Richard’s rendezvous Eateries, comestibles, beauty, accommodation

I simply have to applaud all of those individuals or companies involved in the hospitality, grocery, beauty and real estate sectors for having the courage, determination and ongoing belief to keep going in what they set out to do.

There are so many of these businesses set up from long ago but still new ones keep on appearing and I can’t help but feel that, surely, all of them can’t do well or even survive (it reminds me of the world of acting, singing and dancing where not everyone can expect to be in constant work and live off their chosen art).

Gibraltar is a tiny place in the macro sense of practically everything you can think of really, so how can we survive in any of these enterprises people choose to get involved in? How can we cope? There are so many of ‘the same.’

Are we over the limit with all of those ventures which I highlighted at the top of my article?

We often hear from tourists, when stopped for a vox pop on our Main Street asking them how they were enjoying their shopping experience in town, and invariably they respond by saying there are too many jewellery, perfume and electrical goods stores, but more keep on coming on stream and the same can be said, a little more or a little less, about the other businesses highlighted.

So we already have a number of those businesses and still others pop up here and there. Some move to a new address along Main Street or elsewhere.

It’s sad to see some of the newer ones, especially giving it a try and as you walk by day after day and see how very little going on as you glance inside the store with potential shoppers just having a look.

This has been the case with a number of them and not just clothes stores. We even have some, managed by our Indian community, closing down after many years of being run relatively successfully and remaining open.

It’s interesting to see how some hold on for quite a long time – one or two run by larger companies – but eventually either they have to give up and close down, or diversify and begin to give the business a fresh start.

I have noticed, however, some closing down but pretty soon after another eager business person takes on the unit and maybe has a change of use for it.

Restaurants, cafeterias, bars and takeaways ... Oh my goodness, how many do we have? But they still keep on coming.

The main areas like Casemates, Chatham Counterguard, the marinas (all of them with another big one yet to come on the other side) and those sprinkled along the town area make up a large number of them – Along Water Gardens there are about a dozen restaurants or cafeterias, bars and takeaways. You would think far too many, but most of them remain open with not a lot going on around them, even when cruise liners are in port.

Where to shop for food? Again, yes, the corner shops have disappeared but supermarkets abound. There are almost a dozen open for business. How many bags of sugar, potatoes and other food items do we need? A number of them are quite large units.

It really is interesting to watch how busy or not so busy they are. It is truly amazing and I hope they all survive.

Thinking of keeping fit? You can have a personal trainer, if you like, and if not we have quite a few gyms you can attend – all of them busy?

And we have another commodity flooding the market: Hair and beauty salons and now barber shops too.
In the Cornwall’s Lane/City Mill Lane area alone there are more than half a dozen and a new one keeps on appearing from time to time.

How many do we need to service a population of well under 30,000? Are we trying to pretend we are like Marbella, Monaco or even London or Paris?

Where are the customers, where are the bodies in town seeking all these services? How many individuals go out for meals at night, especially? The summer nights at present are better with more of us exiting the home, but there are so many places requiring bums on seats in all these eateries and bars.

So, millions of coffees and beers and other items need to be sold in supermarkets, shops and stores.
Hairdos, nails, facials and pedicures and other types of business need to keep staff busy. You need to pay them, not forgetting your rent, suppliers etc. to keep the place up and running and for me, a non-businessman, the mind boggles!

Let’s not forget estate agents – do we have a few, or do we have a few?

Yes we certainly do, quite a few sprinkled around the place. Selling apartments not too good at the moment, we hear, so it’s more to do with renting at present. I wonder how many estate agents we actually have on the Rock and are they all doing well?

The mind continues to boggle! We have a very vibrant visual arts fraternity in Gib too.

Apart from the well established galleries, others are becoming more prominent now, like the Gema Gallery on Line Wall Road, The Kitchen, the City Hall upgraded and looking great and the very smart Arte Art Space nicely set up in the Old Central Police Station in Irish Town. These, however, are being made good use of with so many young artists on the increase and getting involved in all kinds of the visual arts keeping us interested in their work.

So there, although venues on the increase, financial outlay is not the same headache brought about by the running of businesses mentioned earlier and having to at least keep afloat.

The Treaty is around the corner. May it serve everyone here and over there not just well, but very well.

Regardless of all the comings and goings in the business world here, we continue to observe.

There are many trees whose branches are quite overgrown with walkers having to bow when passing under them. Along Waterport Road, Fish Market Road and other streets, there are quite a few trees whose branches need a bit of chopping with plenty of TLC.

Attractive balconies covering air conditioner equipment – smart.

Oh, our dear forever faithful City Walls. We have a case of even more pruning and a strong steam jetting job for a good clean-up on those walls. Many of them need it badly.

I’m off, going for a haircut. Headache! Which salon/barber shall I go to? Bye!