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 to be carrying a Poundland balloon.

Looking beyond the initial razzmattazz, I suspect that the store will still do very well. It’s very visible, carries a good range in a decent-sized space, and lacks much in the way of competition. Though Hexham has a well-stocked but careworn Poundstretcher, the town is relatively unusual for the North East in having neither Wilkinson nor Home Bargains.

Poundland, Hexham (19 Nov 2011)

Meanwhile, having only had one Northumberland store (in Cramlington) prior to Hexham’s opening last week, Poundland is set to quickly add a third. I understand that the retailer has taken over the old Ethel Austin premises in Ashington, with contractors already on site and jobs being advertised. Given the quick turnaround in Hexham, we can surely expect the Ashington store to be opening well before Christmas.

Coming hot on the heels of recent new stores in Peterlee (in the former Woolworths – which I obviously need to visit!), Bishop Auckland (another ex-Ethel Austin) and Durham’s Arnison Retail Centre (previously Bensons for Beds and Ponden Home), Poundland’s expansion in the North East certainly shows no sign of letting up just yet.

With a UK store count now at more than 360 and rising, Poundland’s estate has increased by an astonishing 200 shops in the last three years. However, there must surely become a point – in just a few years’ time at the current rate of expansion – where Poundland has stores in almost all the places where it wants them.

Little wonder then that Poundland has recently launched a new fascia, Dealz, that it can potentially roll out across the eurozone, starting in Ireland. It’s a canny move that should ensure Poundland’s continued expansion, even once its domestic market is saturated.

Poundland fascia

One of the few empty shops in Hexham will soon be occupied again, with Poundland set to move into the former Heron Foods site in Priestpopple.

Though no opening date has been confirmed yet, store jobs have been advertised and a planning application submitted for “one internally illuminated fascia sign and one internally illuminated hanging sign”. Drawings of the signage attached to the application confirm Poundland as the retailer in question. [UPDATE, 14 Nov 2011: The opening has now been confirmed for this coming Thursday, 17 November.]

The move is significant in that it’s outside Hexham’s main pedestrianised thoroughfare of Fore Street, where multiple retailers have tended to cluster. That street, however, is consistently fully let, with Mountain Warehouse (in the former Stead & Simpson) and Iceland (in the old Woolworths) among the recent arrivals.

Priestpopple, Hexham (4 Dec 2010)

Priestpopple and Market Street, in contrast, have tended to have a higher proportion of independent stores. Nevertheless, the former Heron site is in a good location – close to the bus station, opposite the side entrance to Beales department store (formerly Robbs), and on the way to the hidden Marks & Spencer in Maidens Walk – and Poundland’s arrival is likely to drive footfall further.

Beales' side entrance, Hexham (18 Sep 2011)

Hexham’s shop vacancy rate is traditionally in the low single figures, and this letting again confirms the Northumberland town’s attractiveness to retailers – as well as Poundland’s continued foray into more upmarket locations. The joy of Hexham as a shopping destination is that it combines a good mix of chains with some superb independent shops and cafés, such as Dillies (flower, chocolate and wine shop) in Market Street, and the delightful Artful gallery and Cornmill Coffee Shop in St Mary’s Chare.

Dillies, Hexham (19 Aug 2010)

As I’ve noted before, however, tentative plans for the relocation and redevelopment of Hexham’s bus station need to be progressed if the town is to capitalise on all those big-name retail space requirements that currently cannot be met.

Mountain Warehouse, Hexham (1 Jan 2011)

Visiting Hexham on New Year’s Day, I was interested to see that a new branch of Mountain Warehouse had sprung up since I was previously in the town, barely a month earlier.

The expanding outdoor retailer – which opened its 100th store earlier in 2010 – has taken over the Fore Street premises previously occupied by a tired Stead & Simpson shop, in a move that confirms Hexham’s status as a highly desirable location for retailers. Interestingly, both Mountain Warehouse and the nearby Millets were happily trading on New Year’s Day, with Beales’ decision to open up Robbs department store on the public holiday seemingly giving impetus to other stores nearby.

Fore Street, Hexham (1 Jan 2011)

The recent LDC research commissioned by the BBC’s Inside Out programme flagged Hexham as having the lowest proportion of vacant shops (just 5%) among the North East towns surveyed, and it’s certainly true that there are virtually no empty units in the town’s main shopping streets. In turn, those units that do become vacant – such as this one, or Hexham’s former Woolworths site (now Iceland) – tend to be reoccupied very swiftly.

Iceland, Hexham (1 Jan 2011)

The danger for Hexham is that if it fails to provide new space to meet this pent-up demand, top retailers seeking a south Northumberland location will continue to flock instead to Morpeth’s Sanderson Arcade. Opened at the end of 2009, that development is of very high quality, and has been well designed in a way that provides new routes between the town’s bus station, its main shopping thoroughfare (Bridge Street), and the largest supermarket (Morrisons).

These ingredients have allowed it to attract an impressive raft of top-notch retailers including M&S, Laura Ashley, Fat Face, Crew Clothing and Waterstone’s, soon to be joined by Northumberland’s first branch of Monsoon.

Beales-owned Robbs of Hexham (1 Jan 2011)

Hexham’s main opportunity for town centre retail development is the current bus station on Priestpopple, a place that is presently a rather miserable environment for bus passengers at the same time as blocking what ought to be a natural route between Robbs and the Marks & Spencer store in Maidens Walk.

The former Co-op supermarket, which traded from the M&S site for ten years until 2006, reportedly opened its store on the basis that a link with the town centre would be created – fifteen years later, the people of Hexham are still waiting for that physical connection to be made. Though the compact M&S store always seems surprisingly busy with shoppers, there must be a significant number of visitors to Hexham who arrive and depart the town without ever realising that it exists.

Making sure that 2011 is the year when the bus station redevelopment finally gets off the drawing board should ensure that M&S’s continued presence in Hexham is secured, at the same time as giving some hope to all those other big-name retailers that are still queuing up for space.

Graham filming with the BBC's Chris Jackson in Stockton High Street

Those of you in the North East and Cumbria (or anywhere else with access to Freesat), may be interested in watching BBC1 at 7.30 pm tonight (Monday 6 December)! [UPDATE: The programme is now available to watch on iPlayer.]

The regional Inside Out programme includes an interview with me as part of a feature on the state of the North East’s high streets; coincidentally, the programme also has a report (not involving me) on the transformation of Robbs of Hexham, under the new ownership of Beales.

Hexham's transformed Robbs store (4 Dec 2010)

The high street theme is running across all the regional editions of Inside Out this week – in the BBC South version, for example, Claire Robertson from Wellworths is making an appearance, talking about Dorchester’s success in maintaining a very low number of empty shops. 

The programmes’ timing deliberately coincides with the release of new research into empty shop rates that the BBC commissioned from the Local Data Company, as well as with the impending second anniversary of Woolworths’ demise – hence the BBC asking me if I’d be willing to be involved.

B&M Bargains, on the site of Stockton's old Woolworths (22 Nov 2010)

I had a really enjoyable and interesting day filming with the BBC in Stockton and Hartlepool – happily just before all the current snow and ice kicked in. The reason for filming in Stockton was its dubious honour of having nearly 30% of its town centre shops empty – one of the highest proportions of any of the 500 town centres covered by the LDC survey. My job was to provide some insight into why Stockton has such a high vacancy rate – building on my August blog post on that topic – as well as commenting on the success of those discount retailers, like B&M Bargains in Stockton, that have taken over old Woolies sites across the region.

Stockton High Street (17 Sep 2010)

As you know from my previous comments, I have rather a fondness for Stockton town centre. Its unusually wide High Street is one of the best urban spaces anywhere, and it is lined by some beautiful – if sometimes neglected – buildings.

Castlegate Shopping Centre, Stockton (28 Jun 2010)

Equally, visit the Castlegate Shopping Centre, where we started our filming, and you can also be forgiven for wondering where the LDC got its figures from. Though very much based around a value offer (including Wilkinson, Poundland and Home Bargains, as well as B&M), there are hardly any vacant units and the mall was really busy with shoppers on the Monday morning that we were there.

Wellington Square, Stockton (17 Sep 2009)

Nevertheless, walk the length of the High Street towards the empty Globe Theatre and the number of vacant units does start to add up. In Wellington Square, Stockton’s newer shopping centre, I counted at least 15 (mostly smaller) empty units, despite the presence of strong anchors such as Debenhams, New Look, H&M and (a modernised) M&S. Around the corner, in the High Street itself, one particular stretch includes only one permanent shop in a row of six units that are otherwise either empty or to let. With these kinds of numbers, the LDC findings begin to make sense.

Empty shops in Stockton High Street (22 Nov 2010)

So, why does Stockton have so many empty shops? When the BBC’s Chris Jackson asked me this question while filming in front of some of these vacant units, I suggested that it was down to a combination of factors.

While it’s easy to blame out-of-town retail, it’s certainly true that Stockton town centre has to compete with an unusually large number of out-of-town stores, both at Teesside Shopping Park and Portrack Lane. This doesn’t stop some retailers, such as M&S, having a presence both in-town and out – indeed, even B&M has just opened a Homestore in part of the old Big W at Portrack Lane, obviously seeing this as complementary to its Castlegate shop.

Marks & Spencer in Stockton (16 Nov 2010)

However, other retailers that could conceivably have a Stockton town centre presence, like Next and TK Maxx, already have stores at Teesside Shopping Park instead. Factor in the competition from Middlesbrough’s strong retail centre just four miles away, and it’s easy to frame Stockton as having a town centre that is simply too large for its current needs. Imagine that Stockton’s empty shops could be magicked away, with those that remain compressed into a smaller footprint. Without the distraction of the empty units, what you would see is a pretty strong retail offer for a place of Stockton’s size. Indeed, there are plenty of towns that would love to have both Debenhams and M&S on their high street, as Stockton still does.

Closed-down Rosebys in Stockton (16 Nov 2010)

As I explained to Chris, however, Stockton’s situation is not all down to local factors. There’s little any place can do when quite a number of its empty shops – such as a former Ethel Austin, Leveys, Rosebys, Au Naturale and Internacionale – are the consequence of weak retailers collapsing or struggling at a national level. Unfortunately, such names tend to be disproportionately represented in more secondary or less affluent retail locations rather than in major city centres, exacerbating the problem of empty shops in those places that often most need a retail fillip.

However, work already underway in Stockton provides some optimism for the future. The local council seems to recognise what needs to be done, improving the appearance of empty shops to minimise their blighting effect on the town centre, and supporting the transformation of the derelict Globe Theatre into a venue that draws people into that part of the High Street. All this is helped by the fact that Stockton High Street offers such a unique and impressive setting.

Inside Middleton Grange, Hartlepool (17 Sep 2009)

In contrast, Hartlepool’s town centre, where we filmed later in the day, suffers from having much less richness and character, due to its town centre basically being the Middleton Grange shopping centre. As with other homogeonous town centres such as Washington, this inevitably limits the options for retailers looking to enter Hartlepool, particularly those that would prefer a bustling high street location to an enclosed mall. After all, there must be some reason why Hartlepool’s large Woolworths site remains empty at the same time as many big names (and potential occupants) – such as BHS, H&M, TK Maxx and TJ Hughes – remain absent from the town.

Church Square, Hartlepool (16 Nov 2010)

Though parts of Middleton Grange are bright and busy, it suffers from being largely inward facing, and from having inadequate physical connections with the surrounding area. It is around these edges – notably in the dismal Market Walk area – where Middleton Grange seems to have its largest number of empty units.

The desolate Market Walk area of Hartlepool (16 Nov 2010)

I love the vibrancy of Hartlepool Marina, as well as the pleasing architecture and townscape of Church Square and Church Street (part of Ralph Ward Jackson’s original town centre for West Hartlepool – more of which in an upcoming post). However, getting to these places on foot from the town centre is stymied by a succession of busy roads, despite the distance not being very great. For the same reason, I suspect few of those who visit the Marina, Museum of Hartlepool or HMS Trincomalee make it over to the town centre.

The attractive Hartlepool Marina (17 Sep 2009)

Apart from making Hartlepool less hard to navigate, an important point I made on camera related to the town’s lack of a department store. Go back twenty years, and Hartlepool had Binns (House of Fraser) as well of Uptons, anchoring either end of Middleton Grange.

The outline of the former Binns logo can still be seen (16 Nov 2010)

Today, the Binns site is occupied by Wilkinson, and the old Uptons is a Co-op Home Store – basically one of Anglia Co-op’s Westgate Department Stores, but with only home-related departments and no fashions. If Hartlepool is to prevent the leakage of shoppers to centres such as Middlesbrough and Sunderland, this is a gap that really needs to be filled.

Co-op Home Store, Hartlepool (16 Nov 2010)

Having said all this, I’m not entirely sure how much of the filming is going to be used in the programme tonight – I know that the need to report on the impact of the current cold weather has meant that the retail features have, unfortunately, had to be trimmed. Let’s just hope that Inside Out doesn’t feel a late urge to report on Newcastle United sacking yet another manager earlier this afternoon…

Former Woolworths, Horley (4 Sep 2010)

During the summer, I’ve built up a veritable stack of photos of old Woolworths stores, from all kinds of places across the UK – not that you’d necessarily realise from my recent blogging output. That’s the trouble of fine weather – it’s just so tempting to head off and photograph interesting things, rather than staying inside and writing about them.

However, now that winter’s well on the way, and the weather is less amenable for tearing up and down the country, I plan that my blog posts will finally catch up with my camera…

One old Woolies that I’ve walked past lots of times without realising is the one in Horley, in Surrey. Several summers in recent years we have stayed in a friendly B&B in the town before flying out to some eastern European destination from nearby Gatwick Airport. Since the last time we were there, in 2007, a lot has happened, however – Woolworths has vanished from the high street, and my retail interests have blossomed.

Collingwood Batchellor's department store in Horley (4 Sep 2010)

Still, even as a consumer I’ve always had a soft spot for Horley’s town centre – it’s compact and attractive, and has a surprisingly strong retail offer given the town’s relatively small (but, admittedly, affluent) population of just over 20,000 people. Highlights include the delightful Collingwood Batchellor department store in Victoria Road and, just opposite, the unusually large and impressive branch of The Original Factory Shop, housed in a former engine shed.

The town can also claim to be the location of my first ever Waitrose experience, back in 2001 – long before the retailer had made it up here to the North East, and when the most northerly outpost of the Waitrose empire was still Newark-on-Trent. Needless to say, I’ve enjoyed quite a few Waitrose experiences in more recent years.

Horley's attractive High Street (4 Sep 2010)

Back to Woolies though, and it’s interesting that despite Horley’s present-day buzz and prosperity, the town’s Woolworths store (#545), opened in May 1934, was one of the first to close, back in the mid-1970s. Today, the property houses a branch of Boots. However, not withstanding the slightly questionnable blue first-floor windows, the building is in excellent condition, and is the epitome of a purpose-built 1930s Woolworths store – even more than thirty years after the retailer moved out.

Former Woolworths, Crawley (24 Oct 2009). Photograph by Stacey Harris

Interestingly, the Woolies history site, 100thBirthday.co.uk, suggests that the opening of a huge Woolworths store in nearby Crawley (#768), in 1958 – just five miles away – had a negative impact on the Horley store’s trade. The Crawley store, incidentally, lasted until Woolworths’ collapse, and is now – like so many others – occupied by Poundland.

Whereas Poundlands seem to be popping up everywhere, one distinctive feature of Horley’s retail scene is the presence of George Davies’ GIVe collection within Collingwood Batchellor. Launched only in September last year, the label’s fortunes so far have been mixed, with GIVe’s standalone stores all apparently slated for closure. Indeed, the Regent Street flagship, as well as the stores at Meadowhall and Kingston upon Thames, have already gone.

However, the concession model – operating nationwide within Beales department stores, and in just a handful of other independents – has reportedly been much more successful. Certainly, Collingwood Batchellor had an attractive GIVe window display, and the range looked a good fit for the department store’s focus on quality, and for its older and well-heeled clientele.

With GIVe seemingly concentrating on selling through independent department stores, it will be interesting to see whether the collection is introduced into Beales’ new acquisitions – including the former Westgate department store in Rochdale (now renamed as Whitakers), and, of course, the transformed Robbs department store up here in Hexham.

Thank you to Stacey Harris for the shot of the former Woolworths in Crawley, which is © Copyright Stacey Harris, and licensed for re-use under the Creative Commons Licence.

Improvements to the store frontage underway (19 Aug 2010)

Less than three months after acquiring Robbs of Hexham, indie department store operator Beales has wasted no time at all in sprucing up the store and its ranges ahead of next month’s official relaunch.

I’ve visited the store on three occasions since the takeover – most recently a week ago – and it has been a hive of makeover activity each time. New wooden flooring and white ceramic tiles have replaced the mangy old carpets, while the entire shop seems to be getting a fresh coat of paint – crisp white in the stair areas and black for the displays, but with various bold colours used to delineate different departments. With the store’s windows cleared of the clutter that was blocking views in or out, the overall effect of the changes is to create a shop that feels airy, bright and modern.

A sign of change (19 Aug 2010)

The layout and merchandising is also getting a welcome overhaul. The new cosmetics hall, for example, is taking shape at the front of the store, and the menswear department has enjoyed a welcome refresh of its ranges. Beales’ new own-brand quality formalwear, Broadbents & Boothroyds, is in place, while the addition of some younger and trendier menswear names is another positive change.

Job opportunities (19 Aug 2010)

In addition to Wallis, more quality concessions also look to be on the way, with Robbs’ window advertising jobs at Jacques Vert, Jane Shilton, Joules and Estee Lauder, as well as for a new hair salon.

New signage awaited (19 Aug 2010)

Black paint in, blue paint out (19 Aug 2010)

As I hoped, there are also signs that the outside of the store is getting some attention, with black paintwork already replacing the faded blue. One can only assume that new white-on-black signage will follow shortly, though I haven’t noticed any planning application for advertising consent as yet.

All in all, it’s quite a transformation already for a store that seemed destined for closure barely three months ago.

Job ad for Wallis in Hexham

Delivering on its promise to bring quality concessions to its recently acquired Robbs of Hexham store, it seems that Beales has already signed up the Arcadia-owned womenswear brand Wallis.

A job ad has gone live today^{[broken link removed]}, advertising the “fantastic opportunity for Sales Advisers and Senior Sales Advisers to join our brand new store in Hexham Beales.” There are no details of when the new Wallis will open, but my expectation is that it will be ready in time for the relaunch of Robbs’ women’s fashion department, scheduled for September 1st.

Wallis logo

Hopefully the first of many such signings, Wallis coming to Robbs is clearly a positive step. Traditionally focused on classicwear for 25–45 year olds within the ABC1C2 bracket, Wallis is among the more upmarket of Arcadia’s brands, and sits well with Beales’ intention to broaden Robbs’ appeal.

Owned by Arcadia since 1999, Wallis has about 300 UK stores, as well as 60 in the Republic of Ireland and another 65 overseas. Of the UK shops, roughly half are concessions, including a growing number in Arcadia’s own Bhs stores, as well as a significant number within high-end department stores.

Wallis store within Bhs in Middlesbrough

Tyneside is already well served by Wallis – there are branches in Debenhams at Eldon Square and MetroCentre, in Fenwick in Newcastle, in Bhs at South Shields, and a standalone shop in Monument Mall – and there are also several stores on Teesside. This will, however, be the retailer’s first store in Northumberland.

Standalone Wallis store at Monument Mall in Newcastle

Having attracted Wallis, it will be interesting to see whether Beales can bring any other Arcadia names to Hexham. Dorothy Perkins has a store in Fore Street already, but Miss Selfridge – already mentioned as a possibility – would help to address Robb’s traditional weakness in young women’s fashion.

Similarly, bringing in a Burton concession would do something to remedy the chronic lack of menswear choices in Hexham town centre. With options presently limited to Robbs itself, Tesco Extra, and a disappointingly small range in Marks & Spencer, the demand is surely there.

Out with the old, in with the new at Robbs (12 Jun 2010)

With just over a week now passed since Beales’ takeover of Robbs of Hexham was confirmed, details of what the welcome change of ownership might mean for the historic 192-year-old store are starting to become clearer.   

First up, it’s worth remarking that Beales buying Robbs is truly the the best possible outcome that could have been hoped for. After years of unsettledness, Robbs is now in the hands of a long-established company with a good track record in running market town department stores, and whose own fortunes are on the up – under the leadership of new Chief Executive Tony Brown – after a wobble a few years ago. Crucially, Robbs’ future now seems more secure than at any time since Merchant Retail’s ownership between 1987 and 2005.

Remarkably, Robbs is also – as yet – the only store from David Thompson’s 19-strong Vergo chain to have been saved following the company’s collapse into administration. There is no news on the future of Joplings in Sunderland or any of the other shops in the south west and east of England, despite Chris Dawson – owner of The Range – confirming that he has “bid on some of Vergo Retail’s stock and stores”.   

This week’s Hexham Courant talks excitedly of a “New era of investment for Robbs”, and the Beales era certainly gives lots of cause for optimism – not just for Robbs, but in reinforcing Hexham’s overall position as a successful retail centre. So, what do we know so far? 

1) The Robbs name is staying: Keeping the Robbs name is not a big surprise – when Beales has acquired stores before, it has tended to retain the local brands where one exists. Robbs will, however, be marketed as ‘part of the Beales family of stores’, as seen already in Beales’ half-page ad in this week’s Hexham Courant. 

Robbs ad in Hexham Courant, 12 June 2010

Despite the retention of the Robbs name, I hope that one of the first things Beales does is to replace the store’s tired and faded exterior signage – after many years of use, it is surely a much paler shade of blue than was ever intended. Adopting a tasteful white on black fascia – similar to that used at Beales’ recently opened Fareham store – will not only improve the store’s appearance significantly, but it will also be a powerful and very visible statement of Beales’ intent to invest and improve.

Robbs' Fore Street frontage

2) The post office and food hall are staying put too: While one or two Beales stores sell gift food, none to date have had a food hall; however, Robbs’ food hall has been cited in the past as the most profitable part of the business, so keeping and improving it does make good sense. The Courant quotes Beales boss Tony Brown as saying “I spent 19 years with Asda – I can do food!” 

Robbs sign facing Hallgate (30 May 2010)

3) Beales has signed a 15-year lease with the building’s owners, Buccleuch Group: This is significant – it is a much longer lease than Vergo Retail ever signed, and indicates that Beales wil be investing for the longer term, seeing Robbs through to its 200th birthday and beyond. Certainly, Buccleuch’s previous plans to redevelop the site – which made more sense before the economic downturn, and when Robbs’ ability to recover from its previous administration was still unclear – look now to have been definitively shelved. 

Robbs' Priestpopple frontage (12 Jun 2010)

4) The store will see a two-year programme of refurbishment, starting immediately: The store will relaunch officially on 1 September, by which time there will have been a first phase of refurbishment – including a new cosmetics hall – and the introduction of new, more upmarket brands and concessions. The Courant has Tony Brown praising John Lewis and Fenwick, and stating that Beales will “try to get that type of quality and brand-mix” for Robbs. 

Talk of bringing in younger brands to run alongside the ‘classic’ fashions that have dominated Robbs in recent years makes good sense, and reflects the shift that Beales has recently been implementing across its store estate. It’s important, of course, to still cater for the grey pound, but it’s right that Robbs also develops its appeal among younger shoppers – after all, getting younger people into the habit of shopping at Robbs will be key to building the store’s long-term success. 

5) Robbs will open on Sundays for the first time? Merely speculation on my part, but given that all Beales’ existing shops are open on Sundays, it’s reasonable to expect that the Hexham store will follow suit in due course. 

Beales logo

Paying a visit to Robbs yesterday was quite an interesting experience – the ‘Store Closing’ signs have obviously gone, replaced by ones that proclaim ‘Under New Management’. The shop is also in the midst of a ‘Clearance Event’ – in other words, Beales getting rid of all the random stock that it has inherited for its £250,000. 

Meanwhile, there were plenty of signs, just eight days into its ownership, of Beales bringing in its own stock, with large areas of the shopfloor piled high with boxes marked as ‘internal transfers’ from other stores in the group – Lego from Bolton, china from Horsham and kitchenware from Yeovil. Given the challenge ahead – with Beales needing to carry out clearing, restocking and refurbishment, all at the same time – it will be fascinating to see the store as it evolves and improves over the coming months.

Robbs - under new management (12 Jun 2010)

Incidentally, regarding that £250,000 figure, one or two people have asked me whether that seems a really cheap price for Beales to have paid for Robbs. In my view, it does seem quite a low figure for “all assets, brand, intellectual property and employees” – i.e. the Robbs business – given that it includes the Robbs name, all the fixtures and fittings, and whatever stock was left in the store at the time of purchase. Obviously, the building itself – owned by Buccleuch Group – isn’t part of the deal.

Of course, the flipside is that Robbs will require a lot of investment to bring the store environment up to scratch, is currently a loss-making business, and employs 76 members of staff – all risks and responsibilities that Beales is taking on. However, if Beales can turn Robbs around, I would expect it to recoup its investment fairly quickly.

After all, go back to the last financial year before David Thompson first bought Robbs and Joplings (under his Owen Owen vehicle, in 2004), and you see that the two stores made a combined profit of £2m. Even three years later, when the three-store-strong Owen Owen business collapsed in 2007, Robbs was supposedly still profitable. With the experience and purchasing power that comes from a portfolio of 13 stores, and as a member of the Associated Independent Stores buying group, I would fully expect Beales to turn Robbs back to profit within a couple of years.

After all, there’s tremendous goodwill that still exists among local people, hence the fate of Robbs being front page news on the Courant for the last six weeks on the trot. I suspect that almost all shoppers in Hexham want Robbs to be a success, but in recent months the previous management risked alienating even the most ardent supporters. Indeed, commenting on Vergo’s tenure, even Beales’ Tony Brown has described “the way this store has been managed over the last three years [as] almost sinful, with a lack of investment and under-stocking two of the main reasons for its lack of success”.

As I noted before, however, Beales was barely in a position itself to have bought Robbs in 2007, given its own travails at the time. The irony is that while Vergo gave Robbs three of the least satisfying and successful years of its long history, that stay of execution back in 2007 ensured that the business was still around to be saved, by a much stronger and growing Beales, in 2010.

Looking forward then, the prospects for Robbs in the coming years are surely much rosier than those of the recent past. Beales’ plans promise to keep and celebrate all that’s well-loved about the business already, while also bringing in some much-needed fresh ideas. There is also, finally, the investment to back those ideas up, and to give Hexham back the vibrant, quality department store that it’s been missing for so long.

Robbs of Hexham store

Just announced this morning – independent department store operator Beales has acquired Robbs of Hexham from MCR, the administrator of Vergo Retail, for £250,000.

Sarah Bell, Partner of MCR, officially announced the news:

“Following an effective administration process, we are delighted to confirm the sale of such an iconic store in the region. It’s positive news for both the 76 Company employees whose jobs will be directly transferred to the new owners, as well as the local community.”

MCR’s statement confirms that Beales has “purchased Robbs as a going concern including all assets, brand, intellectual property and employees”.

In a statement, Beales has said:

“As part of the Company’s plans to grow, Beale PLC is pleased to announce that it has acquired the Department Store of Robbs of Hexham from MCR the Administrator of Vergo Retail Limited (in administration), through its primary trading subsidiary of J E Beale plc, for £250,000. The demographics of Hexham and the trading history of Robbs align well with those of Beales. The transaction increases the Company’s portfolio to twelve stores. The Board are delighted the Company has been able to acquire the Robbs store taking it out of administration and securing its future.”

Read the Hexham Courant coverage here.

UPDATE, 13 June 2010: For a more detailed assessment of Beales’ purchase of Robbs see ‘Robbs is saved – so what happens now?’

Closing down sale at Robbs in Hexham (30 May 2010)

As the uncertainty over the future of the Vergo Retail store empire continues, potential suitors for some of the stores are starting to emerge. Here are the latest happenings…

In Liverpool’s Ranelagh Street, Lewis’s department store closed for good at the end of trade yesterday, bringing an end to a 154-year-old institution. Its closure had already been announced in February, prior to Vergo’s administration, to allow for the redevelopment of the iconic Lewis’s building. I hope to cover the history of Lewis’s in more detail in a future blog.

Of the remaining stores, the administrators MCR have already closed one, in Dovercourt, while closing down procedures are now underway at the other 18. However, MCR have confirmed that “discussions are ongoing with a number of different parties wishing to acquire part or all of the business”. As far as I understand, firm closure dates are yet to be announced for any of the remaining stores; certainly, when I walked past Robbs in Hexham yesterday it had the ubiquitous ‘Store Closing’ signs up, but not yet the dreaded countdown announcing the number of days left before closure. 

Coverage in the Hexham Courant, 28 May 2010

Following the earlier news that department store operator Beales had lodged “formal notice of interest” in buying Robbs, the front page of Friday’s Hexham Courant reports that the deal “could soon be clinched”. Beales’ Chief Executive Tony Brown has apparently visited Robbs, and is quoted as saying that his company is “continuing to pursue” its interest, and is “still in talks with both the landlord and the administrators”. For the third week in a row, there’s also a quote from someone called Graham Soult… I guess he’d better enjoy the exposure while it lasts!

The potential Beales takeover has also been noted by Drapers, writing that “independent department store chain Beales has been linked to a number of the higher profile stores such as Robbs of Hexham and Derrys in Plymouth.” 

Store closing banner at Robbs (30 May 2010)

On that subject, The Herald newspaper in Plymouth quotes local entrepreneur Chris Dawson – owner of The Range chain of home, garden and leisure stores – as saying that he is “interested in a few of the stores, parts of the group and all of the stock”, the implication being that he may step in to take over Derrys in Plymouth or – perhaps more likely, given The Range’s lack of a fashion offer – some of the South West-based Homemaker stores.

Described by Retail Week as “colourful”, Dawson’s record of buying up the stock of collapsed retailers such as Empire Direct and MFI is not to everyone’s taste, recognised in him jokingly styling himself as the “grim reaper”. However, it’s difficult to argue with Dawson’s success as a retail entrepreneur, with The Range now expanded to 45 stores (up from 33 in February last year) including its first in the North East, recently opened up in the former Big W unit in Portrack Lane, Stockton-on-Tees.

As yet, I’m not aware of any particular rumours involving Vergo’s stores in the east of England. However, the Norwich Evening News has reported^{[broken link removed]} on how Vergo’s collapse has affected one local couple who had paid £900 for bedroom furniture from the Norwich department store, but who may not now receive their order or their money back.

They are, unfortunately, far from alone – the Evening News’s story very much echoes an email that I received from Tony, asking what he should do about the £500 pram that his daughter had ordered and paid for from Derrys in Plymouth, but not received.

As I suggested to Derek, the best place to start if you are an outstanding customer of Vergo Retail is to visit the Vergo page of the MCR website, which includes advice on how to proceed, including a downloadable ‘Outstanding Orders Form’.

Beales logo

It seems like it’s not just me who thinks that Beales taking over Robbs would be a good idea, with today’s Hexham Courant reporting that the Bournemouth-based department store operator “has lodged formal notice of interest in the store with administrators MCR”. 

The article adds that “representatives of Beales were looking round the property yesterday”. Meanwhile, MCR has reportedly asked the owners of the Robbs building, the Buccleuch Group, and Northumberland County Council to waive the property’s rent and rates for the next ten weeks, on the basis that keeping the store open longer as a going concern will facilitate its possible sale.

Robbs store, in less uncertain times

Of course, as the Courant itself observes, this is still far from a done deal and there is no certainty that Robbs will be saved; however, Beales formally registering its interest is a significant and promising development. If nothing else, it confirms that Robbs is not a completely lost cause if a respected national retailer, with 120 years’ experience of running department stores, is at the point of taking a good look at the opportunity. 

As I reported before, a sticking point to any takeover could be Buccleuch Group’s own, medium-term development plans for the Robbs site. However, it’s hard to imagine Buccleuch turning down the opportunity to secure Beales as a tenant, given the investment and long-term commitment to Hexham that would surely follow – a much more satisfactory scenario than has been the case under Vergo Retail’s tenancy.

Let’s hope that further, positive developments are swift in coming. The Chairman of Hexham Community Partnership, quoted in the Courant’s article, is right that Robbs’ fate needs to be resolved as speedily as possible, one way or another, so that the future of the town is not left in limbo.

I also agree, however, with Hexham’s new MP, Guy Opperman, who argues that any initiative to help secure a new buyer for Robbs should be encouraged. Given the glimmer of hope that now exists, he’s quite right that all concerned – MCR, Northumberland County Council, Buccleuch Group, the wider community – should use whatever influence and power they have to deliver a positive outcome for Robbs, its staff, and for Hexham.

Robbs of Hexham

If you read the Hexham Courant, you’ll have seen the extensive coverage in Friday’s paper of Robbs’ impending closure, following the announcement, by the administrators MCR, that the department store will close within four weeks. The Courant devoting three pages to the story is hardly surprising given Robbs’ status as the largest and most prominent store in Hexham town centre – its closure is big news, and is bound to deal a short-term blow to the town’s appeal as a retail destination.

As I appended to my blog post last week, Robbs is one of nine loss-making Vergo Retail stores already earmarked for closure, while a buyer is sought for the ten remaining shops. However, just as Robbs was saved with days to spare three years ago, so there remains hope that someone could again step in and rescue the store from the brink.

With that prospect of rescue – however faint – in mind, I was pleased to have a chat last week with the Courant’s Helen Compson, talking about what the future of Robb’s might look like. You can see Helen’s article, featuring my comments, here. So who, if anyone, might be in the frame to take over Robbs this time?

To be honest, there are few plausible candidates. As I suggested to Helen, independent department stores – the most likely suitors – have been on the wane for years, with many longstanding names closing down (Cardiff’s David Morgan, for instance) or being swallowed up by larger rivals (such as Beatties and Jenners by House of Fraser, Roomes by Morleys, and Williams & Griffin and Bentalls by Fenwick).

Of those indies that remain, many are individual department stores that are very much associated with a particular place (Atkinsons in Sheffield or Rutherfords in Morpeth, for example), or are small chains focused upon particular parts of the country – such as the six-strong Morleys group in London, which has reportedly already ruled itself out of acquiring any Vergo shops due to the poor geographical fit with its current portfolio.

There are, however, a handful of operators who could conceivably come to Robbs’ rescue.

Allders

Allders in Croydon. Photograph by Neil Clifton

Croydon-based department store Allders appears to be thriving following its 2005 purchase by Jaeger owner Harold Tillman – recent successes, for example, include attracting online lingerie retailer Figleaves to open its first physical outlet. Go back just a few years, however, and Allders was itself the victim of Vergo-style over-expansion, with the then 45-strong UK-wide chain collapsing into administration in 2005.

Today, the massive 319,000 sq ft Croydon store is the only one left trading under the Allders name, after Tillman bought up both the Allders brand and the lease on the Croydon premises. Of the remaining Allders sites, many were bought up by Bhs, Primark and Debenhams.

Since Allders’ resurrection, rumours of a renewed expansion for the business have persisted, with Tillman mentioned as a possible suitor for both Robbs and Joplings (in Sunderland) last time those stores went into administration in 2007. No indication of Allders’ interest has yet emerged this time, however; indeed, Joplings and Derrys (in Plymouth) would be more likely targets than Robbs if Allders were to once again seek the flagship, city centre sites that characterised its previous incarnation.

Beales

Beales' flagship store in Bournemouth. Photograph by David Lally

If anyone’s going to snap up Robbs, Bournemouth-based Beales is surely the hot favourite, with several factors in its favour:

• Location: with its portfolio stretching from Poole in Dorset to Kendal in Cumbria, there is a geographical logic to Beales taking over a store in neighbouring Northumberland.
• Demographic: Beales’ locations, ranges and concessions see it targeting a similar market to Robbs – with the ‘grey pound’ prominent – though its recent move into ecommerce and investment in men’s young fashion has demonstrated the chain’s determination to modernise its image and widen its appeal.
• Store type: Beales tends not to compete with the big department store chains in large city centre locations, but is more usually found as the anchor store in slightly smaller towns and cities – very similar to Robbs’ status within Hexham.

Perhaps most importantly, Beales unusually finds itself in a healthier position now than it was in 2007. After snapping up several unwanted Bentalls stores from Fenwick in 2002 and a former Allders site in Horsham in 2006, Beales was seen as “underperforming” at the point when Robbs was last on the market, with one analyst rather bluntly claiming that “[It is] going nowhere without a bid and [there is] no sign of one at present”. In May 2007, just as Robbs was being ‘saved’, Beales was announcing its second profit warning in three months (suggesting that no interim dividend would be paid), and was gearing up to close its department store in Ealing.

Fast forward three years and, reinvigorated under the leadership of ex-Bhs man Tony Brown, things look much more promising for Beales. Only last month, it opened its first new store in four years, a 14,000 sq ft shop in Fareham, Hampshire under a new ‘Beales for Men’ fascia, while the retailer must surely have benefited from its tie-up with George Davies’ new venture, GIVe. Crucially, Beales has also made clear in recent months that it’s interested in acquisitions, with fashion industry journal Drapers also querying in the last few days whether this might materialise into an interest in selected Vergo stores:

Indie department store chain Beales is likely to keep a close eye on the administration process. Beales is on the acquisition trail after shareholder and property entrepreneur Andrew Perloff upped his stake in the 11-store chain to 29.7% in February. The group is believed to be interested in leasehold opportunities, pushing it to the front of the pack of potential interested parties. Beales chief executive Tony Brown said only that the business was looking to expand.

Additionally, the Drapers article suggests that possible suitors may find Robbs one of the more attractive stores within the Vergo portfolio, quoting an unnamed retail source who told the magazine that “a potential buyer could return Robbs of Hexham or Derrys in Plymouth to profitability with the right landlord deal and a store revamp”.

That landlord deal point is, of course, absolutely key, given that the Robbs premises are owned by Buccleuch Group, rather than by Vergo Retail itself, and that Buccleuch’s redevelopment plans for the site are still simmering in the background. Against this backdrop, any potential purchaser of the Robbs business will surely demand assurances regarding the store’s ability to continue trading, in the long term, from that site, with or without whatever redevelopment might take place.

David Thompson

One name I didn’t mention in my interview with Helen is David Thompson, Vergo Retail’s owner. Having taken Robbs into administration (as part of Owen Owen) and then bought it out again (as Vergo Retail) three years ago, there would be nothing to stop Thompson doing the same this time – just as former MK One business partner Elaine McPherson has done with Ethel Austin, taking the business into and out of administration in both 2008 and 2010.

Frankly, however, this prospect must be a non-starter, particularly after what the Courant says are Thompson’s recent assurances that Robbs was “thriving” – something of a contrast to MCR’s statement last week that Vergo “could not continue to trade in the short term without implementing immediate cost saving measures”. True, as the only option on the table in 2007, Thompson’s last-minute rescue of the store gave Robbs a welcome stay of execution, and hope – now dashed – that he was after all the right man to build a viable future for the business.

This time – if Robbs is to be worth saving at all – staff, concession holders, suppliers and customers will surely demand new ideas, and proper investment. Time is running out, however, to find out whether those new ideas might come from Beales, Allders, or someone else entirely.

Thank you to Dr Neil Clifton for the use of the photograph of Allders, and David Lally for the shot of Beales. The photographs are © Copyright Neil Clifton and © Copyright David Lally respectively, and both licensed for re-use under the Creative Commons Licence.

The iconic Joplings store in Sunderland

Department and home store retailer Vergo Retail has gone into administration, placing a question mark over the future of the 19-store business – including the iconic Robbs department store in Hexham and Joplings in Sunderland.   

Sarah Bell and Steven Muncaster, partners at MCR, have been appointed joint administrators, with the stores set to trade as normal while the company’s position is reviewed and a buyer sought. However, the middle of a recession is barely the best time to be selling an ailing retailer, as MCR’s recent experiences with Ethel Austin and the kidswear retailer Adams demonstrate. 

While Ethel Austin limps on as a rump of 90 stores, Adams has vanished from the high street completely (though is reportedly due to return in the autumn). For the sake of Vergo Retail’s 900+ employees, a happier outcome must be hoped for this time; sadly, however, the chances of any purchaser snapping up the entire loss-making Vergo chain is surely slim. 

Vergo's Robbs of Hexham store

It’s all a far cry from the hope and expectation that has accompanied the recent growth of the Vergo Retail business. As regular readers of Soult’s Retail View will know, Vergo Retail had an acquisitive 2009, snapping up a succession of closure threatened Co-op department and home stores. These were added to the portfolio of three large department stores – Robbs, Joplings and Lewis’s – that it rescued from the brink of closure following the administration of Owen Owen in 2007. 

Back then, it was difficult trading at Lewis’s that brought the whole Owen Owen business tumbling down, despite Robbs and Joplings both reportedly being profitable. This essence of a decent business provided some logic to the scenario of David Thompson – who had taken Owen Owen into administration in the first place – buying the business back under the new Vergo Retail banner. 

This time, despite the previously announced closure of the flagship Lewis’s store in Liverpool (set to close by June this year, ostensibly due to the impending redevelopment of the building by its owners Merepark), it seems that Vergo has simply ran out of time – and money – to turn its enlarged business over to profit: 

“Unfortunately the Company has endured periods of financial loss. It has made efforts following the recently announced closure of the Lewis’s store in Liverpool, to seek new finance to restructure the business but has been unsuccessful in finding a going concern solution. Like many retailers, it has experienced a difficult trading environment during the economic downturn.” (MCR*)  

From a North East perspective – and that of an occasional shopper in both Robbs and Joplings – Vergo’s collapse is a cruel blow to the dedicated, friendly and hardworking staff in those stores who have worked so hard to bring them back to life over the last three years. 

Equally, as the Hexham Courant reported on Friday, it’s devastating and unacceptable to those concession holders who look set to lose out on getting what they are owed – in a repeat, for many, of what happened when Owen Owen went into administration – due to all payments passing through Vergo’s own tills. 

Even if Robbs is saved, those concession holders who are reportedly owed thousands of pounds can be forgiven if they think twice about staying put – assuming, of course, that their small businesses even survive the hit. The variety of concessions, including many independents, is a core part of Robbs’ appeal, and any new owner will need to work hard to win them over. 

For now, however, we must just watch, wait, and – if we wish them to survive – do our best to support the threatened stores at this most difficult and uncertain of times. 

UPDATE – 11 May 2010: The administrators have announced today that nine of Vergo Retail’s loss-making stores – including Robbs and Joplings – will close within four weeks. Joplings was established in 1804; Robbs in 1819 – events over the next four weeks will determine whether or not 2010 sees the sad end of both these iconic department stores. 

* UPDATE – 21 May 2010: Financial information released by MCR^{[broken link removed]} shows that, for the year ended 26 January 2008, Vergo Retail made a total loss of £2.416m from a turnover of £15.824m. This, of course, was based on only the three stores that were in the Vergo portfolio at the time – Robbs, Joplings and Lewis’s.

Former Woolworths in Houghton-le-Spring

Though I can’t claim to make a habit of visiting six old Woolies stores in the same day (including Houghton-le-Spring, above), I have managed to build up a pretty good collection of former Woolworths pics over the last year or so – snapping them as I spot them, and, it must be admitted, making the occasional detour expressly to get another one.

I figured that it was therefore time to bring together all the photos of old Woolies that haven’t featured in Soult’s Retail View already, together with some of the ones that we’ve seen before. As you would expect it’s certainly an interesting mix, with some success stories but also plenty of properties that remain unoccupied nine months after Woolies’ demise.

Woolworths, Whitley Bay (26 Dec 2008)

To kick off, this photo of the store in Whitley Bay was taken on Boxing Day last year, a few days prior to closure. Sadly, I understand that the store is still empty, with little sign of anything happening. On the plus side, nothing seems to have come of the suggestion, from no less than the (now former) Elected Mayor, that the building should be turned into a new library; if Whitley Bay is to have any future as a retail centre, taking the town’s largest and most prominent shop unit out of retail use surely seems like a crazy idea.

Back in March I emailed the northern variety store retailer Boyes to suggest that Whitley Bay would be a perfect location for one of its shops. Whitley Bay, I argued, needed “a store like yours that sells a wide range of products at reasonable prices” – in my view, it’s this type of useful, everyday retailer that is most likely to get shoppers popping back into the town centre on a regular basis. Anyone who’s ever visited a Boyes store will appreciate that it’s the epitome of this kind of shop – truly a treasure trove of handy stuff such as homewares, toys, stationery, toiletries and clothing.

To Boyes’ great credit, I promptly got a personal email back from no less a figure than the company’s chairman, Andrew Boyes, confirming that the retailer was “interested in expansion into the [Tyne and Wear] area” and was “looking at opportunities”. So, though nothing has happened yet, the door for Boyes to pick up some old Woolies seemingly remains ajar.

Still in December last year, being in Chesterfield for my cousin’s wedding presented me with an opportunity to tick off another old Woolies that had closed down just three days earlier, in the town’s Vicar Lane Shopping Centre. Despite being a good-looking and well-located unit, the Vicar Lane store guide indicates that this store too remains empty almost ten months on.

Former Woolworths, Chesterfield (30 Dec 2008)

Moving north of the border, another vacant unit is the store in Perth, captured not long after closure in February. As far as I can gather, however, this store also remains unoccupied.

Former Woolworths, Perth (23 Feb 2009)

Some good news now, and the old Woolworths in Hexham, in Northumberland – one of the very first tranche of 51 Woolies stores to be acquired by Iceland, back in January. This shot was taken in August, a couple of weeks before the store opened.

Former Woolworths, Hexham (8 Aug 2009)

Iceland acquired another Northumberland store, in Morpeth, at the same time. This photo was also taken in August, with the supermarket already trading. To Iceland’s credit, it has done a good job in both Hexham and Morpeth of sprucing up two properties that were looking in need of some TLC while in Woolworths’ care.

Former Woolworths, Morpeth (15 Aug 2009)

I’ve already written, in some depth, about my recent visit to Durham. As I noted then, the new Tesco Metro in the former Market Place Woolworths seems to be nicely mopping up those city centre shoppers left adrift by last year’s departure of Waitrose.

Former Woolworths, Durham (11 Sep 2009)

There’s no need to repeat the photos that you’ve already seen of former Woolworths in Redcar, Middlesbrough, Stockton-on-Tees, Hartlepool and Gateshead – all taken on 17 September – or the shot I used last week of the empty MetroCentre branch.

So let’s end, for the moment, with this shot of the recently opened Home Bargains in Tamworth, Staffordshire.

Former Woolworths, Tamworth (19 Sep 2009)

Tamworth and I go back a long way – it’s the place where I went to school, and is somewhere I still visit from time to time. So, I was pleased to see that Home Bargains had done such a good job of turning the slightly tired Woolworths premises in George Street into a really bright and modern store. Indeed, Home Bargains’ comprehensive refit of the unit, including a smart new shopfront, has successfully avoided the problem of the building still feeling like an old Woolworths (cf. Redcar or Middlesbrough).

It was also the first time I’d seen a tweaked Home Bargains fascia – in burgundy and grey, instead of the more garish red and bright blue – but it does work well in conveying a slightly more quality image for the retailer, as well as being more in keeping with the overall look of the street.

That’s all for now – but you can look forward to part 2 in due course which will feature a selection of Welsh former Woolworths stores – Holyhead, Porthmadog, Prestatyn, Rhyl, Colwyn Bay and Llandudno – as well as a few more local ones in Byker, Gosforth, Newcastle and Consett.

Time for a lie down, I think.

Waitrose fascia

In recent weeks, hardly a day has gone by without some good news involving Waitrose – if it isn’t stellar sales figures, it’s been news about stocking 100% British own-brand dairy products, snapping up Duchy Originals, selling its products in Boots, expanding its presence in motorway service areas, or planning to ramp up its move into convenience.

Meanwhile, the retailer continues to grow its store portfolio at a rapid rate – now up to 215 shops, including new stores in Winchester, Colchester and Weston-super-Mare within the last six weeks alone.

By and large, the recent Waitrose story has therefore been one of growth and success, with the retailer – and, indeed, the John Lewis Partnership as a whole – very much in the habit of opening stores, rather than closing them.

The Gates Shopping Centre in Durham

Against this backdrop, I’ve always been rather curious about quite what went wrong with Waitrose’s Durham branch, in The Gates shopping centre. A former Safeway store, the 18,000 sq ft branch was acquired following Safeway’s takeover by Morrisons; though considered too small at the time for conversion to the Morrisons format, it was not one of the 53 or so overlapping stores that the Competition Commission had required Morrisons to divest. Rather, the assumption was that it was a location that Waitrose actively wanted.

The Durham store opened as Waitrose, to much fanfare, in November 2005 – not surprising, given that it was the retailer’s first presence in North East England, and at the time its most northerly store in the UK. Barely two years later, however, in January 2008, the store’s closure was announced after it had continually “traded at a loss”.

Echoing Waitrose’s closure of another former Morrisons acquisition, in Southport, in 2006 – just two years after it had opened – the announcement demonstrated how the retailer was capable of decisive action in those rare situations where a store was unsuccessful. However, Waitrose’s thriving store in Hexham – another former Safeway, bought from Morrisons and opened in November 2006 – showed that there was nothing stopping the retailer from making a go of it in the North East.

Waitrose Durham finally closed its doors in August last year, designed to coincide with the opening of a new (but much smaller) store in the Eldon Square shopping centre, in nearby Newcastle. More recently, in May this year, a third North East Waitrose opened in Ponteland, taking the place of the village’s Somerfield (itself a former Safeway). For a Waitrose fan like me, the retailer’s shift northwards is undoubtedly welcome; after all, prior to 2004 there was no Waitrose store more northerly than Newark.

Embarrassingly, until a few weeks ago, I had never paid a proper, sightseeing visit to Durham. So I determined to set out, curious to take a look at the former Waitrose site and to see what had become of it. That sums me up, you see – most people visit Durham to take in the wonderful cathedral; my first stop was a shut-up supermarket.

Wandering from the bus station along North Road and into the The Gates shopping centre, my initial reaction was one of slight bemusement. To me, this end of town felt very much like a secondary pitch, with The Gates’ roster of tenants – Poundland, The X Catalogue Store, Yorkshire Trading Co. – as well as those in nearby streets, not appearing to be the most natural bedfellows for a Waitrose.

Former Waitrose store, Durham (September 2009)

On a Friday towards noon, The Gates was also eerily quiet – so much so that I was able to overtly take a photo of the old Waitrose store (above) without anyone noticing. It was a rather sad sight, really - the store’s frontage was partly obscured by a deserted carousel and stacks of plastic crates (presumably belonging to the adjacent Yorkshire Trading Co.), but no amount of hiding could disguise the fact that this was a very large and very empty unit.

Durham's Prince Bishops shopping centre

My initial reaction was reinforced once I’d crossed over the river, taking the Millburngate Bridge towards Durham’s Market Place and the newer Prince Bishops shopping centre. Where The Gates felt peripheral, the Market Place area – buoyed by the presence of big names such as Bhs, Next, Marks and Spencer and Topshop, as well as lots of street entertainment – felt very much like the heart of the city centre. The area was buzzing and full of people, including plenty of students and visitors.

Durham Market Place

Tellingly, I noted that a Tesco Metro had opened up in the city’s former Woolworths store. You might well wonder, as I did, why Tesco hadn’t simply taken over the Waitrose site instead – essentially, I suspect that it’s because the old Woolworths site is a much busier and more attractive location than that on the other side of the river. Ironically, the old Woolies would probably have been a really good place for a Waitrose too.

Framwellgate Bridge, linking The Gates (behind) to Silver Street and the Market Place

Overall, following my visit to Durham, it seemed pretty clear to me why the Waitrose store had not been the hoped-for success – in short, because of where it was. Situated among the wrong types of shops, on the wrong side of the river, at the wrong end of town, away from the tourist and student hotspots, everything about the location in The Gates just felt wrong. I kept thinking to myself, did Waitrose actually visit this site before signing up for it?

In the right place, I think a Waitrose in Durham could have been successful; after all, other newer stores in the north of England and beyond, such as the ones in Sheffield and Edinburgh, appear to do very well with students and locals alike. As it is, Waitrose’s abortive dalliance with Durham is probably best viewed as a rare, but interesting, blip in the retailer’s recent success story.

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.

Woolworths Worthit logo

Wandering around the variety store Poundstretcher in Hexham yesterday, I was understandably surprised to spot lots of Woolworths-branded products on the shelves, including – among many other things – Worthit DVD players and laundry baskets.

Presumably, Poundstretcher has snapped up surplus warehouse stock that would have been destined for Woolies, had it survived. It struck me as quite ironic, given that Poundstretcher put its weak performance over Christmas down to competition from Woolworths’ clearance sale – selling off those same products that can now be found in Poundstretcher.

Even before this interesting twist, I’ve always thought that Poundstretcher – aka Instore – has a great deal in common with Woolworths. Beyond the obvious fact that both have similar product ranges (homewares, confectionery, gardening, Christmas decorations and the like) Poundstretcher has recently had a frustrating Woolworths-style habit of underperforming, even when the economic climate has suggested that a price-focused retailer should be doing well.

Another common feature is that Poundstretcher, like Woolies before it, seems to struggle to offer a consistent customer experience. While some Poundstretcher stores, such as Gateshead’s Team Valley superstore, are spacious and well organised, the smaller branches, like that in Hexham, often seem tired and cluttered.

A third shared attribute – and one where Poundstretcher may even trump Woolies – is in failing to build an understandable and meaningful brand. Since 2005, the business has had an identity crisis. First it began to rebrand its Poundstretcher estate under the new Instore fascia; then, in 2006, decided instead to trade under both names; and now plans to scrap Instore all together, rebranding all those stores back to Poundstretcher. Combine this with Poundstretcher having at least three different logos in active use, and there’s no wonder that shoppers should be confused about what, if anything, the retailer and its brand stand for.

Recent announcements suggest that trading at Poundstretcher has picked up, but that – ominously – “the board does not regard this as indicative of a turnaround in the company’s overall situation”. Woolworths may be gone from the high street – if not from the shelves of Poundstretcher – but as value competitors such as Home Bargains, B&M Bargains and Poundland expand aggressively to fill the gap left by Woolies, Poundstretcher will need to work hard to build a truly distinctive offer and brand.

Co-op Department Store, Great Yarmouth, prior to Vergo Retail's takeover. Photograph by Stephen McKay

In the last couple of weeks, one interesting news story that has been easy to miss is the takeover of the East of England Co-op’s department store business by Vergo Retail.

Vergo Retail, as you may be aware, is the Liverpool-based operation headed by David Thompson that, in 2007, rescued Lewis’s of Liverpool, Joplings of Sunderland and Robbs of Hexham from the brink of closure after Owen Owen, the previous owner, had gone into administration.

Reports suggest that Vergo Retail has been doing rather well since then. Certainly, the business has been performing well enough to snap up the non-food operation of the Plymouth & South West Co-operative Society^{[broken link removed]} (PSWCS) in February this year, including the Derrys department store in Plymouth and four additional Homemaker stores in Devon and Cornwall; and well enough to double the size of the business again, just a couple of weeks ago, with the acquisition of twelve East of England Co-op shops. This latest acquisition includes department stores in Norwich, Ipswich, Colchester, Clacton-on-Sea and Great Yarmouth, as well as six home stores in Felixstowe, Stowmarket, Clacton, Stanway, Dovercourt and Witham, and a standalone jewellery store in Colchester.

These developments are notable for various reasons, not least in being illustrative of the extent to which the UK’s consumer co-operative movement as a whole has recently been seeking to exit the non-food sector. A critical milestone in this respect was the Co-operative Group’s decision, in 2005, to close or sell its 36 department stores; here in the North East, this resulted in the closure of landmark stores in Gateshead, Newcastle, Chester-le-Street and elsewhere, while a few others – including Bishop Auckland, Blyth and (briefly) Berwick-upon-Tweed – became part of Anglia Regional Co-operative Society’s Westgate Department Stores business.

Co-op department store, Tamworth

The impact of the Co-operative Group’s exit from department stores has been significant. First, it has created challenges for those (dwindling number of) independent co-operative societies that remain – such as East of England and, in my parents’ home town, Tamworth Co-op – requiring them to source new suppliers and renogotiate with existing ones, while having to work increasingly hard to maintain gross margins. Second, it has meant that for any societies seeking to merge with the larger Co-operative Group – such as United Co-op in 2007, and PSWCS in 2009 – prior disposal or closure of their department stores has essentially been a prerequisite.

Vergo Retail’s recent moves are therefore significant in that they seem to offer unloved and unwanted Co-op department stores a lifeline - as non-Co-op department stores. In the east of England, there can be little doubt that many of the now-saved stores would have closed had Vergo not stepped in - yet they are all shops that have a loyal clientele; that perform an important function within their respective communities; and that, with some dynamic management and a little investment, could once again be highly successful. Indeed, as Vergo expands its empire, its ability to secure improved supplier terms – and offer better deals to customers – will be enhanced; the very opposite situation to that faced by the few remaining co-operatives with non-food interests.

What is interesting, from a historical point of view, is that I can think of no precedent where Co-op department stores have been acquired, as going concerns, by a non-co-operative retailer; rather, if you were to go back to the 1950s and earlier you would see the process happening in reverse, with independent department stores - such as Newcastle’s Henry A Murton’s in Grainger Street^{[broken link removed]} – being acquired by local co-ops.

Vergo Retail's established Robbs of Hexham store

Going forward, much will depend of course on whether Vergo can successfully turn around the mostly loss-making stores that it has acquired; however, the company’s apparent success in reinvigorating Lewis’s, Joplings and Robbs (no-one can forget the sad, plundered interior of Robbs in the days leading up to its aborted closure) bodes well. For me, though, the burning question – and one that I cannot find either asked or answered anywhere else – is how will Vergo rebrand its newly acquired stores in Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex? After all, a store that is no longer a co-operative can barely be called a ‘Co-op Department Store’.

It will be interesting to see whether Vergo comes up with some locally-inspired names, or whether – in House of Fraser style – it seeks to bring some brand consistency to its growing portfolio. Lewis’s of Clacton, anyone?

Thank you to Stephen McKay for the use of the photograph of Great Yarmouth’s Co-op (now Vergo) department store, which is © Copyright Stephen McKay and licensed for re-use under the Creative Commons Licence.