Wandering around Worcester Park High Street recently you may have noticed these key symbols around the place and perhaps even wondered what they were all about. You may have seen the explanation in the Sutton Guardian but in case you didn't - they are part of the new Worcester Park Key initiative designed to tempt local people into actually using our local shops.
Each home in the local area will soon receive an A5 booklet and a blue 'key card' which will entitle people to discounts at over 30 local shops. 8,000 of these booklets and cards will be distributed from next Friday (6th June) in two tranches with a further 2,000 being available at local participating shops.The booklet lists the many shops available in Worcester Park High Street and details the ones offering a special deal or discount upon presentation of the Worcester Park Key card. As it says in the preface:
"The Worcester Park High Street has many interesting and unique independent businesses offering an excellent range of products and services catered around your needs."
The Worcester Park Traders Association has been trying to find ways to encourage people to use the many local shops available and has had a few good ideas. This particular scheme was the brainchild of Raj Jain who has run Preview Menswear in Central Road for 20 years. Many local traders put money into the pot to produce the booklet and card and Raj has put a great deal of time and effort into making it happen, with help from the Traders' Association.It is fairly well known that there has been a marked drop in customer footfall over the years in Worcester Park and it is good to see the traders working together to do something about it. Another idea was the OWP - Our Worcester Park Traders' Club re branding. This plan is going to include several other aspects but more on that at another time.