M + S in the Boro shutting

On the day after M and S announced 20 new stores opening around the country which are their food market place brands. None of them near the town.

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That "new" Liverpool store is about 300 yards from the existing Liverpool store. They are getting a bribe to move into the old Debenhams (reduced rates & rent), so they'll shut the doors on their previous site. Then in a few years time someone will throw money at them to move to another new retail development and they'll do it again.

And each move gets trumpted as "new jobs being created", when it's really just subsidising private companies to do what they were already doing.
 
It's a massive shop that, be a big loss. I hope they dont try and fill it with a go kart or bowling or a bistro and they get another store in, the town is dying, me and the mrs only ever go into town now for Wilkos or Primark.

FAO: Anyone who knows - Is this a case of the rent of the building been too high? Will they have approached the council for a reduction before making a decision like this, or have they wanted to focus on out of town retail regardless of anything the council did to try and keep them there?
The council don't own the building so will have zero say on what the rent is.
 
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If the shopping centres aren't required then reduce their number. Build something that will be used or create a park.

In years gone by the local authority would have raised its own money through business rates and developments like Billingham Forum could happen. Not only creating local construction jobs but providing a service for the town.
 
The council don't own the building so will have zero say on what the rest is.
That's spot on. We have the same problem in Billingham. The local authority tried to get £10m to buy it for redevelopment but the levelling up money went to Yarm 😂

It's perhaps time for new laws to be introduced where empty shopping centres can be reclaimed by the local population, rather than us having to prop up the pension fund owners.
 
wait until Primark opens on T Park later this year. the town centre is really going to struggle then. everytime i go just about everyone there has a primark bag.
 
Destinations are the name of the game for physical shopping, Leeds, Newcastle , Manchester etc that can support shoppers plus have the added benefits of more restaurants, bars, things to do etc

York is dead on its **** shopping wise its all about the food/drink/sniff/fight (delete as applicable).

Some smaller market towns appear to be doing ok from what I’ve seen, Beverley, Northallerton as examples although I concede the sample size is small and I don’t go to either too often.

Maybe if we binned / massively reformed business rates then physical shops would be more attractive.

Not sure about Northallerton. Some shops are doing well but the high street is full of charity shops and there are always empty shops for let.

They are investing though - new Everyman Cinema is nearly built and there is plans for a McDonalds etc.

Barkers are probably doing really well but they strangle the rest of the town as they won't allow shops that would affect the concessions they have in their shop.

Lots of bars now and a few good places to eat. Not sure it's on the up though.
 
The primark store at Teesside park won't be that big will it? It's where mothercare used to be?
yeah but they are extending out the back of it like Next. it looks like they are doing something with the mezzanines' across the full end of it so it might end up bigger still
 
Not sure about Northallerton. Some shops are doing well but the high street is full of charity shops and there are always empty shops for let.

They are investing though - new Everyman Cinema is nearly built and there is plans for a McDonalds etc.

Barkers are probably doing really well but they strangle the rest of the town as they won't allow shops that would affect the concessions they have in their shop.

Lots of bars now and a few good places to eat. Not sure it's on the up though.
It's holding its own, there has been expansion over the last few years but it's as big as it should be, maybe a little too big.

Everyman has bypassed a chunk of the region, it's amazing that the area around Northallerton has more pulling power than the whole of Teesside.

Aside from Barker's there are quite a few other retailers, do Barker's really have such a hold on what is allowed to open on the High Street, and if so the rates argument is completely debunked.
 
Barkers and Lewis and cooper are about the only reason I'd go Northallerton, and barkers is largely overpriced so don't shop there regularly. Lewis and cooper good for deli foods but local farm shops have mostly taken away any need for us to go there

The market has some good stalls when it is on

Northallerton is probably protected more than Stockton high street due to local affluence. Yarm is similar; where else would you get some shops surviving like that computer shop and the diy shop for so long as they did
 
Barkers and Lewis and cooper are about the only reason I'd go Northallerton, and barkers is largely overpriced so don't shop there regularly. Lewis and cooper good for deli foods but local farm shops have mostly taken away any need for us to go there

The market has some good stalls when it is on

Northallerton is probably protected more than Stockton high street due to local affluence. Yarm is similar; where else would you get some shops surviving like that computer shop and the diy shop for so long as they did
The computer shop (Yarm Computers) closed ages ago?? Or wrong shop?
 
M&S was a safe place for Mrs Wurzel to go on Match day afternoons.

Recently she has been less keen to go into the Boro, after BHS went then Debenhams, then House of Fraser/Binns. She doesn't drive. The M&S store had toilets, cafe and she always found familar food to buy. Staff and customers were pleasant.

I can see what M&S has done in the area - with 2 stores at Teesside Park, one in Guisborough, one at Cleveland Retail Park - all geared for car owners and not served by public transport. Plus online for clothes and now food. Closed Stockton, Redcar and shortly the Boro one, where rent and rates are higher.

The M&S in the Boro was one of the first M&Ss in the UK. the wife of Spencer lived at Marton when he died. I think she died in the 1960s. She probably kept an eye on the Middlesbrough store.

There isn't much choice for students at the University, where do they shop thats walkable. I used to go Tescos (Cleveland Centre) Hintons (Dundas Arcade), Frankie Dee (Linthorpe Road) Co-op (Linthorpe Road) Fine Fare (Hill Street Centre). All there is now is Sainsbury and online if you haven't a car. No Tesco's, Morrisons, ASDA, M&S, Iceland, Lidl, Aldi within 20 minutes walk.
There's an Aldi 2 minutes walk from Sainsbury's next to the Holiday Inn on the corner of Newport Road and a Lidl by the Arena.
 
Northallerton - always had quite a number of professional jobs through North Yorkshire Council, which is a very big council. There are also quite a number of retired middle class people who have moved to that area.

Yarm seems to be doing quite well still for retail, but I have not been down the High Street for a couple of years.

I agree Teesside Park is very functional and souless. Its not just taken business from Stockton and Middlesbrough, but places like Redcar and Guisborough too. The A66, A19 and Parkway are usually very good feeder roads from the East Cleveland area.
 
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