For a once popular seaside resort, Rhyl, there were always things to do outside, especially during the warm weather. And on duller days, Rhyl’s shops, arcades and clubs were always there to pick up the trade. But to cater to the town’s tourists, Rhyl residents complain that neither option is available, come 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, as he waited in vain for customers, he took to social media to express his concern about the eerie silence in the streets surrounding his shop.
At 1.30pm on a Wednesday afternoon, when the main roads should have been bustling with life, they were instead deserted. Chesterton posted two poignant photos online, saying: “We are normally packed with customers at this time of year. This street is normally full of traffic and footfall. Last July was a record month for us. How are independent businesses going to cope?”
READ MORE: Family of four ‘pays £265 for breakfast’ at motorway service station inundated with complaints
Nestled on Bodfor Street, Flaunt It Vintage offers an eclectic mix of sustainable fashion that harks back to the 50s through to the present day, ideally located close to both the bus and train stations and a stone’s throw from the High Street. However, despite its prime location, it often feels isolated from the usual commercial hustle and bustle.
It is located in an area where takeaways, hairdressers and tattoo parlours have squeezed in amongst the shops. From here it is just a seven minute walk to the beach.
In the past, train passengers could catch an inviting glimpse of the sea from the High Street. Now, residents say, all that remains is a “concrete wall” where seaside attractions were built and have since closed, North Wales Live reports.
Join our WhatsApp Top Stories and Breaking News group by by clicking on this link
“It’s all quiet,” sighed Mark. “There’s no reason to come to Rhyl. Last Saturday there was no one in the shop, which is unheard of, and today it’s dead again. It’s awful, absolutely awful.”
“I spoke to a lady who lives just around the corner and has been in her shop for 11 years. She said she has never seen it this bad. We have had quiet periods before but it is ridiculous now. It is the same in Prestatyn and Abergele. Towyn is the busiest – because it has entertainment.”
Austerity has hit towns and villages across the UK, but sometimes it feels like the seaside resort is being punished extra. The weather hasn’t helped, nor has the return of foreign tourism. In Wales, the problems have been exacerbated by council cuts, and in Denbighshire by a proliferation of bin bags after stuttering attempts to reform rubbish collection. Visitors are reportedly bewildered by 20mph rules.
Just when it seems like things can’t get any worse, there’s a sense in Rhyl that they most certainly do. The Sun Centre is long gone, and the storm-damaged SC2 waterpark is closed for the year. And to top it all off, 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 imposed in April, but residents complain that drunks and thugs are rarely turned away. And shops continue to close.
On social media, one shopkeeper sympathised with Mark. “We’re exactly the same, dead to us too.” A toy shop recently opened in the town and “hardly anyone” has been in, she added. One resident said it wasn’t surprising. “Why go to Rhyl when Prestatyn has everything in one place and Rhyl has everything boarded up?” he said.
The owner of a crystal shop and healing center is in the same boat. “This year, there’s no foot traffic,” he said. “Don’t get me wrong, I do well on referrals. But if this was based on walk-ins, I’d be out of business.”
Traffic wardens are reported to outnumber street sweepers in a struggling town centre. Rhyl, one local woman said, has become a “ghost town”. It is far from the only town to suffer – residents point to parallels with places like Bangor and Holyhead – and there is a faint hope that the malaise is only 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, and cranes, lorries and diggers provide a constant drone in the background. A new beach access ramp is almost complete and, when open, should at least provide better access to the beach from the High Street.
Mark accepts the work as a necessary evil. “The sea wall may have something to do with it, and the weather has been bad this year,” he said. “Visitors usually come to the shops later in the day, after they’ve been to the coast, but that’s not happening this year.
“There are more shops closed than open, so there is less reason for people to come into the city centre. When that happens, you get a knock-on effect. When people want to shop, they tend to go to places like Llandudno, Chester or Liverpool. There are plenty of independent shops in Rhyl, but they are off the High Street and there is nothing to direct people to where they want to go.”
Mark started his business two years ago with a burst of hope and excitement, but now he’s faced with an uncomfortable reality. “I have a lot of inventory and I have a year left on my lease,” he said. “All I can do is hold on until next summer and see what happens.
“I have a good landlord and I don’t pay property tax, but I can barely pay myself. This time last year the shop was doing record sales, but in July we’re still a long way off – I’m taking less than £1,000 this month.
“I have a mortgage to pay and a family to support. When push comes to shove, I have my online business to fall back on. But I would rather keep the shop if I could. Independent shops help support the community and I want to give something back to the local area.
“We all know that Rhyl is not what it was 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 ideas.”
The resort’s new £12.6m Queen’s Market was completed in June but will not open until an operator is found. Residents have been met with a mixture of surprise, anger and weary resignation that yet another major development is struggling to live up to expectations.
“I grew up in Rhyl and love the place and the community. But decisions the council has made over the years have not helped. The units in the new market hall are tiny, a quarter of the size of my shop, and they could be too expensive. I look at places like Wrexham and Mold, where large spaces have been created for small independent businesses, and wonder why something like that isn’t available here.”
Many people believe that Rhyl’s decline was due to the closure of the Ocean Beach Funfair. When it closed in 2007 it was in a bad state, but at least it offered the kind of entertainment the town was known and loved for.
Under the astute management of Adam Williams, the Tir Prince site at Towyn filled the gap. The funfair is now a major magnet, helping to fill the resort’s 60,000 visitor beds, making Towyn an understated powerhouse in the region’s tourism economy.
In contrast, the B&B supply in Rhyl has been steadily eroded, with some converted into multi-occupancy properties. If visitors are not staying at local holiday parks, they now largely have to choose between a Travelodge and a Premier Inn.
Residents know things aren’t right, but they’re reluctant to highlight the problems in a city that’s had more than its fair share of negative publicity. Even in a month that’s seen Bangor labeled “worst seaside town,” there’s a fear of reinforcing unwanted stereotypes.
And there have been positive trends. House prices defied national trends, rising by 3% in the year to July. Pubs and restaurants remain busy. Bookings are good at local holiday parks. And the retail blues haven’t affected every part of the city.
But poverty rates remain high and, as in other coastal communities in Britain, there is a sense that Rhyl remains a “dumping ground” for the vulnerable. Outside shops that have not been boarded up, people complain that the town has been taken over by kebab houses, hairdressers, vape shops and charity shops.
A local woman was saddened to see how far the city had sunk. “All the local parks are ruined and not maintained,” she wrote. “I’ve been walking along the boardwalk with the kids and I can’t even see the sea because of the sea wall construction. The city is just shocking. Our children will never remember what it used to be like.”