How is Rushden town centre faring? We take a closer look at shop openings, closures and what the future holds

Rushden’s High Street has long carried the reputation of being decorated with interesting shops and quaint cafes, and with shopper habits in a state of change, it has braved the climate to still be worth visiting.

In 2023, the Northants Telegraph has been conducting research on the state of the High Street in North Northamptonshire’s towns, and with insight into Kettering, Corby, and Wellingborough, Rushden was next to go under the microscope.

We categorised its shop fronts and gathered data on how the town centre is faring after a difficult few years, and here’s what we found.

The Results

169 units were recorded and analysed on April 6, including shops and services in John Street, Church Street, College Street, Queen Street, Newton Road and the High Street.

The findings presented conclusions largely different from the ones in Wellingborough, and its market share of each category bears a closer resemblance to Kettering, albeit on a smaller scale.

Rushden town centre’s diversity is immediately evident, with mixed retail (11.2 per cent) and other (18.3 per cent) making up a substantial portion of the outlets in the centre. Stores and businesses categorised as ‘other’ include tattoo shops, charities, dog grooming and opticians.

Dedicated shops like phones (1.2 per cent), jewellery (1.2 per cent) charity shops (3 per cent) and estate agents (5.9 per cent) make up just a fraction of the space in the centre.

Hair and beauty has a strong presence in Rushden with 10.7 per cent, and pharmacy/health makes for 3.6 per cent.

Food and drink took up a substantial portion of the units, with 26.4 per cent of space in the town centre being taken up by cafe/restaurants (7.7 per cent), bars/pubs (3 per cent), takeaways (8.9 per cent) and food retail shops (7.1 per cent).

Within the recorded boundaries, Rushden town centre has 21 vacant units (12.4 per cent), being empty either on a temporary or long-term basis. This is in-line with Kettering’s rate of closed properties (12.7 per cent as of February 2023), and significantly lower than Wellingborough (16.4 per cent), which was the highest recorded category in that town.

People in the know – what do they think?

Libby Osborne of Osborne’s toy shop in the High Street said: "When I was a child it was full of fabulous shops like all towns really, and now it's basically hairdressers, tattoo parlours, charity shops and the odd nice shop that's still left.

"We could do with a decent bakery for a start, we've got a butchers and a greengrocers, but Rushden used to have about six lovely bakeries and we haven't even got one now, so that would be nice.

"You've got quite a few unique shops, and it's very friendly in Rushden.

"Weekends are still buzzing in the town, Saturdays are still very busy.

"Obviously footfall is still down, but it's still going.”

Osborne’s has been in Rushden’s High Street for 68 years, and has been a stalwart in the centre, remaining in its spot as the town shapes around it.

With the closure of Select on January 27, the lack of dedicated clothing stores (not including charity shops) is noticeable, especially as Rushden Lakes has a range of shops including River Studio, FatFace, Joules, Primark and House of Fraser.

When the Northants Telegraph conducted the same research on Kettering town centre, town MP Philip Hollobone (Con) commented on the development of Rushden Lakes, and how it has changed shopper habits in Kettering.

He said: "The biggest challenges faced by Kettering High Street are online shopping and the decision taken to develop Rushden Lakes. It's taken years of economic growth out of the town centre.”

Rushden town centre is just a few miles from the retail and leisure park, and though it may have struggled to maintain the same variety of national brands, Rushden town centre’s diverse local offerings are a welcome alternative.

What does the future look like for Rushden?

While Rushden Lakes may have become the first option for shoppers in North Northamptonshire, the adjacent town centre adopts an all together different approach that justifies its existence tenfold.

Its food and drink is diverse, and the data shows with the number of mixed retail units that it is still a viable option for shoppers who are happy to be surprised with what they come away with.

Parking has been a point of contention in Corby and Kettering, but as Rushden mimics Wellingborough with free use its car parks, this is seen as a benefit for the town.

Libby Osborne said: "It helps that it's free parking because people do come from Northampton, Wellingborough and Bedford, especially at Christmas time."

When we conducted research into Wellingborough, Rob Herbert, owner of new bar La Luna and the Blue Room, added his voice to the debate by saying: “The deciding factor of why we still have a town centre is because we have got free parking, unlike the likes of Kettering, Northampton and Corby which is all 'pay to park'.”

Rushden’s town centre has changed a lot, and it will surely continue to evolve, even when having to compete with Rushden Lakes.

It’s faring well, it seems.