A STREET in Glasgow has been ranked as one of the worst for shopping in the UK, according to a new index.

Shettleston Road, in the East End, was ranked 987th on a list of 1,000 shopping streets compiled by retail property consultancy, Harper Dennis Hobbs (HDH).

The 2019 HDH rankings evaluated the retail health of a shopping area based on the number of high-end and discount stores, the rates of vacant shops and the number of less desirable stores such as pawnbrokers, money lenders and bookmakers.

But is the unwanted accolade deserved? The Evening Times visited the street to find out.

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Angela McIntyre, who lives near Shettleston Road, said: “I think it’s a good place to shop because people come from all these different places to shop here.

“There’s plenty of shops, you wouldn’t be short of choice depending what you wanted, hairdressers, pubs.”

Regarding some empty stores, she added: “There are all these empty shops, offices, all these people are homeless.

“So why not open them up make them into flats to help the people? It’s a disgrace.”

Business owner Karen Geddes, who has run Hello Petal florists on Shettleston Road for five years, said “it’s either feast or famine” when it came to custom.

“I’d like to see it [Shettleston Road] a lot better – a wee bit more diversity instead of just barbers and takeaways.

“I think a lot of it is down to money for a lot of folk as well. If money’s tight you’re not going to get a lot of nice shops in that area,” she said.

Paul Eusebi has owned a barber shop on the road for nearly 40 years, six months ago he opened an ice cream and pizza restaurant opposite his barbers, called Nello’s.

Blair Eusebi, his son, said: “There’s nothing like this [on the street]. There aren’t any places where you can sit in and have a meal and things like that.

“People like it, we haven’t had any negativity towards it, I think people are happy it’s not another pub or a hairdresser.

“It’s been a good six months, tricky at the start but because we are a new business. Now we’re starting to get better and it’s starting to pick up.”

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Standing next to a shop that was in the process of being fitted out as a barbers, Janet and Michelle both said there were too many on the road.

“It’s not very good at all. There are too many takeaways, too many barbers and not enough general shops. “We could do with a lot more shoe shops, clothes shops things like that really,” Janet said.

“There are a lot of barbers, we don’t need any barbers,” Michelle added.

Renfrew, to the west of Glasgow, ranked even worse than Shettleston Road, coming in at 993rd.

The index also showed major cities grew in their retail quality, such as Birmingham, Oxford and Glasgow.

Glasgow city centre made it into the top 50 UK retail centres and was ranked 33rd on the index.

HDH said the growth in major cities shows consumers and retailers still prefer strong retail centres rather than smaller “satellite” centres, such as neighbouring high streets.

Jonathan De Mello, head of Retail Consultancy at Harper Dennis Hobbs, said: “The changing face of the high street means retailers need to be confident their investment is likely to pay off.

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“Quality retailers don’t want to be surrounded by empty units, discount stores and betting shops, which are a clear indicator of deprivation in the area.

“While the big cities and most prominent shopping malls should absolutely be a key priority for any retailer trading in the UK, this research highlights the fact that small but flourishing towns and suburbs can be viable retail locations, particularly as rents are typically more affordable.”