Binns and The Crown - Have Your Say on Their Future Uses

A department store and a cinema gone reflecting the poverty in the UK and a change in entertainment needs. It's difficult to think what the long term use of either could be.

An arts centre perhaps for the old Binns building but something is needed for the old Debenhams building opposite too, that's another enormous unused space.

The Crown, a food court perhaps, but that would leave other buildings empty as restaurants relocated.

Addressing poverty is paramount, whatever fills the empty spaces will only be temporary until people once again find their earnings going further.
 
Corcaigh_the_Cat said:
A department store and a cinema gone reflecting the poverty in the UK and a change in entertainment needs. It's difficult to think what the long term use of either could be.
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A department store gone because of online shopping and a cinema gone because of a better one within walking distance. You can't blame poverty on that
 
TMG501 said:
A department store gone because of online shopping and a cinema gone because of a better one within walking distance. You can't blame poverty on that
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The ABC cinema closed down a long time ago in 1987!!!
The building was a bar/club and music venue in its final years.
 
They have closed the main shops and the lack of footfall is killing off what is left. They are doing away with shopping that would have brought people into town to use the eateries planned(although not seen any names mentioned). The Leisure facilities such as laser quest and bowling alley will not attract that many people and the pubs(we already have two in close proximity) will probably end up like Flares opening just weekends from 9 or ten onwards. There was talk of another cinema but we have them already unless it was something like the Arc and I have seen nothing about anything similar.
 
fmttmadmin said:
The ABC cinema closed down a long time ago in 1987!!!
The building was a bar/club and music venue in its final years.
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Yes, I'm aware of the ABC being closed a long time. It wasn't poverty that was the reason for it closing down as a cinema though, which is what I was alluding to
 
TMG501 said:
A department store gone because of online shopping and a cinema gone because of a better one within walking distance. You can't blame poverty on that
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I don't agree at all. It's poverty, not online shopping, that is closing shops.

I've just returned from a holiday abroad, I'm sure they have online shopping there too but there were few empty shops (including department stores) and hardly any charity shops.
 
And yet Amazon in the UK can’t build warehouses or recruit drivers fast enough…

Don’t know where you went on holiday, but might be more of a cultural thing
 
Failing to move with the times closed the department store, being able to buy the same stuff online and have it delivered free next day for about 20% less doesn't help. Fragrance for example, you'd have to be a mug to pay their prices when online everything was so much cheaper.

The pool of people using those shops at those prices got smaller and smaller and poverty will have had an impact but this wasn't the only Debenhams or household fraser to close down, was it? Add to that a revolution in cheaper prices stores - H&M, primark, sports direct etc on top of digital offerings like asos, boohoo & Co and it is just unsustainable to have big multi store units like that with expensive goods that can be had elsewhere

Likewise other stores have dialled back their high street presence massively, cheap shops like Arcadia group have collapsed, big names like toys r us disappeared because they couldn't compete with cheaper, more agile stores like Smyths and had huge cost bases.

Back in the day Debenhams and house of Fraser, and before that BHS, will have been basically peoples only options without travelling to another town or city, so there was no other option.

The Uk generally had a lot more retail space than it needed which has meant in some places where there isn't a lot of money flowing around, as stores vacate the voids aren't always filled.

Am sure someone will be along soon to blame teesside park and pretend that without it we'd all still be getting on the bus to town for a good browse at BHS.
 
ThatFragranceGuy said:
Failing to move with the times closed the department store, being able to buy the same stuff online and have it delivered free next day for about 20% less doesn't help. Fragrance for example, you'd have to be a mug to pay their prices when online everything was so much cheaper.

The pool of people using those shops at those prices got smaller and smaller and poverty will have had an impact but this wasn't the only Debenhams or household fraser to close down, was it? Add to that a revolution in cheaper prices stores - H&M, primark, sports direct etc on top of digital offerings like asos, boohoo & Co and it is just unsustainable to have big multi store units like that with expensive goods that can be had elsewhere

Likewise other stores have dialled back their high street presence massively, cheap shops like Arcadia group have collapsed, big names like toys r us disappeared because they couldn't compete with cheaper, more agile stores like Smyths and had huge cost bases.

Back in the day Debenhams and house of Fraser, and before that BHS, will have been basically peoples only options without travelling to another town or city, so there was no other option.

The Uk generally had a lot more retail space than it needed which has meant in some places where there isn't a lot of money flowing around, as stores vacate the voids aren't always filled.

Am sure someone will be along soon to blame teesside park and pretend that without it we'd all still be getting on the bus to town for a good browse at BHS.
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I partly agree, but I don't think it's due to an increase in poverty or prices. It's laziness.... I would much rather pay maybe 5-10% more on Amazon and have a product delivered the next day, than go to town and have to "shop" for it... and I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one.
 
Ash88 said:
I partly agree, but I don't think it's due to an increase in poverty or prices. It's laziness.... I would much rather pay maybe 5-10% more on Amazon and have a product delivered the next day, than go to town and have to "shop" for it... and I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one.
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Amazon is rarely the most expensive, and warranty/service far outstrips retail. Price search everything and usually Amazon comes up trumps except on little things

I said this before about online and was told no, it was Teesside park.
 
High Density town centre living for residents is what’s needed but won’t happen as we don’t have the jobs to suit the folk that would live like that.
 
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