La Senza closing down in Newcastle (2 Jan 2012)

Since this is my first post of 2012, I must begin by wishing all Soult’s Retail View readers a very Happy New Year! Thank you to everyone who has commented, emailed, tweeted or visited during 2011, and I hope you will find many more posts to spark your interest during 2012.

As we enter 2012, the retail picture for the centre of Newcastle looks like repeating the trends of the last couple of years: various high-profile casualties amid one of the most challenging economic environments modern retailers have seen, countered by some exciting new arrivals and major retail schemes.

So, in the year ahead, what are some of the most significant things to look out for in Newcastle’s prime shopping locations?

Northumberland Street

Northumberland Street, Newcastle, with new BHS on the left (1 Jan 2012)

As I reported last week, the opening of the new BHS store in Newcastle’s premier retail location of Northumberland Street, expected sometime in the spring, will be one of the city’s major retail events of 2012. Local shoppers who are yet to experience one of the chain’s new-concept stores – such as the shop in Swindon that I visited in September – will be in for a pleasant surprise when the new four-storey store opens its doors in the old Next premises.

Beneath the scaffolding and wrap – which, as I noted previously, is due to come down in March – it’s just possible to see how the old façade has now been completely removed (below), ahead of the new BHS glass frontage being inserted.

BHS site, Northumberland Street (1 Jan 2012)

Next door, work to enable Primark’s expansion into the former BHS unit is also well underway, and, together with the new BHS, seems to be keeping local scaffolding companies busy (below). I understand, however, that we will have to wait until the end of the year for those works – which include another revamped frontage – to be completed.

Site of Primark extension, Newcastle (1 Jan 2012)

Elsewhere in Northumberland Street, the absence of any currently empty units means that new happenings in 2012 are likely to be the result of rebrands, relocations or closures.

In my previous post, I highlighted one major Northumberland Street retailer that’s looking to exit its existing store, ahead of a relocation to smaller premises elsewhere in the city centre. Its situation – being tied into expensive space that is now regarded as significantly overrented – is far from unique; however, with the St Andrew’s Way extension to Eldon Square (and the subsequent shuffling of other retailers, such as Next, BHS and Primark) having mopped up much of the demand for MSUs (major space units) in the city, I understand that finding a replacement occupier is proving a challenge.

As far as rebrands are concerned, Northumberland Street’s Northern Rock branch will no doubt be rebranded as Virgin Money during 2012; though banks tend to fall outside my blogging remit, it’s interesting that Virgin Money is referring to the locations it has acquired as ‘stores’ rather than ‘branches’, seemingly drawing inspiration from the best of retail as it seeks to create a “bright, relaxed, comfortable environment to come and sort out money matters, quickly and easily”.

Locations information on the Virgin Money website (4 Jan 2012)

To complement its ’stores’, there are also set to be Virgin Money Lounges in five cities – Edinburgh, Newcastle, Norwich, Manchester and London – providing a “place where our customers and their guests can relax”; it’s not clear, however, whether Newcastle’s promised Virgin Money Lounge will occupy one of the city’s two existing branch sites or new premises elsewhere. In Manchester, I’m told that the soon-to-open Virgin Money Lounge has taken over entirely new landmark premises, in addition to the established Northern Rock branch nearby, so it will be interesting to see whether the same approach is taken in Newcastle.

La Senza closing down in Newcastle (2 Jan 2012)

On the closure front, La Senza looks set to be Northumberland Street’s first retail casualty of 2012, following the lingerie chain’s announcement that it intends to enter administration. While the firm has blamed “trading conditions in La Senza’s high street locations and the overall macro environment which are having an adverse effect on the company”, such a statement fails to explain why La Senza has failed when many other retailers are successfully weathering the storm.

One suggestion, based on what my female friends have told me, is that La Senza may have fallen into the same trap as the collapsed young fashion chain Jane Norman by undermining its reputation for quality and, by extension, customers’ overall value perception of its products.

Of the retailer’s 146 UK stores, Newcastle is one of 81 locations that have launched ‘closing down’ sales, though there’s always a chance that any potential rescuer might decide to keep the store open after all. However, given its prominent location at the main entrance to Eldon Square, it’s unlikely that the unit would remain empty for long even if La Senza departed.

Blacks, Newcastle (8 Aug 2011)

Elsewhere in the city centre, the fate of several familar stores rests on whether their owners can turn around a sustained period of poor trading. The future of the outdoor retailer Blacks – which has a recently-opened store in Market Street – remains up in the air, while HMV has an uphill struggle to define its place in a changing entertainment market.

HMV’s Newcastle store, for example, is a curious mix of technology products, cold drinks and NUFC merchandise alongside the traditional CDs, DVDs and games; the overall impression is of a store that is cluttered, lacking in personality, and confused about what it’s trying to be.

HMV’s future – if it is to have one – must surely be in showcasing its credentials as a chain that lives, breathes, and is an authority on entertainment, as a way of differentiating itself from its online and supermarket competitors. However, the current presentation of piles of DVDs in a sub-supermarket-quality environment merely demonstrates the scale of the challenge ahead, rather than any sense of passion for the product.

HMV Newcastle (1 Jan 2012)

Time will tell whether my shot of a shuttered HMV on New Year’s Day, above – one of the few days of the year when most shops still close – becomes a more poignant image in the coming months.

Monument Mall

Wallis closing down, Newcastle (1 Jan 2012)

Further down, on the corner of Northumberland Street and Blackett Street, the closure of the Wallis and Evans store in Monument Mall this coming Saturday (7 January) is, hopefully, the harbinger of more positive developments ahead.

Evans closing down, Newcastle (1 Jan 2011)

Hammerson – who bought the shopping centre last April – had its ambitious plans to redevelop Monument Mall approved in November, and the Arcadia brands’ departure is a necessary step in enabling the scheme to proceed. Some high-profile departures under the previous ownership left Monument Mall’s generally small-sized units bereft of occupants, and Hammerson’s plans turn the centre inside out by filling in the mall’s circulation spaces and creating full-depth, street-facing shop and restaurant units.

Monument Mall, Newcastle (26 Oct 2011)

While Arcadia’s decision not to open new Evans and Wallis stores in Newcastle is a little disappointing, the move is in line with Sir Philip Green’s strategy of consolidating his space as leases expire. As the store-closure posters note, Wallis already has concessions in Newcastle’s Fenwick and Debenhams stores, while Evans is represented at both Metrocentre and Team Valley in Gateshead, but not elsewhere in Newcastle. Of the two, I’d therefore wager that Evans is more likely to make a reappearance in Newcastle city centre in due course – perhaps even as part of the aforementioned new BHS store – given its distinctive plus-size positioning and lack of Newcastle presence once the current store closes.

Peacocks, Northumberland Street (25 Jun 2010)

Incidentally, the only impact of the plans on the Peacocks store – which opened in the former Zavvi unit in 2010 – will be to block up its current mall entrances, leaving the main Northumberland Street frontage as the only access. The store will therefore revert to being the self-contained premises that it used to be as Woolworths and Next, in the years before Monument Mall opened in 1990.

So, what of the Monument Mall development itself? My understanding is that the new units are likely to be trading in time for Christmas 2013, and that Hammerson’s focus is on attracting niche retailers that will complement and reinforce the emerging Urban Outfitters-anchored high-end cluster around Grey’s Monument.

With strong demand for the medium-sized units in the new scheme, I understand that the development is expected to be fully let by spring this year. While no names have emerged, Hugo Boss – recently beaten by The North Face to the former Schuh unit opposite – must be a prime candidate, while there are plenty of expanding high-end fashion brands, such as White Stuff and Jack Wills, that are yet to establish a Newcastle presence.

Eldon Square

Northumberland Street entrance to Eldon Square (17 Jun 2010)

The dominance of Eldon Square within Newcastle is, arguably, one of the reasons why the city centre’s smaller shopping malls – whether Monument Mall, Eldon Garden or the earmarked-for-demolition Newgate Shopping Centre – have consistently failed to fly.

With 150 stores, Eldon Square’s vast size leaves it vulnerable to retail collapses, with the existing Barratts, Priceless and Past Times stores all at risk from those chains’ current difficulties. On the other hand, the shopping centre still has an impressive occupancy rate and a successful record of refilling those units that have recently become free.

New Next, Newcastle (10 May 2011)

While I understand that one retailer is mulling an exit, the new Debenhams-anchored St Andrew’s Way remains fully let to date, and almost all the space freed up by relocations to the new mall has been reoccupied by other tenants. Most notably, of course, Next opened a new flagship store in the former Arcadia space in May last year, which I’m told is trading very well.

The major problem area of Eldon Square is the Sidgate and High Friars stretch, running between the new Next and the mall entrance next to Grey’s Monument. Traditionally more value-focused than the rest of Eldon Square, this part of the shopping centre has suffered from its odd configuration and small-sized units, and currently has a relatively high number of voids, including the large two-storey store that New Look vacated when it moved to St Andrew’s Way two years ago.

However, my understanding is that the key former New Look unit will soon be reoccupied by a big-name retailer moving from elsewhere in the centre, whose space, in turn, is set to be occupied by a fashion chain not currently represented in Eldon Square. Ahead of any more radical reconfiguration of Sidgate and High Friars (which is surely likely to be required at some point in the future), the reoccupation of the former New Look site will at least restore some of the footfall that has been lost in the last couple of years.

Summary

So, for all that the media likes to portray 2012 as the year of a “high street bloodbath”, the reality in Newcastle city centre is more complex – and more positive – than the garish headlines suggest.

With both new and existing retailers still making significant commitments to the city centre – and, on the whole, decent demand for any space that becomes free – Newcastle seems well placed to see through the downturn and emerge in good condition on the other side.

3DReid's proposal for the remodelled Primark/ex-BHS building

Interesting retail things always seem to happen on Tyneside while I’m on holiday! This time, I returned from Slovenia yesterday – hence the lack of recent blog posts – to find that the planning application for Newcastle’s new Primark flagship has been submitted while I’ve been away.

While the news of Primark’s expansion has been known since the adjacent BHS store began closing down in January, the planning application is significant in revealing for the first time the shape, size and appearance of the proposed store.

A more detailed trawl through the application’s 52 accompanying documents will have to wait until I’ve caught up with my post-holiday tasks, but we now know that the store will be huge – with 10,650 sqm (114,636 sq ft) of retail floorspace – and that it will involve a radical remodelling, above, of the property’s frontages to both Northumberland Road and Northumberland Street. The Evening Chronicle’s coverage of the story suggests that 200 new part-time jobs will be created as a result of the expansion.

...and how it looked before (7 Mar 2010)

Judging by the comments at SkyscraperCity, reaction to 3DReid’s radical redesign seems mixed, with some forum members – not entirely unjustly – likening the new look to that of an east European department store. To be fair, the slightly grainy quality of the renders makes it difficult to draw firm conclusions, but there’s little doubt in my mind that almost anything would be an improvement on what’s currently there. The introduction of much more glazing and what looks like an elaborate lighting scheme are particularly welcome in enlivening what has, to date, always been a blank and unforgiving façade.

How the new BHS will look. Image by Dalziel & Pow

With Primark’s proposals coming hot on the heels of BHS’s plans for an equally radical reworking of the adjacent former Next store, above, 2011 is certainly shaping up to be a significant year for Newcastle city centre retail. Readers, journalists and visitors to Newcastle often ask me to summarise what’s currently happening in the city centre, so here, by way of reminder, are the key developments that any Newcastle retail watcher should include within their itinerary.

Northumberland Street

Cotswold, Northumberland Street, Newcastle (14 Mar 2011)

• At the top end of Northumberland Street, opposite M&S, preparatory work is underway on Newcastle’s new Primark, expanding the chain’s existing store (in a former C&A unit) into the vacated BHS site.
• Next door, the former Next is being transformed into a four-storey, new-concept BHS. Plans for a bold new frontage are still yet to be approved, but Arcadia Group says that the store is expected to open by the end of the year.
• Further down the street, Clas Ohlson’s twelfth UK store is set to open next month, covering 20,333 sq ft of retail space on the site of the former Collectables store.
• Elsewhere in the street, the new Peacocks, Cotswold Outdoor and Currys/PC World stores – all opened during 2010 – are among those chains’ most impressive high-street shops, and are all worth a visit.

Grainger Town

Hotel Chocolat, Blackett Street, Newcastle (12 Jan 2011)

Around and south of Grey’s Monument, the potential loss of TJ Hughes – currently in closing-down mode – is undoubtedly a worry, but there are plenty of other signs that the area is bouncing back after several years of high vacancy rates:

• Big upcoming arrivals are the three-storey Urban Outfitters on the former Green Market site, and a new Calvin Klein Underwear shop in the former Kurt Geiger next door.
• Meanwhile, the fabulous Hotel Chocolat in Blackett Street, H&M in Grey Street and Jaeger London in Grainger Street are among the recent arrivals that have helped to improve the retail offer in the southern part of the city centre.
• As far as specialist retail is concerned, the Market Street area seems to have established itself as Newcastle’s ‘outdoor retail’ focus, with the long-established Tiso recently joined by Blacks and the well-regarded independent Start Cycles. Over the road, investments in the Grainger Market also seem to be paying off as a wealth of creative independents – such as the delightful foodie store Mmm… – build on the Market’s fresh-food heritage to create a truly modern and inspiring retail experience.

Eldon Square

Eldon Square extension (16 Feb 2010)

The opening of Eldon Square’s St Andrew’s Way extension eighteen months ago is arguably the impetus for all else that’s currently happening in the city centre, both in terms of freeing up space elsewhere and in prompting other retailers to up their game:

• The Debenhams-anchored St Andrew’s Way is universally impressive, with almost all the retailers there having created modern and innovative frontages, store environments or both. All Saints’ double-height window of sewing machines always catches the eye, while Hollister has given Newcastle an instore experience that is completely on-brand, appeals to all the senses (sight, smell, touch…), and is unlike anything else currently in the city.
• Among the units freed up by those retailers now in St Andrew’s Way, the recently opened Next has transformed the old Arcadia space into a store that is unrecognisable – inside and out – from what it used to be. Elsewhere, Kurt Geiger, Foot Locker and Barratts have all created new, eyecatching stores within the older parts of the shopping centre, replacing their older and smaller shops elsewhere.

That’s my snapshot of some of the current and recent interesting happenings in Newcastle city centre, but do feel free, as always, to add your own highlights using the comments form below!

Millets in Newcastle, photographed today

Yesterday I commented on the fact that the Millets store at MetroCentre was having a closing down sale; today, I noticed that the branch in Newcastle’s Grainger Street (above) is also evidently among the 89 Blacks Leisure Group stores that are being shut. However, Hexham’s store – which I visited (and photographed) on Saturday – looks to be safe.

In some ways the news that Newcastle’s Millets is to close is not surprising, given that Newcastle city centre is one of those locations – like MetroCentre – where Blacks and Millets currently compete with one another. On the other hand, though, it seems rather a waste of a store that only opened a year ago.

Prior to housing Millets, the unit at 81-83 Grainger Street was occupied by Blacks; when Blacks shifted to Eldon Square and the former O’Neill site late in 2008, Millets moved down the street from its former site at numbers 121-127. As I noted last week, the former Millets store remains empty, meaning that Grainger Street will have the unusual feature of two empty Millets stores within a few doors of each other.

Millets in Hexham (photographed on 3 October)

Given that last week’s official announcement about the store closure programme spoke of an “employee consultation process on 89 loss making stores”, the speed with which closing down sales have been launched is surprising – it suggests that the closure of the stores concerned is a fait accompli, rather than being open to review.

Equally, it seems like this is just the first step in getting Blacks Leisure Group back onto a firm financial footing; industry speculation suggests that Blacks may yet seek to enter a company voluntary arrangement (CVA) with its creditors, in order to secure its longer-term future.

Whatever happens next, it’s a sad and uncertain time for yet another longstanding high street name, and most of all for those hundreds of shopfloor staff who are likely to lose their jobs. One can only hope that the steps being taken now will be enough to protect the 300 or so stores that remain. After all, with holidays at home never more popular than now, Blacks – as probably the UK’s best-known outdoor retailer – has no excuse not to do well, if only it can position itself, Mothercare-style, as a real authority within its field.

MetroCentre logo on empty unit

I popped over to MetroCentre this afternoon, and spotted a few things that seemed worthy of blogging about.

Millets: Following on from my post last week about Blacks Leisure announcing plans to shut 89 loss-making branches, I noticed that the MetroCentre Millets store is already having a closing down sale. However, the nearby Blacks store looks like it’s safe.

I’m yet to come across a list of the stores being closed (there is nothing, as far as I can see, attached to the official announcement), but I imagine that a good few will be in those locations where Blacks and Millets are competing with each other. To be honest, I’ve always struggled to understand what the difference between the two is supposed to be.

Woolworths: MetroCentre’s vast size – there are 330 stores – means that it has suffered from having a larger than usual number of nationally defunct retailers. Rosebys, Zavvi, The Pier, the Original Shoe Company and, inevitably, Woolworths were among the prominent voids that I spotted today.

Former Woolworths at MetroCentre

Woolworths took over the old two-level C&A unit at MetroCentre in 2000, following that retailer’s decision to move out of the UK. However, there’s no sign as yet of anyone coming in to take Woolworths’ place. I struggle, in fact, to think of a retailer that might want to occupy it. Most of the potential tenants for a unit this size – Bhs, Primark, perhaps New Look – are already represented at MetroCentre, while other possibles, such as Wilkinson, don’t seem to make a habit of opening stores in large regional shopping centres. Any thoughts, anyone?

Waterstone’s: MetroCentre’s Waterstone’s illustrates the point that I made here about retailers not bothering to upgrade certain stores within their estate. Not only does the store’s frontage still feature the old, upper case logo, but its apostrophe appears to have fallen off (credit where it’s due, however, for Waterstone’s including the apostrophe in its name in the first place  – most retailers would have got rid of it long ago).

Inside it’s a similar story, with rather worn carpets and a sad looking store directory – the kind that has certain categories covered up with card, and other ones stuck on afterwards (I spotted a similar design crime in WHSmith). Surely it can’t be that hard to come up with a store directory format that is able to accommodate retailers moving stock around from floor to floor?

On the plus side, the store did have the book I wanted, and the person who served me at the till was friendly and helpful – always one of Waterstone’s strengths, in my view. Still, applying a bit of TLC to the store itself definitely wouldn’t go amiss.

HMV: Over in Waterstone’s sister store, HMV, the shop looked generally better but the customer service was less satisfactory. The first hurdle to buying something was getting around a display bin of blank CDs, pointlessly positioned directly in front of the counter. Second, I didn’t really appreciate the glaring downlighter, set above the counter, that was seemingly designed to blind (and cook) any customer that approached. Third – and most irritatingly – the person who served me spent the entire duration of the transaction continuing her conversation with a colleague, despite my best efforts to engage in friendly eye contact.

This habit of taking the customer’s money but otherwise ignoring them is one of my biggest pet hates when shopping, and HMV is by no means the only culprit. I did, at least, get a “see you later” – however, if that’s the level of customer service I can expect, seeing me later is probably unlikely.