I live near a little town that is in many ways like many other little towns in many western counties. We have our high street chain stores - our Burtons, our Argos, our HMV, our Boots, our Woolworths, our Dorothy Perkins, yadda yadda yadda.
We also have our own independent stores such as Dixons of Coleraine, Moores of Coleraine, Bishops of Coleraine (all independents should have 'of Coleraine' in their name - it works well with the locals.)
We have several dodgy modern sculptures, all donated by other countries (trying to boast their own tourist industry by putting people of going to Northern Ireland.) We have our churches - by the dozen (Presbyterians, Free Presbyterians, Reformed Presbyterians, Anglican, Brethern, Catholic, Methodist, Baptist, Church of the Latter Day Saints, Seventh Day Adventists, Wiccan, Humanist, Coleraine Football Club) We have everything that the average provincial town needs to make it an average provincial town.
But what makes Coleraine special in my mind (well, one of the things) is the way it evolves not gradually, or even smoothly, but completely randomly and in great waves of whatever the latest trend is. What I mean is that Coleraine doesn't ever seem to have a good range of everything - it has complete overkill of one thing and when people start to realise there is too much competition in that particular business then everyone closes down and moves into the next trend. When I was very young it was hairdressers (now referred to as salons -
I'm pretty sure there are no hairdressers anymore - just stylists... well except for Sean over on the Waterside but he'll soon clearout the shop and paint it mimimilist white with a plasma screen over the counter I'm sure) then it became shoe shops (Don't worry, Bishops (Coleraine's biggest employer of young Christian summer staff) still dominate that market), then it was card shops, then Jeans shops, then finally coffee shops. Cafe Capri, Riverside Cafe, Cuil Coffee, Ground Coffee, Dixons, Moores (Moores actually have not one but two coffee shops within their shop), Pepperz, Lily D's, Twenty Two, The Belfry, Bon Appetit, The Forum, and (of course) Starbucks can all be found within walking distance of the Diamond. And that is off the top of my head - there are more.
Don't get me wrong. I like a coffee as much as the next man. In fact the staff in Starbucks and Ground know me by name. I've taken to going to them time about so they don't think I'm an addict. Coleraine, however has less than 25,ooo residents. That's not huge. How can it support mor
e than fifteen coffee shops? Especially since Ballymena (less than 30 miles away) probably has even more. I do my best to get round them all to support them but I can't help thinking that some of the smaller shops will have to close. What will they become? Well, whatever the next trend may be. Personally I'm hoping for more bike shops - I could do with one of them.
I live near a little town that is in many ways like many other little towns in many western counties. We have our high street chain stores - our Burtons, our Argos, our HMV, our Boots, our Woolworths, our Dorothy Perkins, yadda yadda yadda. 
We also have our own independent stores such as Dixons of Coleraine, Moores of Coleraine, Bishops of Coleraine (all independents should have 'of Coleraine' in their name - it works well with the locals.)
We have several dodgy modern sculptures, all donated by other countries (trying to boast their own tourist industry by putting people of going to Northern Ireland.) We have our churches - by the dozen (Presbyterians, Free Presbyterians, Reformed Presbyterians, Anglican, Brethern, Catholic, Methodist, Baptist, Church of the Latter Day Saints, Seventh Day Adventists, Wiccan, Humanist, Coleraine Football Club) We have everything that the average provincial town needs to make it an average provincial town. 
But what makes Coleraine special in my mind (well, one of the things) is the way it evolves not gradually, or even smoothly, but completely randomly and in great waves of whatever the latest trend is. What I mean is that Coleraine doesn't ever seem to have a good range of everything - it has complete overkill of one thing and when people start to realise there is too much competition in that particular business then everyone closes down and moves into the next trend. When I was very young it was hairdressers (now referred to as salons - 
I'm pretty sure there are no hairdressers anymore - just stylists... well except for Sean over on the Waterside but he'll soon clearout the shop and paint it mimimilist white with a plasma screen over the counter I'm sure) then it became shoe shops (Don't worry, Bishops (Coleraine's biggest employer of young Christian summer staff) still dominate that market), then it was card shops, then Jeans shops, then finally coffee shops. Cafe Capri, Riverside Cafe, Cuil Coffee, Ground Coffee, Dixons, Moores (Moores actually have not one but two coffee shops within their shop), Pepperz, Lily D's, Twenty Two, The Belfry, Bon Appetit, The Forum, and (of course) Starbucks can all be found within walking distance of the Diamond. And that is off the top of my head - there are more.
Don't get me wrong. I like a coffee as much as the next man. In fact the staff in Starbucks and Ground know me by name. I've taken to going to them time about so they don't think I'm an addict. Coleraine, however has less than 25,ooo residents. That's not huge. How can it support mor
e than fifteen coffee shops? Especially since Ballymena (less than 30 miles away) probably has even more. I do my best to get round them all to support them but I can't help thinking that some of the smaller shops will have to close. What will they become? Well, whatever the next trend may be. Personally I'm hoping for more bike shops - I could do with one of them. 
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