Grey Street, Newcastle (16 Feb 2010)

Though Shambles in York has understandably garnered much of the attention for being named “Britain’s most picturesque street” in the Google Street View Awards, it’s a pleasure to see Newcastle’s Grey Street coming up in third place – if only for no other reason than giving me an excuse to use some nice nighttime shots that I took three weeks ago. 

Grey Street, Newcastle (16 Feb 2010)

From a retail point of view, Grey Street is something of an also-ran within Newcastle city centre – other than at the Grey’s Monument end, there are relatively few shops along the length of the street, with its mostly Tyneside Classical buildings occupied instead by a succession of banks, restaurants, bars, offices and estate agents. It wasn’t always like that – older readers will still remember when Binns department store (formerly Coxon’s) occupied what is now Earl Grey House (the building on the corner of Grey Street and Market Street that currently houses Costa Coffee), prior to moving into the adjacent former Bainbridge site in 1977.

Grey Street is, however, an undoubtedly beautiful and dramatic piece of townscape, already recognised by Radio 4 listeners, back in 2002, as “Britain’s best street”, and before that by Betjeman for its “descending subtle curve”.  

Grey Street, Newcastle (8 Mar 2010)

Perhaps the most prominent retail property on Grey Street today is that occupied since 2008 by Swedish fashion retailer H&M, supplementing the existing, 35,000 sq ft H&M branch that opened up in part of the former Littlewoods premises in Northumberland Street in 1999 – at the time, the largest H&M store in the UK.

H&M, Grey Street (8 March 2010)

The attractive, Grade II-listed H&M building – designed by William Henry Knowles and Thomas Ridley Milburn – dates from 1904, when the site was redeveloped for Mawson, Swan and Morgan, the “booksellers, stationers, printers and picture frame makers” founded in 1878. 

In 1986, following Mawson, Swan and Morgan’s closure, the premises were taken over by Waterstone’s, who remained there until 2007, closing their store as part of HMV Group’s revitalisation programme. It was something of a surprise that Waterstone’s chose not to retain its own original Newcastle store, but instead the nearby former Dillons store at Emerson Chambers, long ago rebranded following Waterstone’s merger with Dillons in 1999. More curious though is that Waterstone’s ran two stores within barely 100m of each other for quite as long as it did. 

One interesting fact, revealed by the Design, Access and Heritage Statement prepared at the time of H&M’s acquisition of the property’s lease, is the much later (1980s) origin of the ground to first floor staircase compared to the original 1904 staircase linking the ground floor and basement. This reflects the fact that the first floor was originally used as office rather than retail space (the clue being in its plainer mouldings and simpler detail compared to the building’s lower floors), accessed by a staircase elsewhere in the building. However, such is the sensitivity of the 1980s intervention, it’s difficult for an untrained eye to spot the join between the grand staircase’s two flights, despite them being constructed eighty years apart. 

'H&M' logo within window shields... (8 Mar 2010)

If anything, H&M’s takeover of the property allows more of the interior’s original features to be appreciated than was the case when the building was filled with bookcases. Equally, on the exterior, it’s pleasing that H&M has continued the tradition of the building’s occupant displaying its initials in the shields above the display windows of the beautiful Edwardian shopfront; just as Waterstone’s replaced ‘MSM’ with its own ‘W’, so H&M has – for the most part – inserted its familar red ‘H&M’ logo. 

...but not in this one (8 Mar 2010)

I’m always puzzled, however, as to why the shields at either end of the frontage have not had anything put inside them – I know that there are H&M logos on the fascia above instead, but the empty shields always niggle me as a detail that makes the design feel unfinished.

Signage as originally proposed (courtesy of John Cunnington Architects)

Perhaps it’s due to the original plans, above, envisaging internally illuminated hanging signs in those locations – presumably disallowed by the planners – which would have removed the need for either fascia- or shield-based logos on those particular parts of the facade?

Still, it would be nice to finish the job, ensuring that this high quality retail refurbishment can make an even more positive design contribution to the UK’s third most picturesque street.

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 ever been a Woolworths store, given its architectural similarities to many of the other former Woolies that I’d visited.

Since then, I’ve received many welcome comments and observations, visited even more old Woolies that look very similar to the said building in Byker, and trawled through quite a few old photographs of Byker (such as this lot) to try and find some evidence of the property’s past.

...but most people seem to agree that it *does* look like one (7 Mar 2010)

Though I’m little closer to identifying whether the building once was a Woolworths or not, information from Mike and his mother – both from Byker – suggests that it certainly hasn’t been a Woolies for 45 years or more. While Mike and his mum do remember a Woolworths on Shields Road, that store occupied a different building all together to the one that I blogged about:

Woolworths on Shields Road was further up where the Decorflair store is now. I confirmed this with a reliable source… my mother! (we are from Byker!) It goes back at least 1965 and probably a lot earlier… I can just remember going there as a kid in the 80’s. Not sure when it exactly closed, but it must have been the mid to late 80’s…

I took a photo of the Decorflair store today (below), though it’s difficult to see much of the shopfront when the shutters are down. Happily, Google Street View comes to the rescue, showing a frontage that certainly retains the appearance of a 1960s Woolworths store.

Former Woolworths (now Decorflair), Shields Road, Byker, with the former Beavan's department store in the background (7 Mar 2010)

Needless to say, if anyone has any further information about either the Decorflair-definite-Woolies or the A&S-possible-Woolies I’d be delighted to hear from you. Did the Decorflair Woolworths indeed supersede the A&S one, perhaps sometime in the 1950s or early 1960s? And do any old photos of that stretch of Shields Road exist – perhaps shots of the splendid former Beavan’s department store, showing glimpses of the two buildings in question either side of it?

Before I finish, it would be remiss of me not to update on yet another Byker Woolworths – the most recent incarnation, at Newcastle Shopping Park, which opened in 2004 and closed following the retailer’s administration. There’s not much to report though – it’s still empty, and looks no different to how it did back in September.

Former Woolworths, Newcastle Shopping Park, Byker (7 Mar 2010)

Given that it’s 95,000 sq ft anchor store remains vacant, Newcastle Shopping Park seems to be managing surprisingly well. The car park was certainly busy when I visited today, and the Asda Living store had plenty of customers in both the store and the cafe. I also noted that the former JJB Fitness Club has been rebranded as DW Sports Fitness since my last visit in September, following JJB’s March 2009 disposal of its fitness clubs business to Dave Whelan – the ex-footballer who had created JJB Sports in the first place, back in 1977, before selling his last stake thirty years later.

Looking ahead, it’s hard to imagine a retailer that would want to occupy the whole of the enormous former Woolworths site. It’s probably about the right size for Best Buy (opening its first UK stores this Spring) or a Currys Megastore, but those types of retailers are more likely to favour the busier, higher profile retail parks on Tyneside, such as Team Valley or Silverlink, for their flagship stores. Perhaps carving the unit up into two or three smaller stores will ultimately prove to be the best way forward?

The former Select store in Whitley Bay, following its 'Shopjacketting'

Given the challenges that Whitley Bay town centre has faced over the last year – with a number of high-profile retail departures – it’s been great to see it at the centre of a good news story today. Sources as diverse as The Sun, the Daily Telegraph, Sky News and NewsLite have seized upon the ‘fake shopfront’ that now adorns the former Select store, intended by North Tyneside Council to replace the depressing sight of an empty unit with the impression of a thriving delicatessen.

...and how it looked before

By coincidence, the first property to receive the ‘Shopjacket’ treatment is one that I’d flagged up back in December as particularly ‘horrible-looking’. Consequently, when I had the pleasure a week ago of meeting up with the Tyneside-based team responsible for Shopjacket – among them property consultant Paul Murphy, and creative consultants Neil Wilson and Hayley Rodgers – I was thrilled to see the subject of their first transformation.

My own photo of the former Select shop and its surroundings, back in December

Instead of being blighted by the depressing appearance of the vacated Select shop, with its grimy fascia and droopy ‘Sale’ posters, Whitley Road now enjoys a much more pleasing scene – an attractive and tasteful frontage that gives an impression of how the unit could once again make a positive contribution to the high street. Who would have thought that a fake deli scene – and a much-needed coat of paint for the drab shutters – could make such a significant visual difference?

It’s not the be-all and end-all, of course. The property’s unattractive upper floors are still in need of work, and behind the fake frontage, there’s still a vacant unit that Whitley Bay could well do without. The value of the transformation, however, is that it brings a bit of hope, and some aspiration, back to Whitley Bay town centre – attributes that are essential if high streets like this are to have any hope of bouncing back from recent decline.

Former M&S Simply Food, Whitley Bay - subsequently taken over by Sainsbury's

Crucially, these positive vibes have already extended beyond the former Select shop, with Paul and Neil telling me how some of the nearby retailers in Whitley Bay have drawn inspiration from the fake deli to think about how they could enhance their own shopfronts – often for little more effort than a pot of paint and taking on board some expert design advice.

The enhancements to the former Select store are the latest in a string of recent efforts that Whitley Bay has made to tackle the problem of empty shop units, not all of which have worked so well. You may recall that in a previous post I expressed some incredulity about the plans to paint the hoardings of the nearby former Co-op supermarket in Whitley Bay, amid the claim from the town’s Chamber of Trade that “an initiative like this can only help attract more visitors and increase trade for businesses in the town”.

As I remarked then – and still maintain now, having visited the old Co-op for myself back in December – “it’s clearly nonsense to suggest that shoppers will be attracted to visit Whitley Bay because a particular empty shop unit looks more attractive than it did before”.

Former Co-op, Whitley Bay, featuring painted hoardings by Keith Barrett (16 Dec 2009)

True, no-one would dispute that the painted hoardings do look nicer than the previous grey ones, and the same would apply to the Whitley Bay FC themed paint job of the former T&G Allan shop.

Former T&G Allan, Whitley Bay (16 Dec 2009)

For me though, the danger of such interventions is that they merely emphasise the emptiness of the shops that they are trying to enhance. In this respect, Shopjacket’s approach – creating the illusion that a unit is occupied, rather than merely covering up the fact that it isn’t – is surely more successful.

With industry journal Retail Week having recently launched its “Manifesto for the High Street” – a 10-point plan to “breathe life into Britain’s high streets” – Whitley Bay’s efforts to turn the tide of decline are timely indeed. In a couple of weeks, I’m very much looking forward to attending the associated ‘Saving Britain’s High Streets’ summit in Birmingham, where representatives of retailers, trade associations, local authorities and national government are set to come together to address the regeneration of Britain’s high streets and town centres (if any readers of this blog happen to be going along, do track me down and say hi!).

After all the negative publicity of its town centre over the last year or so, I’ll certainly take pleasure in flagging up Whitley Bay as one place that, in a small but significant way, is employing some welcome creativity and inventiveness as it strives to turn the corner.

Gregory's bakers in Bishop Auckland (6 Feb 2010)

The recent focus upon all that’s been happening in Newcastle means that I haven’t had as much time as I would like to explore some other topics of interest – there are at least half a dozen on my ‘to do’ list.  

One thing I’ve been meaning to write up – and now finally am – is a report on my visit to Bishop Auckland, in County Durham, a few Saturdays ago. Other than skirting around the edge on my way somewhere else I’d never been to Bishop Auckland before, but I was generally quite impressed by the town centre. It has a nice range of independent shops (like the 150-year-old Gregory’s bakers, above) and big-name multiples (such as M&S and Topshop), some attractive streets and buildings, and its main shopping thoroughfare – Newgate Street – had a nice buzz about the place on the day that I visited.

Market Place, Bishop Auckland (6 Feb 2010)

On the downside, I was disappointed by the rather gloomy Newgate Shopping Centre, and by the small and sad-looking cluster of market stalls in the Market Place. Rather like in Tamworth, the look and feel of the market was rather disparate and ad hoc; however, where Tamworth’s market suffers from being shoehorned into too small a space, Bishop Auckland’s seemed to be floating in a public square that was much too large for it.

Entrance to Auckland Castle (6 Feb 2010)

Overlooked by the imposing Town Hall and the entrance to Auckland Castle, Bishop Auckland’s Market Place is undoubtedly among the North East’s most impressive public spaces. When I visited, much of the area was being dug up as part of improvement works that will include new paving and “extra space for events and market stalls”. Once complete, these enhancements will hopefully allow the Market Place to be used to its full potential.

Given what I’d seen on the Bishop Auckland Town website at bishopauckland.org, I’d also expected more of Fore Bondgate: a narrow and historic street off the Market Place that is full of character, but seems to be suffering from a lot of empty units at the moment. However, Fore Bondgate has scope to be a great location in which to build an interesting cluster of independent shops and cafes, and with the right investment and promotion could really be a distinctive and successful retail destination.

Former Woolworths, Bishop Auckland (6 Feb 2010)

Unsurprisingly, a highlight of the visit was being able to tick another North East Woolworths off the list, meaning that there are now only nine left to get of the 33 that closed down in December 2008 and January 2009. I hadn’t seen a photo of the store prior to visiting Bishop Auckland, but even without the giveaway of the red Woolworths fascia, it is instantly recognisable as a Woolies building, with all the familiar architectural traits. Indeed, of all those former Woolies I’ve seen so far, it’s the most similar to the mysterious is-it-an-old-Woolies-or-not in Byker.

Former Woolworths, Bishop Auckland (6 Feb 2010)

Just a couple of doors up from Woolworths is another property that could very easily have become an empty blight on Newgate Street – the Co-op department store, now run under the Westgate Department Stores brand by Anglia Regional Co-operative Society (ARCS). As I’ve mentioned before, Bishop Auckland’s Co-op department store was one of three North East shops rescued by ARCS when the Co-operative Group decided, in 2005, to exit non-food.

Westgate Department Store, Bishop Auckland (6 Feb 2010). Photograph by Graham Soult

It’s easy to see why ARCS stepped in to save the store, as it really is at the heart of Bishop Auckland town centre, and its only department store. Its street frontage is vast, and it sells all those types of products – such as toys, furniture and electricals – that would otherwise be difficult to find on the local high street. Pleasingly, the store seemed to be doing a decent trade on the Saturday afternoon when I was there – long may it continue.

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

I might have been busy at work at 10:30 a.m this morning, but many thousands of others evidently weren’t, judging from the crowds that attended the grand opening of St Andrew’s Way! Such was the excitement, Eldon Square was once again a trending topic on Twitter for much of today, while even the editor of industry bible Retail Week was there to see things first hand.

New Look, Eldon Square (16 Feb 2010)

Debenhams, Eldon Square (16 Feb 2010)

By the time I popped in to the new mall just after 5, things had calmed down somewhat, but there were still plenty of people having a good look around. I was able to get some better photos of the street frontages (using a proper camera this time), but thought better of getting any interior shots, given how many police officers were wandering about. However, Peter – aka ‘Newcastle Historian’ from the SkyscraperCity forums – has kindly let me plunder some of his own pics from inside the mall.

St Andrew's Way, Eldon Square (16 Feb 2010). Photograph by Peter (aka 'Newcastle Historian')

Clayton Street frontage, Eldon Square (16 Feb 2010)

First impressions are really positive – the inside of the mall is wide and bright, and the double height means that most of the retailers have created truly dramatic frontages. Debenhams’ looks great, Republic’s is as impressive as promised, and Apple’s is the bold statement that you would expect.

Best of the lot though must be Hollister. The store’s not yet open (and won’t be until April, apparently), but its shopfront is pure MetroCentre Mediterranean Village, circa 1986 – striking, kitschy, but totally on brand. It does mean that with most of the shop frontages being so flamboyant, Schuh’s – which would look very nice anywhere else – feels rather tame.

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

Debenhams, Eldon Square (16 Feb 2010)

Tesco Metro, Eldon Square (16 Feb 2010)

Clayton Street frontage to Eldon Square (16 Feb 2010)

Poundland, Eldon Square (16 Feb 2010)

As I’ve remarked before, a successful Tesco store probably does not bode well for the nearby Co-op food hall. However, there can surely be no better opportunity than now for the whole of the former Co-op department store building to be brought back into use. Just looking at all the people busying around in Newgate Street this evening, it really is now a great pitch, directly opposite Debenhams. If Harvey Nichols ever made up its mind to come to Newcastle, it need surely look no further for a stunning landmark property in a fantastic, prime location.

Former Co-op department store, Newgate Street (16 Feb 2010)

I also had a look around the older parts of Eldon Square, where there are now various voids from retailers moving into the new part of the shopping centre. However, these vacated units have all been screened off already – complete with ‘exciting new retailer coming soon’ banners – so merely look blank and dark rather than obviously empty. On the other hand, the existing Poundland in the old post office premises and the current All Saints in Market Street were both still happily trading when I walked past this evening, suggesting that those stores will be retained alongside their brand new Eldon Square siblings.

All Saints, Eldon Square (16 Feb 2010). Photograph by Peter (aka 'Newcastle Historian')

I read this morning that five of the six now-empty sites in Eldon Square have new occupants lined up, which is very good news if true. Certainly, the banner at the former Arcadia site promises a ‘new flagship retailer’ soon – almost certainly Next. Meanwhile, at least part of the site of the former Republic store is going to be Foot Locker, presumably moving from its existing Northumberland Street site. So, tick this off as yet another seemingly un-Woolies-related blog post that in fact has a faintly obscure Woolworths link…

Debenhams, Newcastle (15 Feb 2010)

There will be plenty of analysis of the new Eldon Square mall in Newcastle over the coming weeks, and reflection on the impact of St Andrew’s Way on the wider city centre. In the meantime, here are a few preview shots, taken on my phone this evening, ahead of the opening in less than ten hours’ time!

Debenhams, Newcastle (15 Feb 2010)

New Look, Newcastle (15 Feb 2010)

Debenhams, Newcastle (15 Feb 2010)

Screenshot of holding page (15 Feb 2010)

Google ‘Vergo Retail’, and the likelihood is that you’ll currently find Soult’s Retail View among the top few search results. Indeed, since this blog launched in July, five of the top ten searches that people have used to find the site have related to the Liverpool-based department store operator, with the Ipswich store proving particularly popular:

• hollister newcastle: 262
• vergo ipswich: 252
• vergo retail: 145
• vergo retail ipswich: 84
• wilkinsons logo: 81
• clas ohlson: 63
• co-op department store norwich: 48
• hollister eldon square: 47
• vergo department stores: 47
• woolworths closing down: 47.

I suspect that the main reason why this blog has consistently shown up so highly in Google has been for want of much competition: other than a dedicated site for its famous Lewis’s store in Liverpool, Vergo has lacked any online presence of its own to date.

However, given the evident interest from people searching for information about its stores, I’ve always thought that Vergo has been missing a trick, and wondered how long it would be before a company website appeared. Consequently, even though it may mean that my own Vergo-related traffic takes a hit, I was  pleased to see that a holding page is now in place at vergoretail.co.uk (and vergoretail.net) promising that “an exciting new website is under construction”.

Vergo's Robbs of Hexham store

Helpfully, the holding page also features a list of Vergo’s 20 stores across the UK, including the aforementioned Lewis’s, the two here in the North East (Robbs of Hexham, and Joplings of Sunderland), and the remainder acquired from the Plymouth & South West and East of England Co-operative Societies during 2009.

The iconic Joplings store in Sunderland

Following my earlier questioning, the site confirms that the former East of England Co-op stores have simply been rebranded as Vergo. The full-range department stores are called Vergo Ipswich, Vergo Norwich, etc., while the slightly smaller shops go under the names of Vergo Fashion, Home & More! or Vergo at Home. The Homemaker stores that were acquired in Devon and Cornwall currently retain that name, though presumably it will make sense for them to become Vergo at Home in due course.

In a post about web usability last year, I noted that while not all retailers will want or need an e-commerce site, there’s still great value in a website “providing basic information about the business” – details such as news, opening times, directions and contact numbers.

If the upcoming Vergo site does this – as the Lewis’s one does already – then it will surely perform a worthwhile function. At the same time, the site will also help to demonstrate the company’s continued investment in growing its business, and the development of Vergo as a national brand, rather than just a slightly disparate portfolio of acquisitions.

Waitrose Hopwood Park (14 Feb 2010). Photograph by Mark Leaver

Weekly updates on the status of Waitrose at Hopwood Park Services on the M42 have become something of a habit lately, thanks to the regular MMSs received from Mark Leaver.

Mark’s latest pic shows the store now trading, following its opening on Friday. Don’t read too much into it being empty of customers, given that the photo was taken just before the store closed for the night at 10pm this evening!

If you need a reminder, the pics below chart the store’s quite impressive transformation over the last three weeks:

A week ago... (7 Feb 2010). Photograph by Mark Leaver

Three weeks ago (24 Jan 2010). Photograph by Mark Leaver

The John Lewis Partnership’s latest weekly update for Waitrose notes that Hopwood Park is its “first Welcome Break franchise of the year”, with others due to follow on the M11 at Birchanger Green (February) and the M3 Southbound at Fleet (March). Previously, I remarked upon the importance of Waitrose’s Welcome Break franchises “replicating as far as possible the excellent customer experience and stock availability offered by its regular shops”, and was curious, I guess, about whether the staff at those stores would still be John Lewis Partners, or whether they would be employed by Welcome Break.

Happily, I think I’ve found the answer. Back in April last year, Waitrose’s Commercial Director, Richard Hodgson, explained that “while the non-management team will be Partners, they will be overseen by non-Partner Welcome Break managers who have expertise in operating in this environment”.

As you would expect from John Lewis, this seems like an eminently sensible approach. Hopefully it will make sure that the Welcome Break Waitrose stores can be responsive to the distinctive environment in which they are operating, while maintaining those core Waitrose values that are at the heart of its employee-owned, partnership model.

Former Woolworths (now Primark), Sunderland (21 Nov 2009)

In an earlier post, I talked about some of the large, city centre Woolworths stores – such as the branches on Newcastle’s Northumberland Street and Sheffield’s Haymarket – that were closed down in the 1980s as the retailer trimmed its ranges and focused on generally smaller shops.  

However, one flagship Woolies that lasted rather longer than most is the one in Sunderland’s Fawcett Street, which opened in 1923 and only closed in 2004, after the company received an offer for the lease, from Primark, that it reportedly “could not refuse”.

The closure of that store meant that the only Woolworths left within Sunderland’s boundaries was the one at Houghton-le-Spring, which shut down along with all the others following Woolies’ administration at the end of 2008.

Former Woolworths in Houghton-le-Spring (11 Sep 2009)

Before that, there apparently used to be a Woolworths store, of sorts, at Washington Galleries. This closed in 1988, but was a Woolco shop – a Woolworths-owned out-of-town, discount department store and supermarket – rather than a Woolies proper.

While I’m old enough to remember the Woolco name, I can’t recall ever going to one of the stores. From what I can gather, there were only ever 14 UK Woolcos opened – many in New Towns, and including two other North East stores in Killingworth and Thornaby – all of which were sold off to Dee Corporation (Gateway) or Asda by 1988.

I understand that Asda stores still occupy the former Woolco sites at both Washington and Thornaby, while Killingworth’s was eventually demolished and replaced by the Killingworth Shopping Centre. Photos of old UK Woolcos (as opposed to the US chain) seem quite hard to come by – I’d be delighted to post some on this blog if anyone has any that they would care to share!

Former Zavvi, Newcastle (27 Sep 2010)

Well, that’s a surprise! I’ve only just discovered that I’ve been photographing and blogging about a former Woolworths store – here, and more recently here – without even realising it. 

While I was vaguely aware that there had been a Woolies in Newcastle’s Northumberland Street many years ago, I hadn’t realised that it occupied the soon-to-be-Peacocks former Zavvi building. 

Woolworths, Northumberland Street, c.1970?. Photograph from Newcastle Libraries

The presence of the Fenwick department store in both shots above is the giveaway – and Newcastle Libraries’ superb Flickr stream has quite a few more images that show the Woolies store in all its glory. Interestingly, one great shot shows the Woolworths store still open in 1983; presumably someone out there can shed light on when it closed, and whether the property was anything else prior to becoming the Virgin Megastore.

The fate of the Northumberland Street shop seems to have mirrored that of many other large, city centre Woolworths stores across the UK. Between the 1950s and 1970s, Woolworths developed many flagship shops – department stores, essentially – in major city centres, occupying several floors and a prominent location. At the same time, there was often a smaller store at the other end of town – just like the branch in Newcastle’s Clayton Street. 

However, the 1980s saw Woolies downsizing or closing many of these flagship stores, at the same time as withdrawing from certain product areas (such as adult clothing and groceries) to focus upon the ranges for which it latterly became best known – toys, confectionery, homewares, entertainment and children’s clothing. Thus, cities such as Leeds and Newcastle lost their main Woolworths store at this time, but kept the smaller one. 

Similarly, when I lived in Sheffield in the 1990s, I remember hearing about the Woolworths store in Haymarket that had closed down some years before, having been rebuilt in the 1950s following war damage. The unit later became Dunnes Stores (which closed down and then reopened in the same spot a few years later), and currently houses a large branch of Wilkinson. 

Meanwhile, Sheffield’s second branch, on The Moor, lasted right through to Woolies’ ultimate demise at the end of 2008. In a neat twist, bringing us back to where this blog post started, that site too is reportedly going to become a Peacocks.

With thanks to Newcastle Libraries for the use of the historic photograph of Woolworths in Northumberland Street.

Republic promo shot

With exciting mounting over the opening of Eldon Square’s St Andrew’s Way extension in less than a week’s time (10:30 on Tuesday 16 February, to be precise), it really feels as if Newcastle is the centre of the UK’s retail attention right now.

Searches for ‘Hollister Newcastle’ have been dominating my blog stats for weeks, while yesterday, Apple’s official announcement of its new store opening turned ‘Eldon Square’ into a trending topic on Twitter. The arrival of these big US names has undoubtedly created a real buzz around what was, only a few months ago, a development featuring plenty of existing Newcastle retailers opening much-improved stores but very few new arrivals to the city.

With so much attention focused on Hollister and Apple Store, it would be easy to overlook the impressive new stores in St Andrew’s Way for retailers such as Topshop, New Look and Republic, all of which will have much larger and more modern shops than at present.

I was therefore pleased to receive a press release today about the “eagerly awaited” new Republic store, which is apparently 8,392 sq ft, and has been “designed in Republic’s ‘utilitarian meets kitsch’ imitable style” (that should be ‘inimitable’, surely?), with ”a striking fascia framed with iron girders, exposed brick and pipe work and natural materials offset by candy coloured chandeliers and metallic, flocked wallpapers”. I’ve never stepped foot in a Republic store before, but I might be tempted to take a look if only to admire the chandeliers.

Indeed, though Leeds-based Republic refers to itself in the press release as ”the UK’s leading retailer of men’s and women’s branded fashion”, it isn’t a retail name that I know very much about – perhaps because I’m outside its target demographic for “big brand names such as Henleys, Fenchurch, Diesel G-Star and Bench”. Still, Republic’s “unique model”, featuring a “carefully edited selection of ‘best of season’ styles and an extensive denim offering” must be doing the trick, given that it’s grown from a single store in 1986 to more than 100 across the UK now.

Jacob Snell, Republic’s Regional Manager, is quoted as saying that: “We’ve wanted to expand in Newcastle city centre for a long period of time and Eldon Square is a great opportunity. We have a fantastic, loyal customer base in the North East who we’re looking forward to presenting our exciting new shop fit and store design to”. Assuming that Republic’s existing store in Douglas Way is to close when the new one opens (though the press release doesn’t say so explicitly), it will be interesting to see who takes over the vacated unit. In quite a prominent spot close to John Lewis, it’s certainly among the most attractive of those sites that are being freed up.

Having managed to weave most of the content from Republic’s press release into my blog post, it would be remiss of me not to mention that customers “will be able to take advantage of opening offers and promotions including an impressive 20% off discount in store” – possibly a less stressful option than joining the nearby throng for one of 1,500 free Apple T-shirts.

Next, Northumberland Street, Newcastle (5 Feb 2010)

Following the apparent confirmation of earlier rumours about Next planning to open a new store in Newcastle’s Eldon Square shopping centre next year, it seems timely to take a look at the retailer’s current Northumberland Street premises, shown above.

It’s quite a handsome building when you stand back and look at it – particularly in comparison to the brutish, blank, brown brick facades of the Primark (formerly C&A) and Bhs building next door. Imagine then how things might look if a building in the style of Next’s premises wrapped all the way round the corner into Northumberland Road, in place of the existing Bhs/Primark block… something like the view below, perhaps?

Old postcard of Bhs site, Northumberland Street, Newcastle

Perhaps I should have known already, but before getting a copy of the fascinating new Newcastle Through Time book for Christmas, I hadn’t a clue that today’s Next building is a retained fragment of the building above - the remainder of which was demolished in the early 1970s to make way for more modern premises for the then ‘British Home Stores’ and C&A. I’m none the wiser, however, about which retailer was occupying the Next site at that time, or indeed what the reason was for retaining those three last bays. Perhaps someone out there can shed some light on the matter?

The same view today

One thing I do know is that the story has a neat, if slightly tenuous, link to a building mentioned briefly in one of my first blog posts – Murton House, in Grainger Street. Having housed the Henry A Murton department store from about 1910 until its takeover by the Co-op in 1957, the Co-op made substantial changes to the interior in the 1960s, before moving out of the premises in 1971. Conveniently, C&A was able to take the property over after only a short period of vacancy, occupying the building until 1973 while its regular premises in Northumberland Street were demolished and rebuilt.

Similarly, British Home Stores apparently moved to Pilgrim Street during the redevelopment of the site – again, answers on a postcard if you have any information on where exactly that was.

Existing Topshop, Newcastle

Back in the present, we do now know a little more, courtesy of The Journal, about the proposed new Next store in Eldon Square. It will:

• Reportedly be “one of the largest branches of Next in the country”
• Supposedly replace, rather than supplement, Next’s existing Northumberland Street store (handily freeing up a prominent unit for somebody else – perhaps Zara?)
• Take over a small amount of space occupied by Eldon Leisure in order to create space for a “flagship store”.

The fact that Next will be nibbling into Eldon Leisure seems to reinforce the view that its intended location must be the current Arcadia Group space, presumably incorporating three floors - the street and mall levels (current Topshop), and the floor accessed by escalators from the mall that currently houses Topman (and, if I understand correctly, the adjacent bit of Eldon Leisure).

This space equates to the whole of the brown-brick block shown in the photo above. However, with a reported £8m redevelopment budget, it has to be hoped that something creative can be done to get rid of those blank and lifeless façades – either by building out into the open space between it and the new St Andrew’s Way (the redbrick section to the right of the shot), or by punching some more openings into what is currently there.

Peacocks logo

Peacocks has submitted a planning application for new signage at the former Zavvi site in Newcastle’s Northumberland Street, confirming recent rumours that the fashion retailer was being lined up to occupy the 17,000 sq ft store.

Published today, the application (2010/0159/01/ADV) is for the “display of internally illuminated fascia sign, internally illuminated projecting sign and non illuminated banner sign to Northumberland Street elevation and black vinyl graphic to windows on Northumberland Street and Brunswick Place elevation”. An accompanying application – 2010/0160/01/DET – has been submitted for the “installation of new shopfront and replacement of air conditioning units to roof”.

Former Zavvi, Newcastle (27 Sep 2009)

Very few changes to the unit itself are envisaged – the application states that Peacocks will occupy the existing three trading levels (basement, ground and first floor), and will retain all the existing links between the store and Monument Mall. In a previous blog post, back in August, I wrote that “one of Zavvi’s strengths was having entrances/exits on all three shopping levels of Monument Mall, as well as to Northumberland Street, helping shoppers permeate throughout”. The retention of all these routes in and out of the new Peacocks store will undoubtedly provide a footfall boost to Monument Mall’s other retailers, across all of the shopping centre’s three main levels.

Looking beyond Monument Mall, and the obvious fact that a large empty unit will be brought back into use, Peacocks’ arrival can only be good news for Newcastle city centre. Though it may have had a less fashionable image in the past, today’s Peacocks is a highly popular and successful retailer – it now has over 500 UK stores, with plans to open 40 more in 2010-11, and reported like-for-like sales growth of 8% in the eight weeks up to 2 January, a significantly better figure than Next (3.2%) or M&S (1.2%). It’s newer stores – such as North East branches opened in Chester-le-Street, Seaham and Gateshead in the last year or two – are smart and attractive, with bright and interesting frontages that enliven the street scene. Peacocks’ arrival at Monument Mall can undoubtedly be seen as a vote of confidence in Newcastle city centre from a thriving retailer that has not previously had a presence here.

Existing Peacocks store in Gateshead

Above all, we can celebrate the fact that we’re getting a Peacocks instead of another branch of Barclays Bank – an idea that seems even more crazy now that the former Zavvi site’s continued viability as a large, three-storey retail unit has been so clearly demonstrated.

Thanks to TownPlanningNE at SkyscraperCity’s Newcastle City Centre Retail forum for the tip-off regarding the planning application!

Waitrose at Welcome Break's Hopwood Park Services (7 Feb 2010). Photograph by Mark Leaver

I’ve just received the photo above from Mark Leaver, taken on his phone last night at Welcome Break’s Hopwood Park Services on the M42. It shows the new Waitrose store looking more or less ready to be stocked, ahead of its intended opening this week.

Am I right to be quite impressed at the speed of the turnaround, given that only two weeks ago (as you will recall) the store looked like this?:

The same view two weeks ago (24 Jan 2010). Photograph by Mark Leaver

1950s scene showing Maurice Gerald in Newcastle's Bigg Market

Given my interest in both retail history and local history more generally, it’s always a pleasure when people drop me a line to share their memories – especially when it concerns something that up until then I know very little about.  

I was intrigued therefore to receive an email from Norman Gerald – prompted by my previous post about George Rye & Sons’ shoe shop in Newcastle’s Bigg Market – telling me about his father’s business that used to be situated almost directly opposite:  

I’ve been looking at the various sites covering the history of the Bigg Market. My father had a wholesale draper’s business at No. 6 from, I think, the 30s until the 50s. The business was called Maurice Gerald, and he had his name over the door in very large letters.  

Do you know of any archives showing that part of the Bigg Market in that period? The adjacent alleyway originally led to a garage, later a gown showroom. There was also a small clothing factory.  

Incidentally, I believe that 6 Bigg Market had been a restaurant before my father changed its use so it has now gone full circle.  

I’d appreciate any help that you can give me.  

Never having heard of Maurice Gerald, my first step was to Google the name – unusually, however, searching for “Maurice Gerald” in combination with either “Bigg Market” or even just “Newcastle” brought up nothing. It really does seem to be a business that history (or at least the Internet) forgot.

It was rather easier to work out what occupies 6 Bigg Market today. As Norman rightly pointed out, it’s now a restaurant – presently the well regarded Little Saigon on the ground floor (and before that Simply Greek and Miami Blues), with the famous Rupali curry house upstairs. 

Little Saigon at 6 Bigg Market, Newcastle (5 Feb 2010)

Having identified the building, I was able to turn to David Lovie’s great little 2001 book, The Buildings of Grainger Town. Though it’s a few years out of date now, the book is still an excellent guide to more than 200 specific properties within the Grainger Town area. 6 Bigg Market, it tells us, is Grade II listed, and would have been built as a house in the mid to late 1700s, at about the same time as the Cafe Neon building next door at No. 8.

In recent years I’ve built up quite a good collection of local history books, photographs and postcards, particularly relating to the area around the former Bainbridge’s site (with frontages to Market Street, Grainger Street and Bigg Market). Though the Bigg Market does often feature in old photographs, there aren’t very many shots looking up towards Newgate Street from the bottom; more often, the views are like the one below, looking down Bigg Market from Newgate Street towards the grand (and much missed) old Town Hall.

1930s postcard of the Bigg Market; No. 6 is barely visible, towards the bottom on the left

I was really pleased therefore to find a photo on my computer of the Bigg Market in the 1950s, with the Maurice Gerald fascia clearly visible – you can see the photograph in question at the top of the page. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if – just like the George Rye example before – the Maurice Gerald fascia is still there, merely covered up under subsequent layers of signage. It’s difficult, unfortunately, to make out much else about No. 6 from the poor quality of the scan, and because of all the market stalls obscuring the shopfront, but the building is easily recognisable to anyone familiar with how it looks today.

Needless to say, Norman and I would be fascinated if anyone can share anything else that they know about Maurice Gerald – whether it’s more photographs, or just interesting memories. Feel free to post a comment below, or send me a message via the contact form.

Looking forward to your contributions!