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On the hunt for ex-Woolies – and thriving high streets – in the Scottish Borders

Graham Soult January 27, 2012 Market Towns, Retail History, Retail Parks, Woolworths 2 Comments

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Former Woolworths (now Farmfoods), Hawick (29 May 2011). Photograph by Graham Soult

Former Woolworths (now Farmfoods), Hawick (29 May 2011)

With a visit to Edinburgh imminent – which will no doubt involve at least one or two Woolies-spotting detours – I figured it was time to do something with some previous Scottish photographs that I’ve had lurking in my archive.

The focus, then, of this post is the Scottish Borders – an area more than twice … Continue Reading

Hexham Poundland opens; Ashington to follow

Graham Soult November 21, 2011 Market Towns, Overseas, Property, Retail Parks, Variety Stores, Woolworths No Comments

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Poundland, Hexham (19 Nov 2011). Photograph by Graham Soult

Poundland, Hexham (19 Nov 2011)

Poundland opened the doors of its new Hexham store last Thursday (17 November) – and I understand that another Northumberland Poundland will be opening in Ashington soon.

The new Hexham store was having a ‘family fun day’ when I visited on Saturday, with the result that every child in Hexham town centre seemed … Continue Reading

Carphone confirms closure of its 11 UK Best Buy stores – so what went wrong?

Graham Soult November 07, 2011 Overseas, Property, Retail Parks, Specialist Retailers 4 Comments

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Best Buy, Rotherham (3 Nov 2011). Photograph by Graham Soult

Best Buy, Rotherham (3 Nov 2011)

Carphone Warehouse has this morning confirmed that it will close its 11 big-box Best Buy stores across the UK, subject to employee representative consultation, putting 1,100 jobs at risk.

The first store, in Thurrock, … Continue Reading

Interview: Isabel Macdonald, Branch Manager, John Lewis at Home Tamworth

Graham Soult October 14, 2011 Department Stores, Home and DIY, Online, Property, Retail Parks 5 Comments

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Isabel Macdonald outside her new store

Isabel Macdonald outside her new store

Tamworth’s new John Lewis at Home opened its doors on Wednesday (12 October), eight months after I broke the news of its impending arrival.

The 42,000 sq ft shop at the edge-of-town Ventura Park is John Lewis’s sixth in the ‘at Home’ format, following the opening of stores in Poole, Croydon, Swindon (which I … Continue Reading

John Lewis Tamworth takes shape

Graham Soult June 17, 2011 Home and DIY, Property, Retail Parks 4 Comments

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John Lewis Tamworth (17 Jun 2011). Photograph by Graham Soult

John Lewis Tamworth (17 Jun 2011)

Following the confirmation, in April, that John Lewis will indeed be opening one of its ‘At Home’ stores in Tamworth, work on site seems to be proceeding rapidly ahead of the Ventura Park store’s planned … Continue Reading

Is John Lewis coming to Tamworth?

Graham Soult February 16, 2011 Department Stores, Property, Retail Parks 3 Comments

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John Lewis logo. Photograph by Graham Soult

John Lewis logo

No, don’t choke on your cornflakes… that’s a serious question.

My interest was piqued last month when the Tamworth Herald ran a story under the headline ”Striking design’ of unit to be built next to Herald offices’, on the town’s ever-growing Ventura Retail Park.

In it, the piece gave a few more details about … Continue Reading

Peacocks flies into Tamworth’s Ankerside centre

Graham Soult August 06, 2010 Fashion Stores, Property, Retail History, Retail Parks, Shopping Centres 4 Comments

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Mall plan showing Peacocks (screenshot from 4 Aug 2010)

Mall plan showing Peacocks (screenshot from 4 Aug 2010)

I was interested to find out a few days ago that the fashion retailer Peacocks will soon be opening a store in my old home town of Tamworth, taking a prime spot within the town centre’s Ankerside mall.

Given that jobs in the store have been being advertised since June, and with the store … Continue Reading

The Range fills the gap left by Stockton’s Big W

Graham Soult August 02, 2010 Home and DIY, Property, Retail Parks, Woolworths 7 Comments

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Main entrance of The Range, Stockton-on-Tees (31 Jul 2010). Photograph by Graham Soult

Main entrance of The Range, Stockton-on-Tees (31 Jul 2010)

Yesterday I finally paid a visit – by car – to the former Big W on Portrack Lane in Stockton-on-Tees, having twice failed to find a way of getting there by bus from Stockton High Street. Since April this year, the premises have housed a branch of the home, leisure and garden retailer … Continue Reading

The ongoing mystery of Byker’s (possible) former Woolies

Graham Soult March 07, 2010 Property, Retail Parks, Woolworths 5 Comments

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Still not sure if this is an old Woolies or not... (7 Mar 2010). Photograph by Graham Soult

Still not sure if this is an old Woolies or not... (7 Mar 2010)

Back in January I posted a shot of what is now the A&S Discount store in Byker’s Shields Road, questioning whether it had … Continue Reading

HobbyCraft shines, Borders stumbles

Graham Soult November 26, 2009 Booksellers, Property, Retail Parks No Comments

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Borders at Retail World, Gateshead. Photograph courtesy of Land Securities

Borders at Retail World, Gateshead. Photograph courtesy of Land Securities

Mixed fortunes in the news today for two specialist retailers that both have a presence at Team Valley Retail World in Gateshead – HobbyCraft and Borders.

Privately-owned HobbyCraft, which describes itself as “the UK’s largest chain of dedicated arts and crafts superstores”, has reported a … Continue Reading