For Rhyl, once a popular seaside town, there was always something to do outside, especially in the warmer weather. And on duller days, Rhyl’s shops, arcades and clubs were always on hand to drum up business. But today, Rhyl residents who cater to the town’s tourists complain that neither option is available, rain or shine.
Business owner Mark Chesterton took a leap of faith by opening his dream vintage fashion store, ‘Flaunt It Vintage’, in July 2022. But this week he took to social media to express his concern about the eerie silence of the streets around his store, as customers waited in vain.
At 1.30pm on Wednesday afternoon, the high streets should have been bustling with life but instead they were deserted. Sharing two poignant photos online, Chesterton said: “We are usually full of customers at this time of year. This street is usually full of traffic and footfall. This past July was a record-breaking month for us. How are independent businesses expected to continue?”
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Located on Bodfor Street, Flaunt It Vintage offers an eclectic mix of sustainable fashion from the 1950s to the present day, ideally located close to both bus and train stations and just a stone’s throw from the High Street. However, despite its prime location, it often feels removed from the usual commercial action.
In an area where takeaways, barbers and tattoo parlours are crammed in among the shops, it’s just a seven-minute walk to the beach from here.
Once train arrivals could catch inviting views of the sea from the High Street. Now, residents say, all that is visible is a “concrete wall” where seaside attractions were built and have since been closed, North Wales Live reports.
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“Everywhere is quiet,” sighed Mark. “There’s no reason to come to Rhyl. There was no one in the shop last Saturday, it was unheard of, and today he’s dead again. It’s awful, absolutely awful.”
“I was talking to a lady who has been working in her shop just up the road for 11 years. She said she’d never seen it this bad before. We’ve had quiet periods before but it’s ridiculous now. It’s the same in Prestatyn and Abergele. Towyn is the busiest place – because it provides entertainment.”
Towns and cities across the UK have faced austerity measures but sometimes it seems the seaside resort has been hit with extra punishment. The weather has not helped, nor has the return of overseas tourism. In Wales, things have been made worse by council cuts and the proliferation of bin bags in Denbighshire after stuttering attempts to reform bin collections. Visitors are said to be baffled by the 20mph rules.
Just when it seems things can’t get any worse, there’s always a feeling in Rhyl that they will. The Sun Centre is long gone and the storm-damaged SC2 water park is closed for the year. On top of all this, the 2024 Rhyl Air Show has been cancelled.
Even when money is spent on new facilities, things don’t always go to plan. A third consecutive three-year Public Space Protection Order was introduced in April, but residents complain that drunks and rowdies rarely move in. And shops continue to close.
One shop owner on social media empathised with Mark. “We are the same, we are dead to us too.” A toy shop had recently opened in the town and “barely anyone” had been in, he added. One resident said it was hardly surprising. “Why would we go to Rhyl when everything is in one place in Prestatyn and everything is boarded up in Rhyl?” he said.
The owner of a crystal shop and healing center is in the same boat. “I haven’t had any clients this year,” she said. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m doing well with referrals. But if it’s based on foot traffic, I’m out of business.”
There are reportedly more traffic cops than street cleaners in a struggling city centre. One local woman said Rhyl had become a “ghost town”. It is not the only place suffering – residents say there are similarities to places such as Bangor and Holyhead – and there is a faint hope that the malaise may only be temporary.
Overshadowing everything at the moment is the £69m Central Rhyl Coastal Defence scheme. A section of the promenade is off-limits until autumn 2025, with cranes, lorries and diggers providing a constant background hum. A new beach access ramp is nearing completion and should provide better access to the beach, at least from the High Street, when it opens.
Mark accepts the work as a necessary evil. “The sea defences may have something to do with what’s happening and the weather has been bad this year,” he said. “Visitors usually come into the shops later in the day after going to the beach, but that won’t be the case this year.
“There are more shops closed than open, so there is less incentive for people to come into the city centre. When that happens, there is a domino effect. If people want to go shopping, they now tend to go to places like Llandudno, Chester or Liverpool. There are lots of independent shops in Rhyl but they are off the High Street and there is nothing to direct people to them.”
Despite launching the business just two years ago in a burst of hope and enthusiasm, Mark is now having to face some uncomfortable realities. “I’ve got a lot of stock and a year left on my lease,” he said. “The only thing I can do is hang on until next summer and see what happens.
“I have a good landlord and I don’t pay business tax but I can barely support myself. This time last year the shop was having record sales but this July we’re nowhere near that – I won’t even get £1,000 this month.
“I’ve got a mortgage to pay and a family to support. I’ve got my online business to fall back on if it comes to that. But I’d rather keep the shop if I can. Independent shops help support the community and I want to give back to the local area.
“We all know Rhyl is not the place it was even 10 years ago. Something has to be done to stop the decline. I don’t know what the solution is but Denbighshire Council should start by asking local people for their views.”
The site’s new £12.6m Queen’s Market was completed in June but will not open until a business owner is found. The move has been met with shock, anger and a weary resignation among residents that yet another major project has failed to meet their expectations.
“I grew up in Rhyl and love it and its community. But the council’s decisions over the years have not helped. The units in the new market hall are very small, a quarter of the size of my shop and they would be very expensive. I look at places like Wrexham and Mold where there are great spaces available for small independent businesses and wonder why there is nothing like this here.”
Many believe that Rhyl’s decline is due to the closure of the Ocean Beach funfair. When it closed its doors in 2007, it was certainly in poor condition – but at least it provided the type of entertainment for which the town is famous and loved.
Under the shrewd management of Adam Williams, the Tir Prince site in Towyn has closed that gap. Its amusement park is now a major magnet helping to fill the resort’s 60,000 visitor beds, turning Towyn into an under-the-radar powerhouse in the region’s tourism economy.
In contrast, Rhyl’s B&B service has eroded, some converted into multi-occupancy houses. Unless staying in the mostly local holiday parks, visitors now have to choose between a Travelodge and a Premier Inn.
Residents know things are not going well but there is a reluctance to highlight the problems in a town that has received more than its fair share of negative publicity. Even in a month when the “worst seaside town” tag has been passed on to Bangor, there is a fear of reinforcing unwanted stereotypes.
And there have been positive trends. House prices have risen by 3% in the year to July, defying national trends. Pubs and restaurants remain busy. Bookings at local holiday parks are good. And the retail blues haven’t hit every part of town.
But deprivation rates remain high and there is a sense that Rhyl, like other coastal communities in Britain, is a “dump” for the vulnerable. With retail units not closed, people complain that the town is being taken over by kebab shops, barbers, vape shops and charity shops
One local woman was saddened by how far the town had sunk. “All the local parks are broken and neglected,” she wrote. “We went for a walk along the promenade with the children and we can’t even see the sea because of the sea defences. The town is truly shocking. Our children won’t remember what it used to be like.”