Another day, another phone shop in Ipswich.
The big picture: Fresh off July's grand opening of iCrack, the town's tenth phone repair shop, the former Hotter Comfort Concept store on Tavern Street is set to become the town's eleventh.
Why it matters: Many residents and business owners are concerned that the prevelance of phone repair shops is exacerbating the town centre's challenges and negatively impacting other businesses.
What they're saying: Speaking to Ipswich.co.uk, Will Hamer, who runs the brilliant Threads for All shop on the Walk in Ipswich, raised his frustrations:
"These guys pop up everywhere and seem to some how succeed in a clearly saturated market.
"It devalues the town, nobody’s going to come and visit Ipswich to see its many phone shops, we need unique stores that are going to bring people in."
And he's not alone: I can say from firsthand conversations I've had with residents, and following reader feedback from a previous story on the number of phone shops in the town, that Will's frustrations are shared by many others.
The other side: It's another disused store that is now occupied, and while the abundance of phone shops may seem excessive to some, it could indicate a thriving, albeit very competitive, market.
Zooming out: According to Ibis, the UK phone repair market will be worth an estimated £706m in 2024, a 9.9% increase from 2023. There are 616 businesses in the UK employing over 3,300 people.
By the numbers:
Ipswich accounts for 0.2% of the UK's population but 1.8% of the UK's phone shops.
If Ipswich accounts for 0.2% of the UK phone repair market, it is worth an estimated £1,412,000 – £128.4k per shop.
The bottom line: iRepair will become the town's eleventh phone repair shop, but will it be it's last? Only time will tell.
