Looking forward to a sad empty space being brought to life! However, I really wish people would come together and try to think of a better way to bring Ulverston town centre back to life. Perhaps if the energies were put into that instead of arguing about supermarkets, we might have a better, more profitable little town.

I think competition is healthy, but I find some of these comments quite upsetting. I pride myself with shopping locally and have done for years. My family are walkers and cheered when a local couple opened a much needed outdoor shop. We support them and will carry on doing so. We too missed The Furness Rambler when it shut. Reading some of these comments brings to light that alot of you don't actually shop in Ulverston, or if you do only once or twice a year. If you did you would soon realise as myself and family that you reap the benefits, for example....discounts and excellent customer service and I don't just mean from the Mountain shop but from all shops, market indoor and out.

Helen
Why does the only way 'forwards' as you allude have to be a supermarket?

Ulverston is a superb place to live. It certainly doesn't need a supermarket on the edge of town to make it any better. Supermarkets by their very nature, and despite the monotonously familiar PR, always have a negative impact on the number of businesses in the towns they turn up in.
Supermarkets also remove vast wealth from those towns as they all belong to nationwide companies.
It can indeed be argued that they can sometimes be cheaper but please name the last supermarket group that went out of business because it wasn't a profitable concern.

With that said councils will always fall for the spurious jobs argument. Yes supermarkets do create part time and a few full time jobs but I'll lay odds (but I haven't looked) that the numbers lost in local businesses that will go under mean the jobs argument amounts to a movement of employees from existing local businesses to the new supermarket.

The thing is though all this discussion is really mute. Sainsbury's will come to Ulverston just as surely as Roose will get its biomass power station. These decisions are made who knows where by people who do not live in the area and as long as those pursuing the new developments play by 'the rules' the new developments will arrive.

So I guess I am railing at the lack of democratic accountability in this country and how the 'populace' simply accept that whatever big government, big business, big bankers, big ecomentalists, big righteous say is going to happen. Hence people end up seeing a supermarket as the best way to 'invigorate' a small market town like Ulverston when what is really required is a root and branch rebuilding of the way democracy works at a local and national level. Iceland is showing us the way forwards but 2012 is packed with 'events' that hog the newswires just in case people begin to look for a better solution to their local and national ills.

Rant over. Thanks for reading.

Tony what's wrong with my statement 'Now we just need a supermarket'? I've lived here all my life and remember when Ulverston was thriving. We had lots of small grocers shops that aren't there any more plus other necessary shops. I love my town but we're going backwards.

Sorry Alf - yes I will have to go to Ambleside but at least I can go straight to walking or straight back home now without going to the shops as well. Nothing worse than going into a shop all mud up or Smelly. I remember that shop too - i too used it and is missed - as most of us know Ulverston town centre is extremly quiet i wonder how half the shops keep going.

I'm just curious Dave, how will you reach a large percentage of the fells if you don't go to Ambleside? Do you have a personal helicopter? My old favourite shop The Lakeland Rambler on New Market Street failed a few years ago because there wasn't enough trade, it was an excellent facility and sold top brands well priced. Seems a lot of people like a day out and shop elsewhere?

Winfields in Barrow do some great outdoor stuff btw. I look forward to seeing an outdoor store in Ulverston to go with the new Sainsburys. Things are looking up for this tired old town.

Well Nikki, sorry to tell you but there is only regatta you can get from the factory shop, and to be honest mountain warehouse is a good thing but we should still support the small shops when we can, the one in ulverston is small but have done well as they have done this themselves and are not a multi millon pound company, so to me I will shop in both and I do hope they still do ok as times are hard for all small shops at the moment.

'Now we just need a supermarket'
Personally I find such statements show just how bad the state of today's Britain really is.

Are there really enough local crag rats who will be willing to support such a venture?

As for the agricultural store the move makes good sense as the existing premises are a little awkward to get to so good look to WCF.

Great news. I'll use the mountain shop and my husband will use agricultural one. Should bring booths a few extra customers as well. Now we just need a supermarket and we might just be moving ith the times at last.