Sponsored by
Gay nights to bring back boozers
Wigan town centre is suffering from a midweek nightlife crisis - and one of the ways aimed at reversing the trend of people staying at home is by staging regular gay nights.
Maloneys bar in King Street has seen turnover on a Wednesday night dive over the last year, blaming students choosing to go elsewhere and cheap supermarket booze.
Town centre manager Mike Matthews said: "At Pub Watch meetings people have said it's been quieter than usual.
"Although the economy of the town centre is good, the leisure side may be suffering because of a slight down turn in the economy.
"Weekends show no signs of slowing down and pubs are trading very well."
Maloneys are trying to attract students back into town with a "bedroom DJ" competition on a Wednesday and a gay night once a month on a Tuesday.
General manager of Maloneys, Darryl Latham, said: "Midweeks are awful at the moment, it's like nobody is coming out anymore.
"The students seem to be going out of town to Preston and Lancaster.
"It's been going down hill since last summer.
"Wednesday night we're averaging 300 to 400 but 12 months ago it was 1,100 to 1,200. Cheap supermaket beer is killing us, that and the students going elsewhere."
Large numbers of pubs across Wigan have closed or been converted to restaurants in recent years as the decline of the great British boozer continues.
But the town centre was always considered one of the safe havens for the pub trade.
Recent research has revealed pubs in the UK have been closing at a rate of 27 a week over the past year.
The British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) found that the closure rate in 2007 was seven times faster than 2006 while 2% of all town centre-based pubs have closed in the past six months.
Cheap supermarket booze, the smoking ban, a tightening economy and health concerns are all impacting.
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Wigan
Friday 25 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 11 C to 25 C
Wind Speed: 23 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 11 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 23 mph
Wind direction: East
