Rachel Parkin: Son of Woolworths or unique local mix?
If, like me, you're concerned about the number of empty stores across our city, and the seeming lack of a policy on new entrants, then you might be interested to know that Woolworths, the story that refuses to die, is set to be reincarnated (at least in some former sites) as Alworths.
If, like me, you're concerned about the number of empty stores across our city, and the seeming lack of a policy on new entrants, then you might be interested to know that Woolworths, the story that refuses to die, is set to be reincarnated (at least in some former sites) as Alworths.The media have already dubbed it "son of Woolworths" and if you're thinking, but surely there's already a son of Woolworths and it's called Wilkinsons, and didn't Woolies depart because its business model was outdated and largely irrelevant? then you might be interested in what's happened to Woolies stores in other parts of the country.
From the 807 stores that Woolies operated, discount retailers such as Iceland (which bought 57 stores) and 99p stores have led the way, acquiring 37 per cent of the Woolies portfolio. Grocers accounted for 31 per cent of shops while fashion retailers snapped up 15 per cent.
Alworths plans its first store opening for November 5, which will be the 100th anniversary of Woolies' debut appearance on our high streets. It plans to open another 22 within a year.
I can't really see why we'd need another large discount store, or "value retailer", while the high street needs some regeneration. I'm not sure that this is the blueprint for success.
Whilst Woolies' demise left a gap in the high street and in our business and national history, sometimes it's best to just let things go and move on. Our industry seems to covet the term "value", but since the term value doesn't just refer to a 5 T-shirt. (I'm sure that you could buy an Audi that would be good value too) I think this could be a red herring in terms of regeneration.
Our city centre has suffered greatly in the past few years with out-of-town shopping sites decreasing footfall significantly, upward- only rent reviews, greedy landlords, ridiculous parking charges, online retail and a general recession, adding to the melee.
It seems to me that the way out of this is to have an identity for the city centre which involves collaboration at every level. Maybe this is being done at some level, but I certainly haven't heard about it, and I despair at some of the decisions being made.
I'm not quite sure when clone town became an aspirational title, but from the perspective of retail as relaxation, entertainment and choice, I would say that Peterborough needs more independent businesses not huge conglomerates – they're already well represented.
Some interesting facts about independent businesses: money spent at locally-owned independent businesses goes around longer in the local economy, giving two to four times the economic benefit to the local residents compared with non-local businesses.
This means more local income, wealth, and jobs. Simply put – if you spend money in a locally-owned business, that money circulates in the local economy as opposed to being wired to the central office of a large retailer overnight.
Obviously, we need a mix of businesses for a vibrant city centre, and it's this mix of businesses that creates the unique local character of a city. UK developers seem to be addicted to the homogenised high street, whereas if we look at examples from the US, they mix in small innovative retailers with bigger multiples to encourage the shopper's experience.
City centres need newness and smaller businesses as part of the mix to interest shoppers and Peterborough needs a direction and a plan of action to attract the kind of retailers that will make it a preferred shopping destination.
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Saturday 20 March 2010
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