New Poundland store, Gateshead (21 Sep 2010)

Returning home after a two-week holiday in Montenegro (more of which in due course), it seems like quite a lot has been happening within Tyneside’s retail scene while I’ve been away. 

As well as Asda’s plans for the old Byker Woolies getting the green light, and Northumberland Street seeing “exploratory digging” ahead of gaining 100 security bollards, there’s a slew of five new store openings taking place in Newcastle, Gateshead and MetroCentre yesterday, today and tomorrow – some of them known for a while, but others a little more unexpected. However, though varying in scale and relative importance, all these new arrivals are interesting in their own way, and represent positive news for their respective locations. 

TK Maxx site at MetroCentre, back in March

Yesterday (Thursday) saw the long-awaited opening of the combined TK Maxx and HomeSense at MetroCentre – previously blogged about here – which occupies a 45,000 sq ft unit on the site of the old Odeon cinema. I’m yet to pay a visit, but an investment of this scale should provide a shot in the arm for what has previously been a very tired-looking Blue Mall, despite all the pedestrian traffic that passes through on its way from the nearby Transport Interchange. 

Also yesterday, Gateshead town centre had the unusual attraction of a store opening of its own, with Poundland setting up shop in the former Woolworths. Though there were some rumours about Poundland’s imminent arrival in the last month or two, the speed with the new High Street store has been opened is pretty impressive, with no sign of anything happening on site in the week or two preceding my holiday. 

Again, it’s a great boost for a site that had previously seemed destined for long-term vacancy, and can only have been helped by the start of demolition work on the nearby Get Carter car park – a tangible sign, at last, that Gateshead town centre is moving forward. Poundland’s decision to get in now seems like a canny move, as the location is bound to benefit massively, in the longer term, from the Trinity Square redevelopment. Prior to that, the store is also, as I noted before, opposite the planned temporary Tesco that will trade once the existing supermarket is demolished. 

The new Clinton Cards site in Eldon Square, photographed last month (6 Aug 2010)

Today, Newcastle’s Eldon Square has also had a couple of notable openings, including the new combined Clinton Cards and Pure Party in Douglas Way’s old River Island unit – mentioned previously here – and yet another new Starbucks, this time in St Andrew’s Way. Visiting Eldon Square a few days ago, I noticed that the existing Clintons has indeed closed, leaving a decent-sized vacant unit in Blackettbridge. Meanwhile, the new Starbucks sits next to Debenhams, occupying the previously empty large space between the department store and the lifts. All of a sudden, the layout of that part of the mall begins to make a lot more sense.

Existing Kurt Geiger in Grainger Street, Newcastle

Given Eldon Square’s current form, the old Clinton’s is unlikely to be empty for very long. One store it won’t be housing, however, is Kurt Geiger, with work already underway on creating a flagship store for the shoe retailer within the recently closed Barratts unit in Hotspur Way. Assuming that Kurt Geiger moves from its existing location in Grainger Street, this will begin the process of freeing up the ground floor space needed for the reported three-storey Urban Outfitters store within the current Green Market building.

Existing Apple Store, Eldon Square (16 Feb 2010). Photograph by Peter (aka 'Newcastle Historian')

Of all this weekend’s openings though, the most notable has to be that of the new Apple Store at MetroCentre. Though the store’s impending arrival is no surprise, having been known since May, its opening date has been kept something of a surprise. Indeed, the Chronicle only revealed the news three days ago, ahead of the store’s opening at 10am tomorrow (Saturday). Unsurprisingly, the store is located in the Debenham’s-anchored Red Mall – the most modern and attractive part of MetroCentre – occupying the unit that housed USC prior to that retailer’s recent relocation.

As the Chronicle rightly observes, it’s a real coup for MetroCentre  – and for Capital Shopping Centres – to have signed up Apple for a second Tyneside shop when there are still fewer than 30 Apple Stores in the UK, including some notable locations, such as Edinburgh and Leeds, where the retailer is not yet represented at all.

Other than here, only Bristol, Manchester and London feature Apple Stores simultaneously in both city centre and out-of-town locations – a sign, one must imagine, that the Eldon Square shop is already surpassing Apple’s expectations, and a great signal to other retailers that Tyneside retail is in pretty fine fettle right now.

Shoe shopping. Image by Allie Hylton

It’s always good to hear of a retailer that is rising from the ashes, Wellworths-style, so I was pleased to read in The Appointment magazine about the enterprising staff of the former Faith shoe store, in Chelmsford, Essex.

Faith, you may recall, collapsed into administration in April, putting the jobs of 362 full-time staff and 1,382 part-time staff at risk. Since then, all 78 standalone stores – including one in Newcastle’s Eldon Square – have been closed, though I understand that the 100+ concessions in Debenhams are continuing to trade for the moment.

The Faith ‘closing down’ signs in Debenhams’ windows have caused me to do a double take every time I’ve seen them (Sunderland, Newcastle and Stockton-on-Tees to date), given that you have to look twice to realise that it’s Faith that’s closing down, and not Debenhams itself.

For that reason alone, one assumes that Debenhams will be pleased once Faith’s fate is resolved one way or another; possibly, if Drapers is to be believed, by Debenhams buying the brand itself and undertaking a Principles-style relaunch of the name as an own label. If Faith does survive, it seems certain that the business will focus on the more profitable concessions model rather than making a return to standalone shops any time soon.

Over in Chelmsford, however, the former staff of the closed-down Faith store are taking matters into their own hands. Impressively, the former branch support manager, Justina Pay, her supervisor, Roxanne Ransom, and the rest of their old team have decided to go it alone, reopening the store as an independent company – Hope Footwear Ltd – this coming Saturday, 3rd July. The Appointment article has Justina explaining the thinking behind their new enterprise: 

“We’re doing this all ourselves. We’ve contacted the old suppliers, ordered stock, fixtures, fittings, signage and paint. We wanted to reopen the store because we knew how popular and well loved it was, just because Faith went into administration didn’t mean it all had to end.

“We were inspired by Claire Robertson and her success in turning her old Dorchester Woolworths store into Wellworths; a great example of someone who has had a massive success from a very sad redundancy.

“Customers were genuine in their sadness that our stores were closing and were concerned as to where they could buy quality shoes from, we knew we had to ‘do a Wellworths’ and try and bring it back. We’re having a grand opening on Saturday at 10am, a ribbon will be cut, we’d love to see you there.”

It’s a brave move – after all, Dorchester’s Wellies was able to tap into the affection, over almost a century, with which Woolworths was remembered; Faith, though it has been around since 1964, barely provokes the same emotions. Still, just as Dorchester’s Woolworths was always profitable, so there are successful branches that get brought down when the ropier bits of a retailer, such as Faith, drag the entire business into administration.

With Justina and her team seemingly having the bottle, passion and retail knowhow to turn Faith into Hope, you can only commend their entrepreneurship, and wish their new business all the very best. Crucially, already having a great relationship with their customers – and knowing what those customers want and expect – will surely give Hope a really strong and exciting foundation on which to build its success.

UPDATE, 16 September 2011: I’ve just found out from the Meadows shopping centre that the Hope footwear store closed down over six months ago. A shame, as it was – at least to begin with – a positive and inspiring retail story.

Many thanks to Allie Hyton for the use of her image.