as is the local tennis and Bowles clubs so this brings people too!

The units available are all relatively small, one was the barbers (moved into the where the butchers was), one was a bakery (no need for 2 it turns out) and one was a post office (moved into the spar).

AIBU to want to know what you’d put in the units if you lived here and got to pick?

A boutique and a book shop.

Outdoor clothing shop, also selling hiking and camping equipment?
A souvenir shop if it's a touristy area?

Based on where I live I would include:

• DIY shop. Ours stocks everything and everyone loves it
• Charity shop. Benefits everyone
• Indian restaurant/takeaway. Seems a bit of a gap in the offering.

An independent bookshop with a cafe attached.

Cardfactory.

i LOVE cardfactory it’s surprisingly useful

A wholefood/green living shop. We live in a tiny village and they're always busy.

A vet. We have one in our village and it's always very busy.

An India takeaway, a hardware store (one of those that sells all sorts of random but useful things) and a greengrocer.

Pet shop
butchers
green grocers
stationery shop
florist

We have a dessert shop. Very popular.

We have a shop of all trades, don't know what you would call it but you can buy anything in ther. Beach balls, rat poison, cleaning stuff, bbq stuff, candles, it's always busy!

Youth club
hardware store
Art supplies / stationery shop

Betting shop
Chicken shop
Charity shop

This sounds exactly like a village near me in Norfolk lol I'd add Indian Takeaway

Butchers
Florist/gift shop
Possibly a second coffee shop if first one very popular (or one that specialises in good vegan options too).

Sounds similar to where I live. We also have a hardware/ironmonger/diy/homewares/gardening shop. A bit like b&q on a much smaller scale.

Nice fishmonger, ice cream parlour and good (not too Nancy) pet shop for my dream village, please. 🤣

It would be nice if one of them was a community hub for young people, like a youth club, plus guidance and info for teens. Maybe they're organise work placements, outdoor activities, fundraising for local causes? They could have a shop front / hangout place but then the kids can do stuff outside of that. I guess it would want to be a charity, non profit type thing. Your village sounds like it has nice shops and stuff, but maybe something for young folks might be good.

A hardware shop. There is a tiny high street where I live (not picturesque! In a town centre suburb) that has a posh butcher, two barbers, two interiors shops, two coffee shops, fruit/veg/flowers shop, a launderette (well worth having, it’s been there for donkeys years), an Indian takeaway, nail/beauty salon, pub, Nisa with a post office counter, a dog groomer, Tesco express and the requisite few estate agents.

The hardware shop closed a few years ago and I miss it so much.

Greengrocer, butcher and fishmonger would be ideal i suppose. But in my village we got Vape shop, tattoo parlour and bookies.

Oh. You couldn't give us a clue could you? This is my type of village and I have family in Norfolk.

Beauty parlour - the kind of place that does manicure, pedicure, facials, massage etc

I don't live in a village but in an older suburb where there is still the little parade of independent shops. All similar to the OPs list. It is very vibrant and supported by the mainly retired and older demographic around here.

One of the units was an organic food shop that was doing well but was destroyed by Covid. It was taken over by an Active Retired group and is now a space for people to meet, have coffee and a natter, there is a knitting group and a scrabble group etc. The biggest success is a book swop and book club once a month. Followed by a trip to the pub. Hic, I am a member.

The most frequented shop is the newsagent that has a collection point for online shopping deliveries, sells gas bottle refills, sells stamps under the counter lol, and literally stocks everything from a needle to an anchor in a warren of little aisles, and if Mr. B doesn't have it, he'll get it for you somehow unless it's something that won't fit in his door!

Our village sounds similar, we've just lost a chemist and gained another barbers which we didn't really need (there's two already). We have a card and gift shop, small florists, Chinese takeaways, fish and chips shops, beauticians, funeral directors, dog groomers, estate agents, vets, bistros/cafes, pubs serving pub grub, mini supermarkets, an Indian takeaway, pizza place, a few hairdressers, post office.

Ours has a very popular delicatessen with butchers and bakers within. So I think you're missing that. It's very popular with trades as well as locals, they seem to come from all around and when we had work done, the workmen already knew where to head for their breakfast/lunch.

Also have a nice library and a community centre which is well used. We don't have an ice cream parlour though, and wish we did!

I used to live near a handyman who had his own shop. He charged reasonable prices and was always in demand.