WIGTOWN is known for books, Castle Douglas for food and West Kilbride for craft and design.
Now businesses in the far north of Scotland are being urged to establish their own niche market to counter the effects of large out-of-town retailers.
The area is one of the last places in the country to experience the "town centre versus retail p
ark" battle.
The recent arrival of large supermarkets and other stores to Wick and Thurso has now prompted an action plan aiming to stem the flow of shoppers from the local high street and create distinctive identities.
A new report by consultants also warns that standing still could spark a run of closures and gap sites. Glasgow-based Vector Research says shoppers could be enticed to Wick and Thurso town centres by a new brand identity which could be marketed in conjunction with local food and tourism organisations. It suggests possible links to local whisky distilleries or projects to promote local food.
The report says: "Caithness has several key attributes but no strong brand, and the two towns have few strong associations for outsiders.
"Any re-branding of the towns has to involve the stores themselves, since a town-centre brand is as much about people, quality of delivery and presentation as it is about logos, straplines and promotional campaigns."
Vector was brought in against a backdrop of pessimism among 170 independent local traders in the wake of a recent wave of major retailers moving into the area.
But it did not find the impact of the recent major retail developments in Wick as significant as many feared. The 260 extra jobs created by the Tesco store in the town had not led to a matching loss of employment elsewhere, largely because of a stemming of the trade previously lost to Inverness.
The net effect had been 50 jobs lost and four more vacant outlets in the town centre, although other closures may be looming.
Eann Sinclair, of HIE Caithness and Sutherland, the local enterprise company, said the north could learn from the experience of other towns.
West Kilbride, Wigtown and Castle Douglas have all experienced upturns after rebranding. However, Blaenafon in south Wales tried to establish itself as a book town and set up ten bookshops, only for eight to close three years later.
He said: "Caithness is probably one of the last places in Britain to experience the Tesco/Homebase effect. There are hundreds of communities that have had to deal with the arrival of major retail chains – some successfully, some not so successfully.
"The surveys beg a fundamental question of us as consumers: if we value having town centres with independent shops, then how do we ensure that our centres remain vibrant?"
The full article contains 462 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
