How can Underworld be flourishing?

(This post was originally posted by Graeme N on the Coronation Street Blog in June 2013.)

I just don't understand it. How can the Coronation Street faktry be doing so well during the economic downturn? Apart from a convenient plot device to allow the gruesome Rob and Tracy more airtime, I just don't get it.

People have long commented on this blog that back street factories like Underworld are few and far between these days. Tough economic circumstances across the country are forcing many of these small businesses under. Corrie has been somewhat slow to react to the recession on screen, however while it finally has got its act together, I think it has picked on the wrong business. Yes, it looks like Barlow's Bookies has had its day.

Bookies are still ten a penny as far as I can see, and most people would still buy a lottery ticket, so why would Peter's business suddenly go wrong? Meanwhile Carla's little empire is going from strength to strength and other businesses like Nick and Leanne's "posh" Bistro don't appear to be faltering either.

So how can Underworld be so prosperous? As long as the Connors have been in charge it seems to have lurched from one financial crisis to the next. It's been burned to the ground by a mad Scotsman (no, not me) and has such a high staff turn over I half expect to see Emily Bishop stitching gussets next. The current workforce aren't exactly go-getters either are they? Fiz has put in about two and a half shifts in the past 10 years and as for what Beth and Kirkeh manage to get up to in Packing, heaven only knows. Most of the staff spend longer on cake runs than they do behind sewing machines.

As for the current management, well they leave a lot to be desired. Carla has swapped Mike Baldwin's bottom drawer bottle of Scotch for a case of Pinot Noir and spends most of her time refereeing tedious fights between boyfriend Peter and boring brother Rob. And as for Michelle? As I've pondered before, where has her sudden business acumen come from? She's gone from crooning in back street bars and pulling pints to scoring major knicker orders faster than a script conference can cry "this character desperately needs a new direction!" 


No, as far as I'm concerned this current knicker stitching boom in Weatherfield is just all thong, I mean wrong. It can really only be a matter of time until the bottom falls out of the market...


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