A Rose that has withered

The two book-ends are unusual landmarks on Rose Street's contemporary map. Sandwiched in between the main arteries of Princes Street and George Street, Rose Street was once home to a thriving community of independent retailers, an image and character bound up with the Street's historical notoriety as the place where national literary figures drank and the capital's youth mis-spent their weekends.

However, the pedestrianised shopping thoroughfare is now under threat. Shoppers The Herald spoke to feel that Rose Street has lost its character. ''It is full of transient sandwich shops,'' said one. ''It has the same plastic pubs as any other city,'' mourned another.

Edinburgh's burgeoning UK economic status has had an adverse affect upon the independent business sector clustered here. With faceless chain pubs and restaurants fighting for limited city-centre space on either side of it, huge increases in rental charges are forcing the independents out and sweeping the wealthier multiples into Rose Street. Goliath is pummelling David in this retail battle with no hope of a reprieve.

The epicentre of this trend is glaringly obvious by the time you reach the Frederick-Castle Street block. It was this haven of specialist jewellery stores located in Rose Street that

Alistir Tait was delighted to join 10 years ago. ''That was when Rose Street was the affordable city-centre area of niche, mostly private family-owned businesses,'' he remembers.

Though Tait says his business has not been affected by current trends due to a loyal clientele, he feels that the Street's formerly busy reputation means ''it is partly a victim of its own success''. He also lays part of the blame for Rose Street's down-market image at Edinburgh Council's door. ''We have nagged the council for letting the street run-down: missing bollards allow trucks to enter the street, the hanging baskets are disappearing, and underground pipes have adversely affected road surfaces.''

Joe Douglas, 28, manages one of the few remaining clothing outlets in Rose Street. A stalwart from Rose Street's seventies and eighties boutique era when a plethora of jean shops drew in droves of youngsters. In Elite's window the Ralph Lauren sweaters, the Chevignon tops, and the Lambretta parkas are all marked ''Sale''. Having worked sporadically in Rose Street over a decade, Douglas has observed a marked decline in the retail trade. ''Even a few years ago people would come to Rose Street to buy clothes. We still had upmarket shops like Cruise and Buzzini here. But they're all gone,'' he says. Due in part, he believes, to the annual rental of #25,000 he is now obliged to pay. Elite's trade will take another

bashing if the Glasgow-based men's clothing store Slaters opens up later this year. ''We'll have to try and concentrate on our regular customers,'' shrugs Douglas. ''Then see how it goes.'' Next door to Elite is Edinburgh Arts selling framed landscape, sea-scape, and Jack Vettriano prints. Even the top-selling print artist cannot help business. Manager Karen Howe is pessimistic. The company's three other Edinburgh stores are thriving, but the Rose Street branch isn't. The Edinburgh festival and Christmas are the shop's two high points. It is not enough. ''We're joining the rest and moving to a busier part of the city,'' she explains, pointing to the closing down signs further along the street. ''In the past five months six stores have closed down. It's all due to

vastly increased rents.''

Next door's Herbal Garden, closed since January, bears this out. A poster affixed to the window says: ''Dear Customer, Due to substantial rent increases we will sadly be closing down . . .'' Yards along from the demised barber's City Cuts - soon to be an O'Brien's sandwich outlet - is the closed-up travel agent Masai Mara. Facing its For Sale hoarding is the now familiar sign ''Closing Down Sale''. It belongs to the Outdoor Trading Company, owned by Howard Ashton-Jones, 33.

After seven years, this trader has decided to turn the tables and take advantage of

current trends. Ashton-Jones is selling-up to another independent willing to pay the hiked rental. ''I've been made an offer I can't refuse. I have been told by my property guy that instead of the #22,000 I'm currently on I should be paying #35,000 a year.'' Ashton-Jones is moving to another part of town, partly because he fears Rose Street is becoming ''one huge fast-food and drink outlet''.

One step into the Hanover-Frederick Street block reveals Ashton-Jones's predictions correct. The preceding block between Saint David's and Hanover Street still retains an upmarket gloss thanks to ''expensive'' eating establishment Rhodes & Co and the traditional kudos of Jenners and such pubs as Milnes and the Abbotsford.

But from the mosaic roses cemented into the Frederick-Rose Street intersection, the new neighbours make themselves loudly known. A staggered line of Hogshead, Standing Order, Firkin, Fun Pubs, and Filthy McNasty drinking outlets are broken up by coffee, cafe, bistro, chip, sandwich shops, and the odd restaurant. The competitive edge generated by the upmarket pubs round the corner in George Street affects trade here. Nearly all the pubs are running two-for-the-price-of-one drink offers.

Shopper Margaret Stone, 57, is appalled by the changes. ''I used to think Rose Street was a quieter alternative to Princes Street,'' she says. ''It was full of weird and wonderful shops. Now it just looks a mess.''

George MacFarlane, 34, a scaffolder, says he uses Rose Street merely ''as a short cut''. This was a common response by those shoppers unscientifically polled by The Herald, a sentiment that enforces many Rose Street traders' views that the area only swells at lunch-times before falling silent and empty again.

Representatives of Rose Street's ''quirkier'' character are still visible. Just. Struggling between the swathes of pubs and eating outlets are a clutch of specialist stores selling the

myriad of goods that once distinguished Rose Street. Maritime models, pens, ballet and dancewear, hi-fi equipment, eco shoes, work clothing, and soaps all add their distinctive colour and clientele.

Peter Stillwell, chief executive of Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce and Enterprise, feels independent retailers must face up to reality. There is no room for romantic visions of Rose Street's halcyon days as a bustling city-centre oasis. Its composition of ''the backs of offices, churches, and banks'' is not, he says, conducive to shopping. It is natural for landlords to adjust rents in the face of spiralling demand for commmercial capital property. ''It is sad but it is a fact of life that with rental in Princes Street costing up to #260 a square foot and George Street following suit, Rose Street is next. It's all about supply and demand.''

Stillwell points out that the renamed Waverley Market - now Princes Mall - and the planned underground Princes Galleries offer more affordable rents for the smaller retailer. He explains bluntly: ''If you can't afford the city centre prices then you will have to move to the fringes in Bruntsfield and Morningside.'' It's a hard but business-minded prediction that is rapidly being borne out.