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.

New BHS Newcastle site (28 Dec 2011)

Work on the new BHS store in Newcastle has been underway for more than six months, though the lack of any mention of BHS on site meant that anyone passing by would have been none the wiser about what exactly was happening. This always seemed to me like a wasted opportunity given the evident interest among local shoppers – after all, for the best part of a year, searches relating to Newcastle’s new BHS have been one of the biggest drivers of traffic to Soult’s Retail View.

Now, however, signage announcing BHS’s forthcoming arrival in Northumberland Street has finally appeared, though the ‘opens 2012′ message leaves the exact timing rather vague. The banner is also looking rather worse for wear, given that it can only have been in place for a couple of weeks at most.

Site of new Newcastle BHS (29 Nov 2011)

Though the building’s frontage was fully wrapped up when I went past today, the shot above – from a month ago – shows the windows of the ex-Next store already removed ahead of the property’s radical refronting. I’m told that the scaffolding is due to come down in March, which would suggest a store opening sometime in the spring.

Newcastle's Primark extension underway (29 Nov 2011)

With work also progressing well on Primark’s nearby extension into the old BHS – and, I understand, at least one other major Northumberland Street unit being quietly marketed, pending relocation elsewhere in the city centre – 2012 already promises plenty of interest for Newcastle’s retail watchers.

Trinity Square, Gateshead (18 Dec 2011)

It may have taken over a year to get started following the Get Carter car park’s demolition, but building work at Gateshead’s Trinity Square is now proceeding apace.

Construction of the £150m development only began at the start of November, but the speed of progress has been impressive since I photographed the first section of steel frame less than two months ago (below), close to where the car park entrance ramp used to be.

Start of construction at Trinity Square, Gateshead (4 Nov 2011)

That part of the scheme now towers over the adjacent three-storey New Century House (formerly the Co-op department store; now Argos and other shops), giving a first sense of the development’s scale along West Street – what is currently, to all intents and purposes, Gateshead’s main shopping thoroughfare. As well as the steel frame, concrete floors and staircases are also starting to go in.

Trinity Square from West Street, Gateshead (18 Dec 2011)

Further down West Street, another section of Trinity Square is taking shape opposite the existing Iceland and Heron Foods stores.

Trinity Square from West Street, Gateshead (18 Dec 2011)

Overall, it’s possible to start making out the shape of the scheme on the ground in relation to the numerous artists’ impressions that the developer, Spenhill (a subsidiary of Tesco), has made available, even if the images do make West Street look unfeasibly wide. When complete, the development will include a 175,000 sq ft Tesco Extra store, an additional 170,000 sq ft of new retail and leisure space (comprising up to 42 shop units and kiosks), over 750 parking spaces, and a 993-room student village. I understand that several well-known retail names are already lined up for the scheme, though one or two are likely to be relocations from older or overrented space elsewhere in the town centre.

Artist's impression of Trinity Square from West Street. Image courtesy of Spenhill

Unsurprisingly, the Trinity Square development has both its fans and its detractors. When I blogged about the scheme back in July last year, one reader, Seamaster, lamented the demolition of Owen Luder’s iconic car park, while James lambasted my assessment that “the Tesco store is properly integrated, visually and physically, into a wider scheme that is bold and modern.”

Anyone who follows my blogs or tweets will know that I’m not always an enthusiast of Tesco. However, from the perspective of both a retail commentator and a Gateshead resident, I stand by my positive view of the development. For me, the scheme’s unashamedly modern design and scale is much more successful, for example, than the strange modern-classical hybrid adopted by Newcastle’s recent Eldon Square extension (below).

Clayton Street frontage, Eldon Square (16 Feb 2010)

The potential of a monolithic Tesco development also seems to have been avoided, both in terms of physical connectivity and the mix of uses.

Jackson Street, Gateshead (18 Dec 2011)

With regard to the former, the plan and images show additional shops lining West Street and High Street, as well as a new store-lined street that will connect West Street to High Street via the new town square. Together with a further pedestrian link, to Jackson Street (emerging beyond Hutchinsons in the photograph above), these connections should ensure that Gateshead town centre’s existing businesses – including recent arrivals such as Poundland (in the former Woolworths) and Wetherspoon’s – benefit from the extra footfall that the development is bound to generate.

Overall, Spenhill predicts that the scheme will result in an increase in the town centre’s retail turnover potential from £74m to £160m, and that Gateshead’s RetailVision CentreRanking will “improve by over 500 places”.

New Poundland store, Gateshead (21 Sep 2010)

In terms of the mix of uses, the development also seems to get things right. In addition to the retail space, the introduction of leisure uses and a sizable student housing component should help to address two of Gateshead town centre’s other flaws – a very limited bar and restaurant offer, and next to nothing in the way of town centre housing, both of which currently create an eeriness and lack of activity at night.

Poster at Trinity Square, Gateshead (18 Dec 2011)

For now, however, Gateshead shoppers still have to wait a few years longer before the development is complete. The latest issue of Gateshead Council News reports that the current Tesco store will close in mid-2012, with the new store (on much of the same site) opening in spring 2013, and the student housing being completed in summer 2014. A temporary Tesco (probably in the Metro format, given the unit’s size) is expected to operate from the old Kwik Save site in the High Street in the interim.

Former Kwik Save, Gateshead (18 Dec 2011)

Apart from the buzz that the students on site will bring to the scheme, Trinity Square will mean that Gateshead’s other residents also finally have a town centre that is a viable place to shop and go out in, rather than always having to head to Newcastle or Metrocentre.

At a time when Mary Portas and others are encouraging us to support and regenerate our local high streets, bringing Gateshead town centre back to life – through a bold mix of retail, leisure and housing – must surely be a good thing.

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Newcastle’s long-awaited Urban Outfitters store opens its doors tomorrow (Friday 9 December), but I was lucky enough to be given a preview tour yesterday. Believe me, it’s worth the wait – Urban Outfitters is surely Newcastle’s most exciting and creative retail interior.

Scroll through the images to get a flavour of the journey through the store, as you enter from the street and work your way through to the second floor fitting rooms via two grand staircases. All the photographs that I took yesterday (7 December) are featured here.

An accompanying blog – describing the stunning store interior in detail – is in preparation, and will appear in the next few days.

Upcoming Urban Outfitters, Newcastle (29 Nov 2011)

Newcastle’s upcoming Urban Outfitters store has been tantalisingly hidden behind orange boards for over a month – including when I passed by last week – but the shop’s frontage has now been unwrapped ahead of its opening a week on Friday (9 December).

While we’ve known the opening date for a while, this is the first chance we’ve had to see what the front of the Grainger Street store looks like. So, following Dave Robson’s tip-off on the Skyscrapercity Forums last night, I went along with my camera this morning to take a look.

...and hidden away before (26 Oct 2011)

Given the building’s Listed status, and the need to work around the strange metal flashing that stretches across the frontage of that and the neighbouring stores, the shop has a relatively understated shopfront and fascia compared to UO stores elsewhere.

Upcoming Urban Outfitters, Newcastle (29 Nov 2011)

Both the shopfront and fascia are in a deep shade of red powder-coated aluminium, with fret-cut letters spelling out the name of the store. Interestingly, the letters are much smaller than Urban Outfitters’ original planning application had proposed – that would have seen them be about twice the current height, and the full width of the frontage. Seemingly, however, something a little more discreet – and, dare I say it, less bold and interesting – was needed in order to get through the planning process.

Given the resulting low-key signage, one assumes that the large shopwindow will do much of the talking once the store opens; for now, however, it’s greeting passers by with a ’HELLUO NEWCASTLE!’ message, in a cheeky play on its name.

Upcoming Urban Outfitters, Newcastle (29 Nov 2011)

The watchful presence of several contractors made it difficult to lurk for long or get much of a view inside, though the fact that building work is still underway obviously means that there are no fixtures or stock in place yet. However, the store’s imminent opening – in just ten days’ time – must suggest that we’ll see some activity on the merchandising front later this week.

Grainger Street, with Urban Outfitters on the left (29 Nov 2011)

As I explained in my first blog about this development, back in January last year, the shop’s ground floor – which was formerly Jigsaw’s unit – will represent a relatively small part of the three-storey unit. Much of the retail floorspace is on the first and second floors – spanning the adjacent Calvin Klein Underwear, Fat Face, Phones 4u and Vodafone stores – in the area that used to be occupied by the Green Market at High Friars and, before that, the MVC record shop.

As I noted back then, however, the property has never been under the same ownership as the Eldon Square shopping centre, despite the ex-MVC unit being accessed from the mall and, to all intents and purposes, being perceived as part of it. Realignment of the floor levels to their historic positions means that Urban Outfitters will be accessed only from the street, with the old Eldon Square entrance – currently hidden behind boards – blocked up.

Such is the complexity of this building, shoppers who go into Urban Outfitters on 9 December can surely be forgiven if their first reaction is “where did all this upstairs space come from?”

Window display, Poundstretcher Wombwell (3 Nov 2011)

A few days ago, I blogged about how Poundstretcher in Newcastle needs to sell itself better in order to capitalise on the extra footfall generated by the opening of Discount UK opposite. I argued that the quality of Poundstretcher’s products, and its homewares in particular, is much higher than the shoddy advertising board and lacklustre store environment would lead shoppers to believe.

Sadly, presentation issues seem to permeate throughout the 350-strong chain. On Thursday last week I was touring South Yorkshire, and took the opportunity to visit the Poundstretcher in Wombwell, near Barnsley. The experience, I’m sorry to say, was very poor.

Poundstretcher, Wombwell (3 Nov 2011)

Externally, the shop at least ticks one box by featuring the latest Poundstretcher logo and fascia, which is increasingly replacing the disparate visual identities across the chain. However, the cluttered frontage of plastic containers and window posters offers neither an attractive shop window, nor views into the store. I was especially puzzled by the stacks of Andrex that filled the right-hand window – surely no-one can think that this creates an appealing first impression?

Inside, I was shocked by the state of the shop, which was generally untidy and had litter on the floor. Poundstretcher makes an unfortunate habit of piling display stock in the aisles as well as on the shelves, but much of the product on the floor here was in unpacked boxes. As well as making the shopfloor look like a stockroom, it would have been impossible for anyone with a pushchair or in a wheelchair to negotiate the store.

Wilkinson, Wombwell (3 Nov 2011)

If the branches are holding more stock than they can physically store, this is a supply chain issue that Poundstretcher’s bosses need to tackle. In the meantime, Wombwell’s shoppers can be forgiven if they opt instead for the shiny, modernised Wilkinson store over the road.

Former Woolworths (now Poundstretcher), Camborne (20 Feb 2011)

Though Wombwell is an established Poundstretcher branch, a lot of the same flaws apply even to the newly opened branches – many of which are in former Woolworths locations. As well as the stores in Camborne and North Berwick that I’ve mentioned before, I’ve recently paid visits to the new stores in Tiverton (one of the ex-Woolies sites acquired from Alworths, and opened in May) and Melksham (the last former Woolworths site in Wiltshire to reopen, in September last year).

Poundstretcher (formerly Woolworths and Alworths), Tiverton (9 Sep 2011)

Poundstretcher (former Woolworths), Melksham (9 Oct 2011)

While these new stores benefit from being generally cleaner than the older shops in the estate, there are still issues with products cluttering the aisles and an excess of both goods and promotional posters in the shop windows. In contrast, modern variety store retailers such as Wilkinson, Discount UK and Home Bargains manage to combine a strong value offer with stores that are still clean, bright and appealing, both inside and facing the street.

Poundstretcher’s product is strong (yet currently undersold), and the retailer is finally getting to grips with the historically confused brand that sees page 1 of Google Image Search bring up six different logo variations. Clean, tidy and accessible shops are a retailing basic, however, and Poundstretcher could do worse than to learn from – and pay some Soult-style visits to – its shinier value competitors.

Discount UK (former Woolworths), Newcastle (4 Nov 2011)

Poundworld-owned variety retailer Discount UK has opened its Newcastle store today, with stilt walkers and free sweets on hand to welcome shoppers to the former Woolworths site.

I dropped by shortly after the store opened at 10am, and it seemed to have got off to a good start – it was packed with shoppers, and there were plenty of people queueing at the tills to make their purchases. Inside, the store has retained the old Woolies wooden flooring, but otherwise looks to have had a comprehensive refurbishment. It also seems to have used the bulk of the space that Woolworths previously occupied, making it rather larger than the existing Discount UK store in Middlesbrough. Externally, the store has gained some smart and bright signage that is an undoubted improvement on what it replaced.

Discount UK (former Woolworths), Newcastle (4 Nov 2011)

While Discount UK was making a concerted effort to drive shoppers into its store – with leafletters handing out offers flyers across the city centre – I couldn’t help but notice the staff and security guards in Poundstretcher opposite, looking out the window at all the activity across the street.

Poundstretcher, Newcastle (4 Nov 2011)

Newcastle’s Poundstretcher has the advantage of being housed in a handsome Grade II-Listed Richard Grainger building dating from 1837, with two decent-sized trading floors. While the ground floor features all the traditional Poundstretcher ranges, such as snacks, greetings cards, stationery, hardware and gardening, the upper level includes an usually extensive range of furniture and homewares. Like most Poundstretcher stores, however, the quality of the goods sold is far superior to the cluttered and neglected environment in which they’re presented.

Advertising board at Poundstretcher, Newcastle (4 Nov 2011)

The dreary advertising board that Poundstretcher had outside its store today is illustrative of the retailer’s presentational problems. With faded black Times New Roman lettering on a white background, it’s the type of point-of-sale advertising that would look unprofessional even for a corner shop – yet Poundstretcher is an expanding chain, with over 350 stores nationwide. Surely it could have done something more creative and eyecatching to capitalise on all the buzz and extra footfall being generated over the road?

As I’ve argued before, Discount UK’s arrival will be positive for Clayton Street in bringing some life back to the location, and helping to cement its appeal as a value retail destination. Indeed, rather than Discount UK being a threat to Poundstretcher, the shot in the arm that it will give to Clayton Street should be seen as a great opportunity.

For all that Discount UK is a multi-price fascia, the fact still remains that 80% of its product range comprises items costing £1 or less. In this regard, it is competing much more with the two Poundland stores in Eldon Square, and with Poundworld’s eponymous shop in Grainger Street, rather than with Poundstretcher, where the average item price is undoubtedly much higher.

Poundworld, Grainger Street, Newcastle

If I ran Poundstretcher, I’d be seizing the opportunity to revamp the Newcastle store as a flagship for the chain – investing in (and – crucially – maintaining) a cleaner brighter interior that matches the quality of the product; creating a clear visual identity for the store, inside and out - including the latest logo on the fascia; and sorting out the clutter by trimming the range and selling fewer products better.

Despite its name, and the tagline of ”the original value store”, Poundstretcher isn’t and never has been a pound store – it’s a brand that should be able to compete with chains like Wilkinson, Cargo, Argos and the big supermarkets, based on the quality, range and value of its home and garden products. If Poundstretcher is to build on the momentum of recently making its first (albeit modest) profit in six years, this is surely the direction in which it needs to head – rather than competing with the discounters to see who can sell the most cans of Pepsi for £1.

The North Face, Newcastle (29 Oct 2011)

The Californian outdoor brand The North Face has opened its new store in Newcastle in the last few days – though you could easily be forgiven for not realising.

The shop, at 9-15 Blackett Street, seems to have opened with little fanfare. As yet, its details don’t show up on The North Face UK website; there’s been no announcement via The North Face Twitter account; and, as recently as four days ago when I walked past, window posters were declaring only that the store was ‘opening soon’. By yesterday, however, the store was very much open for business, trading from both the ground and first floors.

The North Face, Newcastle, four days ago (26 Oct 2011)

The apparent reticence is surprising, given that the Newcastle branch of The North Face has been confirmed as one of the chain’s Flagship stores – a status it shares with only five other UK shops, in Birmingham, Bristol, Glasgow, Liverpool and London. Also, I’m told that The North Face had been eager to secure this space for some time, eventually beating off competition for the site from the fashion brand Hugo Boss.

The lease of the 2,500 sq ft property has been for sale for a good couple of years (with an advertised annual rent of £202,500 PAX) due to Schuh’s relocation to the new St Andrew’s Way section of Eldon Square in February last year. However, Schuh continued to trade from the old site alongside the new one until a replacement tenant was secured.

The store on 6 October, with work at an early stage

While The North Face seems to have made some attempt to remove the residue left on the store’s fascia by the old Schuh logo and ‘to let’ signs, the overall effect – with a small The North Face logo stuck not quite in the middle – is still quite messy.

However, as Newcastle Historian has pointed out in the Skyscrapercity Forums, the current solution seems like a temporary one while the currently ‘pending’ planning application for internally illuminated projecting and fascia signs – on a reclad fascia – is determined. Still, it’s a pity that the store couldn’t open with its ‘finished’ look already in place – the present frontage doesn’t really do justice to the store’s pleasing window displays, which are simple yet striking.

The North Face, Newcastle (29 Oct 2011)

Niggles aside, however, The North Face’s arrival in Newcastle is a very welcome one. Its presence reinforces the sense of the Grey’s Monument area developing into the city’s upmarket quarter – something I’ve blogged about before – with Hotel Chocolat, Jaeger London, Calvin Klein Underwear and Liam Gallagher’s Pretty Green all having arrived in the last year or so, and quirky US fashion and homewares giant Urban Outfitters set to join them on 9 December.

Furthermore, with Hugo Boss still understood to have an active requirement for space in Newcastle city centre, the demand for decent-sized units in the right locations doesn’t look set to dry up just yet.

Discount UK, Newcastle (29 Oct 2011)

Discount UK, the Poundworld-owned variety store retailer, is to open the doors of its new Newcastle store at 10am on Friday (4 November).

As I reported a month ago, contractors on site first revealed that the Clayton Street premises had been taken over by Poundworld, nearly three years after the long-established Woolworths store closed down. The chain’s buying director, Chris Edwards, subsequently confirmed my speculation that the site would host a branch of Discount UK – Poundworld’s recently launched multi-price format, which already occupies the former Woolies site in Middlesbrough – rather than one of its eponymous pound stores.

Discount UK, Newcastle, three days ago (26 Oct 2011)

When I passed the store on Wednesday, the hoardings that had surrounded the site for the past couple of months were still up, but I could see through the gap that all the new shelving was in place. Visiting again today, the hoardings have been taken down, the existing shopfront has been painted black (and had new automatic doors inserted), and the store is in the process of being stocked. Looking inside, the shop appears to be larger than the Middlesbrough store, using much but not all of the former Woolworths shopfloor. The right-hand half of the store seems to go back further than the left.

Discount UK, Newcastle (29 Oct 2011)

One thing that the store is still missing, however, is any signage – other than the remnants of the old Woolworths lettering, of course. With no evidence of any planning application having been submitted yet, I’m curious whether the store will still have any signage in place by the time it opens on Friday.

If it doesn’t, the member of staff who was outside the store leafletting today may have to work extra hard to alert shoppers to the store’s arrival. Today, she was handing out leaflets featuring the store’s opening deals and generally explaining to passing shoppers what Discount UK will be offering.

Discount UK flyer for new Newcastle store

For all that Discount UK is a multi-price format, the four-page leaflet focuses very much on products costing £1 or under. It reveals that of the 5,000-plus products that the store will stock, over 4,000 are £1 or less, including the various grocery, snack and confectionery items featured on the front page.

Inside, the leaflet highlights some of the household and toiletry products found instore – including, eyecatchingly, a two-pack of pregnancy tests for just 99p – alongside a decent-looking range of Christmas cards, wrap and decorations. The back page features items from the Winter Guard range of car protection products, including the leaflet’s most expensive item – a £5.99 snow shovel. The flyer also flags up the ‘Celebrity’ (my quotes) Guest Day that will take place on Saturday (5 November), featuring the Emmerdale and Dancing on Ice ‘star’ (also my quotes) Roxanne Pallett.

To be fair, Discount UK’s product offering isn’t that much different from what we can already find in Newcastle’s Wilkinson, Poundland or, indeed, Poundworld. However, if its opening helps to bring some life back to a neglected part of Clayton Street, and reinforces that part of town’s attraction as a value retail destination, then it can surely only be a good thing for Newcastle city centre.

Former Woolworths, Newcastle (23 Aug 2011)

It seems we might finally have an answer to all the work that’s been going on recently at the old Newcastle Woolworths at 73-79 Clayton Street (store #340) – though not really thanks to any clever detective work on my part.

Last month, work was taking place on site that seemed to involve air being noisily pumped out from large tubes on the ground floor (above); then, this month, similar tubes appeared out of the upper windows, while the ground-floor frontage was boarded off (below). When I walked past yesterday afternoon the door in the hoarding was open, and sticking my head through there was a very strong smell of paint or, possibly, new flooring. Unfortunately, however, the seemingly deserted interior was in darkness, so I couldn’t see very much at all.

Former Woolworths, Newcastle (17 Sep 2011)

Fortunately, my fellow SkyscraperCity contributor, Al Reetson, had the wherewithal today to ask the on-site contractors whether the property had been let. As Al revealed this evening, they said yes, it had – to Poundworld, the single-price retailer that already has a small store in nearby Grainger Street.

Existing Poundworld, Grainger Street, Newcastle

Though Poundworld has snapped up a few ex-Woolies locations – such as the store I visited in West Ealing last year – I’m wondering whether the large Newcastle site might, in fact, become a branch of Poundworld’s recently launched multi-price fascia, Discount UK?

Discount UK (former Woolworths), Middlesbrough (4 May 2011)

Regular readers may well recall that Discount UK opened up in the old Woolworths in Middlesbrough’s Hillstreet shopping centre (#1200) back in April, which I blogged about at the time. As I noted then, I was quite impressed – Discount UK is a much more upmarket looking store than Poundworld itself, and the Middlesbrough shop is really nicely done out inside using a palette of black, white and pink.

The formula certainly seems to be working. Another ten or so stores have opened since Middlesbrough, bringing the total to 13, and a Guardian report a month ago suggested that a further 15 sites would be added to the chain – described by buying director Chris Edwards as a “modern multi-price format” that is intended to “step into [Woolworths'] shoes”.

Discount UK flyer (from Hillstreet website)

Crucially, Poundworld typically requires a ground-floor sales area of between 4,000 and 12,000 sq ft for its eponymous stores, and when its 12,500 sq ft Nottingham store opened in August 2009 this was reported to be the chain’s largest store to date. In comparison, the old Clayton Street Woolies, at 16,293 sq ft, is a fair bit larger than Poundland would normally require – but similar, I suspect, to the size of the existing Discount UK in Middlesbrough.

Interestingly, my last paragraph in that May blog about the Middlesbrough store may yet prove to be unusually prescient:

“I hope the store does well, and encourages the chain to consider further North East sites. In Discount UK, it could be that we’ve finally found the perfect candidate for the still-vacant ex-Woolies in Newcastle city centre: a business whose presence would greatly improve the appearance of that part of Clayton Street, while still being a great fit with – and footfall driver for – the street’s value credentials.”

Four months on, I definitely stand by that earlier sentiment. Though Newcastle’s Woolies was undoubtedly tired and in desperate need of TLC, there’s no doubt that footfall in Clayton Street has suffered since the loss of its main anchor store nearly three years ago, on 27 December 2008.

The arrival of Discount UK – or even, if it turns out that way, the country’s hugest Poundworld – could be just what Clayton Street needs to get its retail mojo back.

New BHS, Swindon (11 Sep 2011)

While visiting Swindon’s out-of-town John Lewis at Home, I also managed to spent some time exploring the town centre.

The open-air Parade shopping centre has the distinction of hosting one of the UK’s few (as yet) new-concept BHS stores, reviewed by Retail Week’s John Ryan shortly after its June opening, and described by him as “without doubt the best shop in Swindon.” Given the store’s similarity to the new BHS shops that will be opening soon in Hartlepool and Newcastle, I was keen to take a look for myself.

Render of Newcastle's new BHS (prior to latest changes). Image by Dalziel & Pow

As you may recall from my previous blogs, BHS is taking over the prominent former Woolworths unit in Hartlepool’s Middleton Grange Shopping Centre, though the opening has been put back from this autumn to early next year as a result of the unit’s redevelopment taking “longer than expected.”

Meanwhile, in Newcastle, BHS’s planning application to revamp the old Next store was ‘granted conditionally’ last month. The core design is unchanged, though the main logo (now slightly smaller) and building surround (now York stone instead of aluminium) have been tweaked in response to council officers’ criticism of the original proposals.

At this stage there’s no official opening date, but Arcadia’s PR person tells me that an opening early next year is now more likely, rather than the autumn of this year as had been originally planned. Given the scale of building work involved, that’s not terribly surprising, particularly as any new store would ideally want to open well before Christmas rather than in the midst of festive trading.

Former BHS, Swindon (4 Jan 2010). Photograph by Brian Robert Marshall

While the upcoming BHS stores in Hartlepool and Newcastle involve a comprehensive revamp of existing buildings – including, in both cases, a new frontage – Swindon’s is a complete new build, constructed on the site of the previous rather tired BHS store (above). Many older BHS shops, such as the now-closed Newcastle store, feel sprawling and overspaced, and it’s telling that the redevelopment has provided room for a more compact, two-storey BHS (but still with a selling area of 27,000 sq ft) as well as several other new arrivals – Topshop/Topman, USC, and a funky and eyecatching River Island.

New River Island, Swindon (11 Sep 2011)

On the outside, the BHS store’s double-height glazing, bold signage and stone surround all give a real flavour of what we can expect to see on Newcastle’s Northumberland Street. Inside, the joy of the new shop is that it still feels roomy, as well as much brighter and fresher than the BHS stores of old.

New BHS, Swindon (11 Sep 2011)

Crucially, the infusion of natural light and more compact footprint ensure that the store has none of the dark and dreary corners that characterise BHS’s older estate. For example, rather than being hidden away at the back of the store, the BHS Café is now a core part of it, its location at the front of the first floor offering great views over the busy street.

Similarly, the lighting department – always a BHS strength, yet not always showcased to best advantage – sits in the middle of the first floor, providing an immediate wow factor as you step off the escalator. Indeed, throughout the store, it’s remarkable quite how much the modern setting enhances the visual appeal of BHS’s own-label product.

Where the first new-concept store in Uxbridge featured several Arcadia concessions – as introduced previously in locations such as Middlesbrough – Swindon’s is what John Ryan terms a “monobrand BHS store.” Given the existing strong presence of Arcadia’s other brands in Newcastle, I’d expect the Northumberland Street store to have a similar focus on BHS’s own ranges, though its four-floor configuration will create new and interesting opportunities for display and navigation.

Rear of BHS Reading (19 Aug 2011)

The problem, of course, is that shiny new BHS stores reinforce quite how tired many of the older ones are – and with a 183-strong estate, updating all of them fully to the new format will be both costly and time consuming. Reading, for example, has had the new logo applied to its existing street frontages; it’s a slightly clunky juxtaposition, however, and almost makes one long for the storefronts to be given a Swindon- or Newcastle-style full-on makeover.

Front of BHS Reading (19 Aug 2011)

As I’ve observed previously, some BHS stores seem to have had little or no investment in the last twenty years. In Exeter last week, for example, I spotted an unmodernised BHS still featuring the old ‘ribbon’ logo that was replaced in 1995. As if to emphasise the point, the store also featured the signature logo (1995-2010) over one of the entrance doors, and the new capitalised logo (2010-) on its window posters. In a city that has a new Debenhams, a decent House of Fraser, and John Lewis on the way, this really isn’t good enough.

BHS Exeter (6 Sep 2011)

Assuming the new BHS format is a success – and it is said, by the chain’s MD, to be “making a difference” – I suspect that we will see further stores relocating to more suitable premises, as has happened in Newcastle, potentially freeing up larger-footprint sites for other expanding retailers. BHS owner Sir Philip Green offloaded ten stores to Primark at the start of last year, at the same time as opening others, and there is persistent speculation that Primark might acquire more.

Meanwhile, just as BHS has taken advantage of Woolworths’ demise to move into Hartlepool for the first time, I’d be surprised if some of the 51 sites left vacant by TJ Hughes’ collapse don’t end up in BHS’s hands. In Sunderland, for example, the TJ Hughes site in High Street West is more comparable in size to the Swindon BHS than the current small store opposite, while few people would complain if BHS wished to work its magic on the unremittingly ugly TJ Hughes store frontage.

TJ Hughes, Sunderland, prior to closure (7 Sep 2009)

Whatever the exact permutations, I suspect that the next few years will see the BHS estate evolving into something that comprises slightly fewer but much better stores. This is likely to be good for those locations that gain the new investment, good for shoppers, and good for the future of one of Britain’s most long-established yet historically undervalued retail brands.

Thank you to Brian Robert Marshall for the shot of the former BHS in Swindon, which is © Copyright Brian Robert Marshall, and licensed for re-use under this Creative Commons Licence.

Outdoor zone, Clas Ohlson, Newcastle (23 Aug 2011)

If the people of Newcastle were still unaware of Clas Ohlson this morning they shouldn’t be by the end of the day. Adding to the billboards and posters that I mentioned a fortnight ago, the Swedish ”modern hardware” retailer’s latest marketing push has included leafletters in Northumberland Street, adverts on the local radio, and even a wraparound on this morning’s edition of the Metro free paper.

The new store opens its doors at 10am tomorrow (Wednesday 24 August), but I was allowed in for a sneak preview this morning to see what shoppers can expect from the North East’s first Clas Ohlson shop.

Clas Ohlson, Newcastle (23 Aug 2011)

Externally, as I’ve noted before, the narrow street frontage that provides lift and escalator access to the basement store makes it harder than usual to draw people in. However, Clas Ohlson has made the best use of the limited space available by creating an eyecatching portal in its corporate blue. Next to the more subdued shopfront of its neighbour H&M, and against the backdrop of a generally dreary building, the bright new frontage is hard to miss.

Display window, Clas Ohlson, Newcastle (23 Aug 2011)

Once inside, display windows have been slotted in on either side of the entrance lobby. Though not very deep, they are an effective way of ensuring that customers get a taste of Clas Ohlson’s product range even before they descend to the store proper, and help to counter the lack of any display frontage onto the street.

Escalator, Clas Ohlson, Newcastle (23 Aug 2011)

The escalator and lift that whisk customers down to the shopfloor are the only features that remain from the old Collectables store, and the extent of the transformation becomes clear as shoppers emerge downstairs. Essentially, the new store is unrecognisable from the one that it replaced.

Descending the escalator, Clas Ohlson, Newcastle (23 Aug 2011)

The layout and appearance of the store will be broadly familiar to anyone who’s visited one of Clas Ohlson’s other shops, such as those in Leeds or Kingston-upon-Thames. Shoppers are greeted by a display table featuring key offers, set against a backdrop of navigational signage and a diagrammatical plan of the store.

Store plan, Clas Ohlson, Newcastle (23 Aug 2011)

A wall featuring the covers of previous Clas Ohlson catalogues is also a nice touch, and a visually bold way of celebrating the retailer’s long heritage – something that has been a key message within the Newcastle store’s marketing campaign. The launch of the latest catalogue, incidentally, has been brought forward a day to coincide with the opening of the Newcastle store.

Catalogues wall, Clas Ohlson, Newcastle (23 Aug 2011)

The bold and fun use of graphics extends throughout the shop. Blown-up images of Clas Ohlson products are used both as a visual aid, to help customers navigate the store, and as a more decorative device to greet customers – and to remind them what Clas Ohlson is all about – as they exit the lift.

Lift area, Clas Ohlson, Newcastle (23 Aug 2011)

With the cash desks located to the left of the entrance area, the natural route into the store is to the right, beginning with the ‘Home’ department before moving on through ‘Electrical’, ‘Hardware’, ‘Multimedia’ and finally ‘Leisure’.

Kitchen products, Clas Ohlson, Newcastle (23 Aug 2011)

Lighting products, Clas Ohlson, Newcastle (23 Aug 2011)

Rather like fellow Swedish retailer Ikea, Clas Ohlson likes to guide customers on a particular journey through the store, though frequent cut-throughs – more obvious than those in Ikea – make it easy to break away from the defined route.

Outdoor products, Clas Ohlson, Newcastle (23 Aug 2011)

As in other Clas Ohlson stores, the distinctive feel of the store design – vaguely industrial, yet sleek and modern – creates a simple backdrop that allows the products to really stand out. The retailer’s Scandinavian origins are evident in the elegant presentation throughout, as is its quirkiness and sense of humour. Inventive, fun and colourful ways of displaying product help to make even the most unglamorous items catch the eye.

Nails, screws and fixings, Clas Ohlson, Newcastle (23 Aug 2011)

Stationery, Clas Ohlson, Newcastle (23 Aug 2011)

Headphones, Clas Ohlson, Newcastle (23 Aug 2011)

Some parts of the store also feature display innovations that are unique to the Newcastle store. The extensive light bulb section, for example, allows shoppers to see the size, colour and brightness of the bulbs on offer, while shelves suspended from the ceiling provide an effective platform for showing off colourful products such as radios.

Light bulbs, Clas Ohlson, Newcastle (23 Aug 2011)

Radios, Clas Ohlson, Newcastle (23 Aug 2011)

As you may have spotted in the shots above, each small section of the Clas Ohlson store has a unique number ID, rather like in the Ikea warehouse. Computer terminals throughout the store allow customers to search the store’s 10,000-strong product range by keyword or item number, and to then print off a list showing the exact location of all those products instore.

Search terminal, Clas Ohlson, Newcastle (23 Aug 2011)

Once Clas Ohlson’s promised transactional website launches in early 2012, I suspect that the terminals will form part of the multichannel shopping experience, for example in allowing customers to browse instore and to then order products for home delivery.

Checkouts, Clas Ohlson, Newcastle (23 Aug 2011)

The checkouts and customer service desk, finally, occupy the area at the side of the lift and escalator – a logical use of an awkward-shaped area, and convenient for customers being able to exit the store again.

So, overall, it’s hard not to be impressed by what Clas Ohlson has done with the space, turning it into a store that feels large, bright, modern and fun – and that’s packed, of course, with useful stuff, much of it usually found out of town rather than on the high street.

With the pre-opening marketing blitz nearly done, and the final preparations being made to the store ahead of tomorrow’s opening, all that now remains is for Newcastle shoppers to take the new arrival to their hearts. As the only Clas Ohlson store to open in the UK this year, and with short-term expansion plans scaled back, the chain’s bosses will no doubt be keeping a close eye on its performance.

Waitrose Jesmond... in Grimsby (23 Aug 2011)

Map blooper stories are always good value, whether it’s because they’ve erased Wales or located Shrewsbury in the middle of a river. Now, potential John Lewis Partners in Lincolnshire may be disappointed to find that Waitrose is not, in fact, about to open a store on their doorstep.

The Partnership’s jobs site highlights upcoming Waitrose locations, including the store in the upmarket Newcastle suburb of Jesmond that is due to open in November. The 7,500 sq ft shop will be the North East’s fourth Waitrose (after Hexham, Eldon Square and Ponteland), but the first to open under the ‘Little Waitrose’ convenience banner.

Existing Waitrose convenience store, Leeds (21 Jan 2011)

However, it seems that not everyone at the Partnership is quite as clued up about the North East. According to the map, Jesmond has been shifted 116 miles down the coast, and is now somewhere near Grimsby in North East Lincolnshire.

I know Grimsby is a major centre for the food industry, but surely the idea is to transport produce from there to the Jesmond store, rather than the other way round?

Newcastle's TJ Hughes (8 Aug 2011)

There was good news for Newcastle city centre earlier this week, with the announcement that the TJ Hughes store in Grainger Street had been sold, preventing the loss of 76 jobs. However, the collapsed department store chain’s Middlesbrough branch is one of eight that will close down for good by Thursday next week (18 August), leaving a large hole in the town’s Captain Cook Square shopping centre.

The Newcastle store and another in Widnes have been bought by Lewis’s Home Retail, a company owned by The Benross Group – a home and garden wholesaler that is already one of TJ Hughes’ major suppliers. The deal brings the total number of TJ’s sites acquired by Lewis’s to six, following the purchase of stores in Liverpool, Glasgow, Eastbourne and Sheffield – as well as the TJ Hughes brand – at the start of August.

Lewis’s Home Retail acquired the rights to the iconic Lewis’s brand only last month, following the sale of assets owned by the collapsed Vergo Retail chain. However, Benross’ MD Anil Juneja has confirmed that the acquired stores will retain their existing TJ Hughes fascias with a view to building the chain back up again over time.

Lewis’s, meanwhile, is set to be revived separately, starting with a retail park store in Bury. The submitted plans for the ‘Lewis’s Home’ store suggest that while the relaunched chain will focus on homewares rather than a full department store offer, the familiar blue and white Lewis’s logo (below) is poised to make a comeback.

Revived Lewis's Home logo

The sale of the Newcastle TJ Hughes store avoids the headache of a large empty unit in a slightly off-centre pitch within Newcastle city centre. Covering three floors and with a gross area of 91,000 sq ft (8,500 sqm), the unit is one of the city’s largest outside of Eldon Square and Northumberland Street, and its vacancy would most likely have seen the space being divided up.

TJ Hughes has traded from the purpose-built unit since 2002, but the location is associated with two of Newcastle’s most well-loved department store names: Bainbridge (now John Lewis), which expanded across the site from 1838 to 1976 before relocating to Eldon Square; and Binns (House of Fraser), which occupied the site between 1977 and 1995. Most of the site was demolished and redeveloped following Binns’ departure, but apart from not having a frontage to Market Street, today’s TJ Hughes has a broadly similar footprint to its predecessor.

TJ Hughes, Newcastle (13 Aug 2011)

Interestingly, of the six TJ Hughes sites acquired by Lewis’s, three have a House of Fraser connection. As well as Newcastle, the stores in Sheffield and Eastbourne are both ex-House of Fraser sites that TJ Hughes acquired in 1997. The Liverpool site is the original TJ Hughes flagship in London Road; Glasgow’s Trongate store is a former C&A; and the Widnes shop occupies a unit in the modern Green Oaks Shopping Centre.

Former Woolworths (now TJ Hughes), Westfield Derby (23 Dec 2010)

Indeed, over the years TJ Hughes has played an important role in mopping up large-format space that other retailers have left behind. Most recently, it has acquired a number of high-profile former Woolworths sites, including in Belfast, Derby, Hanley, Southend, Walsall and Nuneaton.

Former Woolworths (now TJ Hughes), Nuneaton (24 Aug 2010)

When I visited Nuneaton in August last year, work was underway to transform the town’s former Woolworths into a TJ Hughes; now, after less than ten months of trading, it will be closing this coming Sunday (14 August). In towns like Nuneaton – which already lost its Marks & Spencer store earlier this year – filling the former Woolworths site a second time may not be an easy task.

TJ Hughes, Sunderland (7 Sep 2009)

With six TJ Hughes stores saved, and 30 set to close over the next week, the future of the remaining 21 stores in the estate – including the Sunderland branch – is still in doubt. There’s a possibility that Benross may snap up one or two more, but its purchase of the TJ Hughes brand – ruling out any other retailers trading TJ’s stores under the existing fascia – suggests that there is little chance of more stores being acquired as going concerns.

A more likely scenario is that retailers such as BHS, H&M, Wilkinson, Marks & Spencer, Primark and Debenhams will snap up the best sites once they become vacant. The site in upmarket Lichfield, for example, may appeal to the rapidly expanding Beales or to M&S, which already has a successful Simply Food store in the city.

TJ Hughes, Lichfield (19 Mar 2010)

For both Middlesbrough and Sunderland, however, the challenge will be to find large retailers that aren’t already represented in those locations. Of the two, Middlesbrough is arguably the better unit, anchoring the modern Captain Cook Square shopping centre close to the prime Linthorpe Road thoroughfare; Sunderland’s, in High Street West, is in a fairly central location close to The Bridges shopping centre, but suffers from being an older, less attractive property that hasn’t been much improved since it housed a branch of Littlewoods.

With both Middlesbrough and Sunderland already home to almost all the likely candidates – including BHS, H&M, Debenhams, M&S, TK Maxx, Primark, Wilkinson and Next – it will be interesting to see who else, if anyone, steps up to fill the gaps.

Clas Ohlson billboard, Gateshead (8 Aug 2011)

Everything seems to be gearing up nicely for the opening of Newcastle’s Clas Ohlson store, just two weeks today on Wednesday 24 August.

The Northumberland Street store’s hanging signage (below) has now been in place for a week or two, and there seems to be a big marketing push going on to build local awareness of the Clas Ohlson brand.

Hanging signage at new Clas Ohlson store, Newcastle (8 Aug 2011)

Out and about on Monday, I spotted at least two billboards (in Gateshead) and posters at various Metro stations, including Jarrow, below. Under the tagline “Prepare to have a new favourite shop”, the posters emphasise Clas Ohlson’s range of “practical products” as well as celebrating the retailer’s Scandinavian heritage.

Clas Ohlson poster on Metro (8 Aug 2011)

As a relatively new entrant to the UK market – Newcastle is its twelfth store – Clas Ohlson’s need to raise awareness and understanding of its brand mirrors the position of the US electronics giant, Best Buy, which currently has 11 UK sites.

When I’ve mentioned Clas Ohlson’s arrival to people I know here in the North East, most have never heard of the chain; however, with the nearest store currently in Leeds, that’s hardly surprising.

While the hoardings around the site have been prominently plugging the store’s imminent opening for the last couple of months, there’s clearly a job to do in telling Newcastle shoppers about what Clas Ohlson is – especially as the store’s lower-ground-floor location (previously occupied by Collectables) will make it more challenging than usual to attract unknowing people in off the street.

Best Buy recently began a nationwide TV campaign on the back of launching its transactional UK website late last year, and this activity has potential to drive multichannel traffic, encouraging visits to the online store, big-box locations or both.

Clas Ohlson website (10 Aug 2011)

Clas Ohlson, similarly, has been building up its physical store presence ahead of launching its online shop, which, according to its website, is set to go live early next year. Being able to reach customers anywhere in the UK will be a critical stage in Clas Ohlson’s penetration of the British market, and, like with Best Buy, will make it worthwhile marketing the brand at a national as well as a local level. The hope will be that traffic to the physical and online stores reinforces one another, as well as potentially paving the way for further high-street store openings through 2012 and 2013.

For now, Newcastle is set to be Clas Ohlson’s only UK store opening of 2011, but the launch of the online store in 2012 should ensure that shoppers elsewhere – be it Bristol, Southampton or Glasgow – are more clued up in advance should a Clas Ohlson eventually set up shop on their high street.

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!

Habitat, Bristol (22 Feb 2011)

It’s hard to dispute that the last couple of weeks has been a torrid time for the UK high street, with a succession of well-known names either announcing bad news or collapsing into administration.

While HMV has a stay of execution for now, other retailers in that section of the alphabet – Habitat, HomeForm, Haldanes and TJ Hughes – have teetered, joined by others such as the clothing chains Jane Norman and Life & Style.

Thorntons, Bishop Auckland (24 Jan 2011)

Comet and Thorntons, meanwhile, look set to follow Mothercare’s recent lead in radically slimming down their UK store estates. When Thorntons becomes the most popular trending topic on Twitter, as it was earlier this week, you really know that the high street’s travails have entered mainstream discussion.

So, what are the key headlines from, arguably, the most intense period of bad retail news since a flurry of retailers – among them Woolworths, Zavvi, Whittard’s and Adams – all collapsed in the final weeks of 2008?

Habitat's Tottenham Court Road flagship - which is staying open (6 Apr 2011)

• The iconic furniture brand Habitat, and three of its central London stores, have been bought by Home Retail Group, owner of Argos and Homebase, for £24.5m. However, the remaining 30 UK stores are in administration and threatened with closure, with 750 jobs at risk. Harrogate, Edinburgh and York are among the locations affected, but there have been no Habitat stores in the North East since the Eldon Square branch in Newcastle closed in the late 1980s.

• HomeForm, the private equity-owned home improvement business that owns brands such as Moben, Kitchens Direct and Dolphin filed for administration on 23 June, putting 160 showrooms and 2,800 jobs in danger. Locations in the North East include Darlington, Gateshead, Middlesbrough, Newcastle and Sunderland.

• TJ Hughes, the Liverpool-based discount department store chain, collapsed into administration on Thursday morning, two days after announcing that it was planning to appoint administrators. The chain has 57 stores, which employ 4,000 people and account for almost 2 million square feet of retail floorspace – slightly more than the entire sales area of Metrocentre. TJ Hughes stores in Newcastle, Sunderland and Middlesbrough are among those at risk.

• Young fashion chain Jane Norman collapsed into administration earlier this week. On Tuesday, it was announced that Edinburgh Woollen Mill had bought 33 of the 94 shops, saving nearly 400 jobs, with a possibility of buying 28 more stores. However, the remaining 33 sites will close – including the branch in Newcastle’s Eldon Square – and the future of Jane Norman’s 82 department store concessions is uncertain.

• Clothing and homewares chain Life & Style – the rebadged Ethel Austin – collapsed into administration for the third time in as many years last month. 22 of the rump business’s 90 stores are already closing, with 274 staff losing their jobs.

• A week ago, Kesa-owned electricals chain Comet reported a 6.8% fall in sales compared to a year before, and annnounced plans to close 17 stores and downsize 9 others.

• On Tuesday, chocolatier Thorntons revealed that it would close up to 180 shops over the next three years, accounting for almost half of its entire company-owned store estate. The additional 227 franchisee-owned stores are not affected.

All these stories are worthy of a discussion in their own right – and will more than likely crop up again in future blog posts – but, looked at as a whole, what do they tell us about the condition of UK retail right now?

TJ Hughes, Sunderland (7 Sep 2009)

Whenever a familar high street name is in danger, it’s easy to wheel out all the usual arguments about the effects of online shopping, supermarkets’ assault into non-food, and the bane of quarterly rent payments or upward-only rent reviews.

Squeezed consumer spending is clearly also a huge issue at present. The sectors that Comet and HomeForm inhsbit – electricals and home improvement – are both among the most challenging places to be right now, as demonstrated by difficult trading at Dixons, Best Buy’s struggle to make an impression in the UK, and the recent collapse of Focus DIY.

Focus, Consett (4 Jun 2011)

Without a doubt, these economic or market factors have all contributed to the recent bad news, but they don’t explain why some retailers are collapsing when plenty of others are, if not exactly thriving, at least weathering the economic storm. The John Lewis Partnership, for example, today published its healthiest weekly sales figures for some time, with the Delia effect at Waitrose and the launch of the John Lewis Clearance pushing up turnover by 12.5% compared to a year ago.

Just as John Lewis can usually be relied upon to deliver good news, it’s very rarely a complete surprise when a particular retailer goes under. Look at this week’s casualties, and you’ll see that most of them share one or more of the same attributes:

• Lack of clarity regarding the brand or proposition
• A perception of being a ‘legacy’ retailer
• Stronger competitors within their sector
• A reputation simply for being cheap, rather than offering value
• Instability and a lack of strategic direction through constant changes in ownership or management.

Habitat fascia, York (17 Jul 2010)

In its heyday in the 1960s and 70s, Habitat, for example, was truly a design and retail innovator. However, squeezed between Ikea at the value end and Heal’s and John Lewis at the top end, Habitat has since struggled to define its niche. Meanwhile, a shrinking store estate over the years – 33 now, from a recent peak of 42 – has reinforced the impression of a business in decline.

Closed-down Habitat, Birmingham (18 Mar 2010)

Jane Norman, too, has seemingly lost sight of the reasons that made it successful in the first place, with my female friends bemoaning what they see as its move downmarket – a dangerous shift, that brings it into more direct competition with bigger, and cheaper, chains such as Primark, Peacocks and New Look.

Those big names in the clothing sector have also caused difficulties for TJ Hughes and Life & Style – raising their fashion credentials in order to offer customers all-round value, and leaving behind those retailers that have sought to compete primarily on price. Add in Life & Style’s record of previous collapses (as Ethel Austin), and the fact that TJ Hughes has had four owners in the last decade, and there’s little wonder that both have become distracted from what needs to be their core focus – being top-notch retailers.

In Thorntons’ case, many of its difficulties seem self-inflicted, throwing away the upmarket cachet of its brand by spreading itself too thinly. Creating a bloated estate of 600 shops would be unwise enough, particularly when quite a lot of them offer uninspring store environments in unglamorous locations. However, letting your product be sold in supermarkets and Wilkinson was always likely to be a disaster – undermining your brand’s reputation for quality while simultaneously removing the need for shoppers to visit your own stores.

What does all this mean, looking forward? Well, those retail businesses that simply aren’t up to scratch in terms of proposition, brand, strategy or customer experience will need to up their game in order to survive. However, there’s no reason why those businesses that are well-run and have a clear reason to exist shouldn’t continue to prosper.

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

Plans for Northumberland Street’s new BHS store have been submitted to Newcastle City Council, and propose a more radical than expected transformation of the former Next building.

Back in March, a notice posted at the old, closed-down BHS stated that the relocated store would be opening “in the autumn”, giving a fairly short 5-6 month window for the Next site to be redeveloped, once vacated in May. On this basis, I’d assumed that BHS would focus its attention on stripping out and rebuilding the store interior, and that the building’s frontage would see little change beyond a new shopfront and signage.

Next, Northumberland Street, Newcastle (now closed) (14 Mar 2011)

In fact, BHS’s plans envisage an entirely new front elevation, replacing the existing dressed stone façade (above) with one comprising full-height glazing and powder-coated aluminium cladding. I’m told by Arcadia Group, however, that the store is still set to open in the “latter part of this year.”

The drawings also reveal that the BHS shopfloor will span four levels – one more than Next occupied – including menswear in the basement, womenswear on the ground floor, lingerie on the first floor, and the BHS Café on the second floor, while the third floor will be used for storage. Homeware and childrenswear are also expected to feature, though their locations within the store are not clear.

Just like the first new-generation BHS store that was unveiled in Uxbridge a year ago, the Newcastle shop is the work of top London-based design consultancy Dalziel & Pow. Last year, Retail Week described Dalziel & Pow as “the low-profile leader of the UK retail design industry”, responsible for “new formats that set the pace on the high street in the UK.” Coincidentally, the company was also behind the design of Next’s new store in Eldon Square.

The boldness of the proposed design will surely divide opinion, and even I’m not entirely sure how I feel about it. On the one hand, it will be a shame to lose the existing frontage, given that it’s really quite handsome, and – as I noted last year – is the last remnant of the building that used to occupy the full extent of the site currently occupied by the ex-BHS, ex-Next and Primark (below).

Old postcard of ex-BHS prior to rebuilding, Northumberland Street, Newcastle

On the other hand, Northumberland Street’s lack of a coherent architectural style makes it the only location in Newcastle city centre where ‘glass box’ shops really work. Indeed, there is a long history of older properties in the street being given shiny new frontages, such as the present HMV store (a new skin on the old Callers building), and, only last year, the transformation of the Currys/PC World and Cotswold Outdoor property.

Cotswold, Northumberland Street, Newcastle (14 Mar 2011)

Like those redevelopments before it, BHS’s investment will be a powerful – and very visible – indicator of confidence in the future of Newcastle’s premier shopping street.

Former Next, Northumberland Street (6 Jun 2011)

Whichever argument eventually wins me over, the building certainly loses some of its visual appeal now that the shop windows are empty and the Next signage removed (above).

As I’ve remarked several times before, shopfronts and fascias can hide a multitude of sins beneath, and the removal of Next’s signs has revealed the remains of what appears to be two separate fascias. A photograph on the Newcastle Libraries Flickr stream shows the property in 1975 – some years before Next’s arrival – housing a store called Penberthys, but it’s entirely possible that the space accommodated two separate shops at some point in the past.

Former BHS, Newcastle (6 Jun 2011)

Meanwhile, work seems to be progressing at the ex-BHS site a couple of doors away (above), which is set to be occupied by an extended Primark store. No planning application has been submitted yet, however, so I assume that current works are focusing on stripping out the old BHS interior.

Former BHS, Northumberland Street, Newcastle (14 Mar 2011)

In due course, it will be fascinating to see what Primark proposes for the site, given that the frontages of the ex-BHS and current Primark stores (above) will need, somehow, to be unified.

One thing’s for sure – as one of Northumberland Street’s ugliest buildings, there probably isn’t a property in the street that’s more in need of a refronting. Here’s hoping that Dalziel & Pow – or someone else – will be drafted in to work some magic with glass and aluminium.

Clas Ohlson, Newcastle (6 Jun 2011)

Clas Ohlson, the Swedish hardware retailer, has confirmed that its new Newcastle store in Northumberland Street will open on Wednesday 24 August.

Recently erected hoardings around the 20,333 sq ft unit – formerly occupied by Collectables – reveal the opening date, and provide Newcastle shoppers with some background about Clas Ohlson’s 93-year history of “solving everyday practical problems.”

The site as Collectables (14 Mar 2011)

The store’s key product ranges – including home, multimedia, electrical, leisure and hardware – are also highlighted, giving passing shoppers a taste of what they can expect when the new store opens its doors.

Clas Ohlson, Newcastle (6 Jun 2011)

The shop’s fitout work is being carried out by the Midlands-based property services company DRC, whose head office is, coincidentally, located close to my old hometown of Tamworth. I had the pleasure of chatting to DRC’s Louise Bolton yesterday, who explained that the company has worked with Clas Ohlson before, completing the shopfits of the mall-based Merry Hill store and the three-storey former Zavvi unit at Liverpool’s Clayton Square.

Clas Ohlson, Merry Hill (20 Feb 2011). Photograph by Martin Jarvis

The Newcastle store’s basement location makes it one of the more challenging projects to manage, though the retention of the existing public lift and escalator – confirmed by Louise – makes things a little easier. Louise told me that all material has to be brought in and out of the site using the rear goods lift – and with the existing shopfloor being stripped down to a shell and rebuilt from scratch, that’s quite a lot of material to shift.

Nevertheless, Louise assured me that work on site – which began on 4 May, just a couple of weeks after Collectables’ closure – is all “on time and on programme”, with handover to Clas Ohlson scheduled for four to five weeks before the store’s opening date. Louise explained that a few DRC staff will remain on site until the store opens its doors, in order to deal with any adjustments to lighting or fixtures that might be required.

Though DRC will no doubt be in contention to work on future Clas Ohlson fitouts, Newcastle remains, for the moment, the only UK store scheduled to open during 2011. It will be the chain’s twelfth, and most northerly, British store since it entered the UK market in November 2008, and the first one to open since Cardiff, Doncaster and Norwich launched in quick succession in December last year.

Clas Ohlson catalogue

As I’ve noted before, Clas Ohlson’s preference for publishing total sales figures rather than like-for-likes makes it hard to unpack quite how its UK stores are performing. The latest figures (for April 2011) show that the UK stores turned over SEK 16m that month, compared to SEK 11m a year earlier – up 49% in SEK, or a healthier 62% in GBP.

Clas Ohlson from top of Briggate, Leeds (21 Jan 2011)

However, April 2010′s figures were based on just five stores (plus a couple of days’ trading from Leeds and Liverpool), whereas April 2011′s are based on 11. This suggests that while store numbers have more than doubled over the period, sales haven’t grown at quite the same rate.

In short, it seems like Clas Ohlson’s decision to slow its UK expansion is a wise one, given that there’s still some work to do in raising awareness of the Clas Ohlson brand and offer in those locations where it’s already represented. Come August, it will certainly be fascinating to see what the people of Newcastle make of this new and quirky retail experience on their doorstep.

Former Woolworths, Felling (17 Jun 2010)

This is my 200th blog post since starting Soult’s Retail View back in July 2009, so it seems only appropriate for it to bring together two of my favourite topics – Woolworths and Tyneside!

Regular readers will recall that I’ve written about all 33 of the North East Woolworths stores that closed following the chain’s 2008 collapse, but I’ve also tracked down many of those sites that Woolies had already vacated in the years before.

Former Woolworths (now Heron Foods), New Washington (Concord) (17 Jun 2010)

Among these are the ex-Woolworths in Crook (#529, closed in about 1972) and Seaham (#649, closed in the mid-1980s), both in County Durham, as well as the Wearside branches at New Washington (#1014, closed in 1984) and Sunderland (#144, closed 2004).

Within the Newcastle city boundaries, I’ve also covered the original Byker Woolworths (#276, closed on 1 June 1985), which occupied two different sites in Shields Road during its lifetime, and the Benwell store in Adelaide Terrace (#905), converted from a former cinema.

Former Woolworths in Benwell (28 May 2010)

For today’s post, I want to look at two more long-gone Woolies stores on Tyneside – one in the Gateshead suburb of Felling, and the other in the Arndale Centre on Newcastle’s North Kenton estate. In both cases, the information I’ve got following my visits last year is quite sketchy, with no definitive opening or closing dates, and no Woolies store number – neither gets a mention in any of the copies of The New Bond that I’ve acquired to date. Not to worry, though – let’s take a look at what we do know so far.

Felling High Street (10 Nov 2010)

Just a couple of miles from the centre of Gateshead, and only a handful of Metro stops from Newcastle, Felling’s High Street has suffered a slow decline in recent years. At the end of 2008, an article in the local paper highlighted the extent of the problem, famously revealing that the High Street had just “three shops” left – technically true, but slightly overplaying the level of vacancy by seemingly not counting those premises occupied by takeaways, betting shops or other ‘non-retail’ uses.

Former Kwik Save, Felling (17 Jun 2010)

While some big names – including Woolworths, and a branch of the Gateshead department store institution, Shephards – disappeared from Felling years ago, there’s no doubt that the collapse of Kwik Save, in 2007, was a major recent blow. Located towards the bottom of the hill, its closure has meant that there’s no longer much reason to venture down the High Street – past other (former) shops – from the main shopping precinct at Felling Square.

Shops at Felling Square (10 Nov 2010)

It would be wrong, however, to frame Felling as a completely failed retail location. Just beyond the High Street itself, the Felling Square area has been reasonably busy both times that I’ve visited, no doubt assisted by its proximity to local bus routes. The presence of some decent chains – including The Co-operative Food, Boots, Heron Foods and Greggs – a post office, newsagents and complementary indie stores ensures that Felling’s retail centre continues to have a role in meeting the area’s everyday shopping needs.

Former Woolworths, Felling (10 Nov 2010)

So what of the old Woolies? It was located at 98-104 High Street, in a building whose current occupant – William Hill, the bookmakers – is perhaps illustrative of the way in which the street’s fortunes have declined. Someone suggested to me, via Twitter, that Woolworths had previously occupied the site of today’s Heron Foods in nearby Felling Square – presumably in an earlier building – but I’m yet to find any other evidence to confirm this.

Heron Foods, Felling (10 Nov 2011)

The bland, redbrick, flat-roofed property at 98-104 High Street is rather typical of the stores that Woolworths was constructing in the 1950s and 60s, and my suspicion is that Woolies’ presence in Felling probably dates from the 1950s rather than the 1930s or earlier.

By 1953, Woolworths’ store count was already up to more than 800, and the rapid expansion at that time – with store #1000 opened just five years later, in May 1958 – meant that the chain was, frankly, rather scratching around for viable locations in which it wasn’t already represented. It’s no coincidence that many of the stores opened at this time were among the first ones to be closed again once Woolies began downsizing in the ’70s and ’80s.

A busy shot from April 1966, below – taken from a 1990 publication called Gateshead in Focus – shows that Woolworths was certainly in place by then.

April 1966 view of Woolworths, Felling. From 'Gateshead in Focus' book

From what I can gather, Felling’s Woolworths was one of the casualties of the aforementioned ’70s and ’80s downsizing, with one source pointing to a late 1980s closure date. An interesting photograph on the iSee Gateshead site from 1986 shows the store’s ‘F W Woolworth & Co. Ltd’ lettering still in situ, which is an usually late survival – by this time, most stores had long ago adopted the 1970s red and white ‘Woolworth’ fascia, as recently seen at the back of the Burton-upon-Trent store. The shop itself looks empty, so I suspect that this particular view may have been taken not long after its permanent closure.

In a slightly earlier shot, from 1985, below, the store has its shutters down, so it’s difficult again to be certain whether the store was still trading at that time.

1985 view of Felling Woolworths

Though never a particularly attractive building, the Felling Woolies was certainly more appealing before its first-floor windows were blocked up. In my photo at the top of the page, the original position of two narrow windows either side of a central wider one is apparent from the colouring of the infill brickwork. For whatever reason, four new (and less symmetrical) windows were at some point inserted in place of the originals; these, in turn, were also boarded up, giving the property as it appears today a derelict-looking upper floor above an uncongruously shiny and modern shopfront.

Rear of former Woolworths, Felling (10 Nov 2010)

Viewed from the back, above, the property is similarly unattractive. Interestingly, however, it is much bigger than it looks from the High Street – a feature typical of many former Woolworths stores – and it’s hard to imagine that today’s William Hill branch makes use of all the available space.

North Kenton shops (10 Nov 2010)

On the opposite side of the Tyne, there are many parallels between the ex-Woolies at Felling and the one at North Kenton, but even less documentary evidence about its existence.

Situated at the corner of Halewood Avenue and Kirkwood Drive, the Arndale Shopping Centre was built along with the neighbouring North Kenton housing estate in the 1950s, suggesting that the area’s Woolworths store was fairly contemporary with the one in Felling. As Britain built its postwar housing estates, it was quite common for Woolworths to be the anchor store on those developments’ shopping precincts. In the North East alone, for example, new Woolies stores opened at the Pennywell estate in Sunderland in 1953, and at Longbenton, North Tyneside, in 1959 – both of which will be covered in future posts.

Former Woolworths (now Nisa), North Kenton (10 Nov 2010)

Often – as in New Washington – Woolworths seems to have occupied premises that stood out architecturally from the rest of the parade, and that was also case in North Kenton. Though I’ve seen no photographs of the building in use as Woolworths, I understand from someone who grew up in North Kenton that Woolies occupied the prominent, projecting unit that now houses Nisa and Boots. It was apparently still there in 1966, but departed at some point in the 1970s or 80s.

North Kenton shops (10 Nov 2010)

As in Felling, there’s no doubt that the North Kenton shopping centre continues to perform a valuable function for the community that it serves. Again as in Felling, however, the large number of empty units creates a depressing and slightly unsettling feel, and a sense of a shopping centre that is simply bigger than it needs to be.

This lack of fitness for modern purpose is the reason, indeed, why so many similar postwar suburban shopping precincts – including those in Pennywell and Longbenton – have subsequently been demolished and replaced by new, more compact retail centres that are better able to accommodate their communities’ current, everyday needs.

In hindsight, Woolworths’ departure from such locations, all those years ago, feels like an inevitable part of that suburban retail evolution.