So, a number of years on from the collapse and disappearance of companies like Woolworths, JJB Sport and Blockbusters from our high streets, how is your high street faring? Is it just pound shops and cheap tat, or has your neck of the woods managed to get through the past few years relatively unscathed?
Locally, we seem to have had a bit of a mixed bag. Poundland upgraded into the old Woolworths space, with 99p Stores kicking QD out of theirs last year, literally opposite Poundland. Incidentally, our 99p stores has rebranded to something like '99p stores plus', with 'bargains over 99p', despite advertising products for 85p... I can't find any reference to this branding anywhere else, with their own Facebook page continuing to just call it '99p stores', so I do wonder if this is a trial or something.
However, we have managed to obtain an Apple Premium Reseller, and River Island recently expanded into a bigger store, but in the same shopping centre that a second Poundland and Iceland recently opened up in. Poundland and Iceland are sharing two floors of what used to be, many years ago, Littlewoods. I assume they've split them up into individual units, but there used to be escalators connecting the two floors. Whilst Iceland are making full use of their space, Poundland have erected a fake wall to hide quite a lot of theirs, resulting in a very tiny little shop.
Anyway, what's happening where you are?
State of the high street
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madmusician
- Posts: 153
- Joined: Mon 11 Dec, 2006 19.11
- Location: Worcester, UK
Ooh, great to hear that the Littlewoods space is finally being used - it must be over 10 years since Littlewoods closed down now? I must be honest and say that Ipswich could be faring far worse - I know that they are budget stores, but at least the shops are being used, whereas it looked as though the premises would stand empty upon the closure of Woolies and JJB.Critique wrote:Poundland and Iceland are sharing two floors of what used to be, many years ago, Littlewoods. I assume they've split them up into individual units, but there used to be escalators connecting the two floors. Whilst Iceland are making full use of their space, Poundland have erected a fake wall to hide quite a lot of theirs, resulting in a very tiny little shop.
Reading is doing alright. 2 pretty full shopping centres, lots of new independent shops popping up too.
The Topman/Topshop has just doubled in size, a Poundland was recently closed by bailiffs (which isn't a bad thing in my opinion).
Come to think of it, there aren't that many vacant shops in town nowadays (that's if you ignore the now derelict Friars Walk mall and associated buildings which are being pulled down soon).
The Topman/Topshop has just doubled in size, a Poundland was recently closed by bailiffs (which isn't a bad thing in my opinion).
Come to think of it, there aren't that many vacant shops in town nowadays (that's if you ignore the now derelict Friars Walk mall and associated buildings which are being pulled down soon).
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adamcobb55
- Posts: 20
- Joined: Sun 02 Mar, 2008 22.49
Stirling was hit quite badly by the recession. Woolworths sat empty for around 3 years before being entirely gutted internally (the store fit had been the same for decades before it closed). We lost a Peacocks, JJB, Game (the pervious Gamestation unit became Game and the larger 'Game' closed) and Wallis off the top of my head and a lot of the smaller independents and regional chains have also vanished. HMV mysteriously decided to stay around in Stirling and BHS still somehow, miraculously clings to life even though I don't know anyone who shops there, the store fit is a late 80s time warp, they have nothing you would want to buy and the safe are miserable.
We gained a Poundland in what had be Zaavi, Bakers Oven (remember them?) became Greggs but lost its café, Littlewoods/Index became New Look (and as far as I can tell they kept most of the massive store open). It's starting to recover but a lot more slowly than I would like. The big excitement lately was a Waitrose/Maplin/TK Maax development which opened just up from the main shopping area.
We gained a Poundland in what had be Zaavi, Bakers Oven (remember them?) became Greggs but lost its café, Littlewoods/Index became New Look (and as far as I can tell they kept most of the massive store open). It's starting to recover but a lot more slowly than I would like. The big excitement lately was a Waitrose/Maplin/TK Maax development which opened just up from the main shopping area.
Many of the fife towns fair no better, with many units still empty especial those of JJB sport. Livingston has managed to grib on with a most units filled. Mind you the way things are going, most town centres will just be basic with cheap goods. For anything else a trip to Larger shopping districts will be on the cards like Glasgow, Aberdeen, Livingston.
It seems the further north you go the worse Town centre shopping gets.
It seems the further north you go the worse Town centre shopping gets.
Torquay fared quite well until the last year or so, the only big names to go were chains which had closed down nationally (Woolworths, Past Times, JJB, Jessops, Comet etc) but over the past year we've seen a few surprise closures. At the top of the list of surprises was the loss of our HMV about a year ago, which seemed a bit of an odd move when towns with much smaller and quieter branches have kept theirs. Over the last few days some shopfitters have been in so at least it's reopening rather than being left empty but don't know what as yet. Over the last couple of months The Body Shop and Evans have also pulled out when the lease on their units expired rather than renew them.
In general though it's still not too bad a high street which still has most things in it, there's not too many high-profile units being left empty, and those that are do seem to get filled eventually (as is happening with HMV).
We do seem to have a bit of an 'attack of the coffee shop' thing going on at the moment though - from independents to chains they are popping up everywhere, including some very odd decisions like Costa recently opening a new branch 30 seconds walk from the existing one which has also stayed open. Sadly amongst all this we still don't have a Starbucks.
That said, it's a much better sight than city/town centres which seem to have admitted defeat and resorted to this odd 'shop wrap' thing which seems to have become fashionable (particularly in Plymouth I noticed last time I visited), where advertising vinyls get plastered over vacant shop units to try and disguise them.
It also took a phenomenally long time for *anything* to be done at all with the building in that no work at all started on it until around a year ago, it was just shut up with the signs still up and the final abandoned bits of shop fit inside (and curiously, a photo booth - I would've thought the owner would have wanted to claim that and put it elsewhere - surely these things cost a pretty penny?) The upper floors which Woolworths used for warehousing and offices are being converted into student flats whilst Poundland has taken over what was the shop floor - using the front half for trading and the back half for stockroom and admin. Incidentally, when it was Woolworths it was a 'walk through' store with front and back entrances. The back entrance hasn't re-opened as it would open into what is now Poundland's warehouse (or maybe it will be used to get into the student flats being built?), but the Woolworths signeage is still up!
In general though it's still not too bad a high street which still has most things in it, there's not too many high-profile units being left empty, and those that are do seem to get filled eventually (as is happening with HMV).
We do seem to have a bit of an 'attack of the coffee shop' thing going on at the moment though - from independents to chains they are popping up everywhere, including some very odd decisions like Costa recently opening a new branch 30 seconds walk from the existing one which has also stayed open. Sadly amongst all this we still don't have a Starbucks.
That said, it's a much better sight than city/town centres which seem to have admitted defeat and resorted to this odd 'shop wrap' thing which seems to have become fashionable (particularly in Plymouth I noticed last time I visited), where advertising vinyls get plastered over vacant shop units to try and disguise them.
I don't really get all the hatred levelled at Poundland/99p stores and their ilk. Yes they sell a lot of cheap tat, but many other more 'respectable' retailers sell the same stuff for a lot more money and it's often not of appreciably higher quality - these places don't have long queues for nothing. And it's got to be better than just having an empty unit.AJ wrote:a Poundland was recently closed by bailiffs (which isn't a bad thing in my opinion)
Plymouth's old Woolworths store sat empty until just a couple of months ago when over 5 years after closure it finally reopened as a Poundland - that has to be a record.adamcobb55 wrote: Stirling was hit quite badly by the recession. Woolworths sat empty for around 3 years before being entirely gutted internally (the store fit had been the same for decades before it closed).
It also took a phenomenally long time for *anything* to be done at all with the building in that no work at all started on it until around a year ago, it was just shut up with the signs still up and the final abandoned bits of shop fit inside (and curiously, a photo booth - I would've thought the owner would have wanted to claim that and put it elsewhere - surely these things cost a pretty penny?) The upper floors which Woolworths used for warehousing and offices are being converted into student flats whilst Poundland has taken over what was the shop floor - using the front half for trading and the back half for stockroom and admin. Incidentally, when it was Woolworths it was a 'walk through' store with front and back entrances. The back entrance hasn't re-opened as it would open into what is now Poundland's warehouse (or maybe it will be used to get into the student flats being built?), but the Woolworths signeage is still up!
Sheffield is in a bit of a transitional period at the moment. After three or four years of development stoppage after the recession, and the delays and eventual cancellation of the Sevenstone project (though our inept council are supposedly reviving it as you can see in the link) things are beginning to pick up a bit.
The new market on The Moor (a pedestrianised shopping street) was completed late last year replacing the truly dismal Castle Market, and the building itself is pretty nice. There's a lot of development work taking place further up The Moor too with a new building containing a new cinema, Primark and restaurants on the way as well as another retail development opposite. The Moor has been run down for a good few years so it's good to see it getting some TLC, though it's a shame there's still an empty retail unit along the frontage of the new Moor Market building, and two of the three other units were taken by Poundland and Iceland.
They're tearing down the old Castle Market to try and dig up some of the old castle remains and they are then apparently turning it into a sort of urban park/pathway leading down to the river. The only problem with that is that a lot of the area surrounding it is derelict and run down, including the tired old court building, the empty former Co-op department store which is listed thanks to it's excellent art deco curved staircase, plus the less than high-class stores that remain along with the dodgy pop up market stalls. There'll soon be no reason to go down there soon enough so it's a shame the park area would remain out of the way unless there was some development around there..
Also not far away is the former TJ Hughes, who were forced out by the tenants not long after the store was saved from administration, so they could convert it into a combination of Sports Direct, Poundland (again), a British Heart Foundation charity store and student accommodation. Suspect they're raking it in now!
So all in all a bit of a mixed bag, but to me things are looking better than they were even 12 months ago. Perhaps WillPS/dosxuk have differing opinions to mine since (I believe) they are also from the area.
The new market on The Moor (a pedestrianised shopping street) was completed late last year replacing the truly dismal Castle Market, and the building itself is pretty nice. There's a lot of development work taking place further up The Moor too with a new building containing a new cinema, Primark and restaurants on the way as well as another retail development opposite. The Moor has been run down for a good few years so it's good to see it getting some TLC, though it's a shame there's still an empty retail unit along the frontage of the new Moor Market building, and two of the three other units were taken by Poundland and Iceland.
They're tearing down the old Castle Market to try and dig up some of the old castle remains and they are then apparently turning it into a sort of urban park/pathway leading down to the river. The only problem with that is that a lot of the area surrounding it is derelict and run down, including the tired old court building, the empty former Co-op department store which is listed thanks to it's excellent art deco curved staircase, plus the less than high-class stores that remain along with the dodgy pop up market stalls. There'll soon be no reason to go down there soon enough so it's a shame the park area would remain out of the way unless there was some development around there..
Also not far away is the former TJ Hughes, who were forced out by the tenants not long after the store was saved from administration, so they could convert it into a combination of Sports Direct, Poundland (again), a British Heart Foundation charity store and student accommodation. Suspect they're raking it in now!
So all in all a bit of a mixed bag, but to me things are looking better than they were even 12 months ago. Perhaps WillPS/dosxuk have differing opinions to mine since (I believe) they are also from the area.
Sheffield is *very* lucky that Scottish Widows have turned up and invested in The Moor. If they hadn't the new market would have sat rather forlorn at the end of a very very dated shopping parade. Moorfoot House needs destroying but it doesn't seem likely. Opening the gates and allowing foot traffic to London Road would be a start.
Castle quarter is a challenge. I'm all for it being opened up and extending town more naturally down to the Wicker; but The Co-op represents a problem - the owner are keen on further splitting it but this would ruin the building in my opinion - I'm not sure there are any options that said. Perhaps Wilkinson and B&M could be persuaded in so their present stores could be levelled? You've also got that bizarre raised walkway that runs along Haymarket and has been closed since I turned up in 2008 - why the hell is that still in place? Get rid!! What are the plans for the old C&A when Primark move to The Moor? Nobody seems to know.
Nottingham is seeing moderate investment from Intu (who now own *both* the city's major shopping centres, as well as the former Westfield in Derby a half hour bus journey away). I don't doubt that it'll improve things in the short term but the reality is that there is not a need for more retail space in Nottingham. If I had my way Victoria Centre would be destroyed, allowing the 'lost' city streets of Glasshouse Street and Huntingdon Street to return to being important thoroughfares and Broadmarsh be rebuilt. Won't happen though.
Castle quarter is a challenge. I'm all for it being opened up and extending town more naturally down to the Wicker; but The Co-op represents a problem - the owner are keen on further splitting it but this would ruin the building in my opinion - I'm not sure there are any options that said. Perhaps Wilkinson and B&M could be persuaded in so their present stores could be levelled? You've also got that bizarre raised walkway that runs along Haymarket and has been closed since I turned up in 2008 - why the hell is that still in place? Get rid!! What are the plans for the old C&A when Primark move to The Moor? Nobody seems to know.
Nottingham is seeing moderate investment from Intu (who now own *both* the city's major shopping centres, as well as the former Westfield in Derby a half hour bus journey away). I don't doubt that it'll improve things in the short term but the reality is that there is not a need for more retail space in Nottingham. If I had my way Victoria Centre would be destroyed, allowing the 'lost' city streets of Glasshouse Street and Huntingdon Street to return to being important thoroughfares and Broadmarsh be rebuilt. Won't happen though.
I assume you meant landlords? TJ Hughes would itself have been the tenant.woah wrote:Also not far away is the former TJ Hughes, who were forced out by the tenants not long after the store was saved from administration, so they could convert it into a combination of Sports Direct, Poundland (again), a British Heart Foundation charity store and student accommodation. Suspect they're raking it in now!
