Soult's Retail View

Swindon’s BHS provides a taster of what Newcastle and Hartlepool can expect

Graham Soult September 15, 2011 Brands, Fashion Stores, Property 3 Comments

Tags: Arcadia, BHS, Exeter, Hartlepool, John Ryan, Middleton Grange, Newcastle, Northumberland Street, Reading, Retail Week, River Island, Sir Philip Green, Sunderland, Swindon, TJ Hughes, Woolworths

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 … Continue Reading

Newcastle’s TJ Hughes is saved – but Middlesbrough’s is to close within days

Graham Soult August 13, 2011 Department Stores, Property, Retail History, Woolworths 8 Comments

Tags: Bainbridge, Benross Group, Binns, Bury, Captain Cook Square, Derby, Eastbourne, Glasgow, Grainger Street, House of Fraser, Lewis's, Lewis's Home Retail, Lichfield, Liverpool, Middlesbrough, Newcastle, Nuneaton, Sheffield, Sunderland, TJ Hughes, Widnes, Woolworths

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 … Continue Reading

Habitat, HomeForm, TJ Hughes: why is it H-H-Hell on the high street?

Graham Soult July 01, 2011 Economy, Fashion Stores, Home and DIY, Property 7 Comments

Tags: Best Buy, Comet, Dixons, Dolphin, Edinburgh Woollen Mill, Eldon Square, Ethel Austin, Focus DIY, Habitat, Heals, HMV, Home Retail Group, HomeForm, Ikea, Jane Norman, John Lewis, Kesa, Kitchens Direct, Life & Style, London, Middlesbrough, Moben, New Look, Newcastle, Peacocks, Primark, Sunderland, Thorntons, TJ Hughes, Waitrose, Wilkinson

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, … Continue Reading

Ambitious Tyne Bridge mall plans to be unveiled

Graham Soult April 01, 2011 April Fool, Personal 2 Comments

Tags: Aldersgate, April Fool, B&M Bargains, East Pilgrim Street, Gateshead, Greggs, Harvey Nichols, Newcastle, RIALP, Sara Pilfloody, Spenhill, Sunderland, Trinity Square, Tyne Bridge

The iconic Tyne Bridge

The retail hearts of Newcastle and Gateshead are set to be connected by a new £200m shopping mall, running the length of the iconic Tyne Bridge.

The scheme will involve building a new modern steel and glass structure underneath the existing road deck, providing a covered mall route between the Newcastle and Gateshead sides, and affording panoramic views over the existing developments at Newcastle Quayside and Gateshead Quays.

The project is also set … Continue Reading

The ghosts of Washington’s former Woolworths

Graham Soult June 22, 2010 Retail History, Woolworths 5 Comments

Tags: Asda, Concord, Heron Foods, Houghton-le-Spring, New Washington, Pennywell, Primark, Seaham, Sunderland, The New Bond, Washington Galleries, Woolco, Woolworths

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

Back in February, I blogged about the former Woolworths store in Sunderland’s Fawcett Street, which closed in 2004 following its acquisition by Primark.

At the time, I noted the curious lack of Woolies stores left on Wearside … Continue Reading

Logging the North East’s long-closed former Woolies

Graham Soult May 31, 2010 Retail History, Woolworths 6 Comments

Tags: Benwell, Byker, Crook, Felling, Middlesbrough, Seaham, South Shields, Stockton-on-Tees, Sunderland, The New Bond, Woolworths

Former Linthorpe Road Woolworths, Middlesbrough

Last week’s blog post about the long-closed former Woolworths in Benwell seems to have opened the floodgates to lots of comments and insights about other nearly-forgotten Woolies in the North East – many thanks indeed for all your contributions!

While Seamaster … Continue Reading

Robbs and Joplings owner Vergo Retail in administration

Graham Soult May 11, 2010 Department Stores 9 Comments

Tags: Adams, administration, David Thompson, Ethel Austin, Hexham, Joplings, Lewis's, MCR, Owen Owen, Robbs, Sunderland, Vergo Retail

The iconic Joplings store in Sunderland

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

Sarah Bell and Steven Muncaster, partners at MCR, have been appointed joint administrators, with the stores set to trade as normal while the … Continue Reading

Sunderland’s old Woolies – a survivor almost to the end

Graham Soult February 14, 2010 Department Stores, Retail History, Supermarkets, Woolworths 4 Comments

Tags: Asda, Dee Corporation, Gateway, Houghton-le-Spring, Killingworth, Primark, Sunderland, Thornaby, Washington Galleries, Woolco, Woolworths

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

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

However, one flagship Woolies that lasted … Continue Reading

Vergo Retail – the saviour of unloved Co-op department stores?

Graham Soult July 23, 2009 Brands, Department Stores, Independent Stores, Retail History 8 Comments

Tags: Berwick-upon-Tweed, Bishop Auckland, Blyth, Chester-le-Street, Clacton, Co-op, Co-operative Group, Colchester, department store, Derrys, Dovercourt, Felixstowe, Gateshead, Great Yarmouth, Hexham, House of Fraser, Ipswich, Joplings, Lewis's, Murton's, Newcastle, Norwich, Owen Owen, Plymouth, Robbs, Sheffield, Stanway, Stowmarket, Sunderland, Tamworth, Vergo Retail, Westgate Department Stores, Witham

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

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

Vergo Retail, as you may be aware, is the Liverpool-based operation headed … Continue Reading

Swindon’s BHS provides a taster of what Newcastle and Hartlepool can expect

Newcastle’s TJ Hughes is saved – but Middlesbrough’s is to close within days

Habitat, HomeForm, TJ Hughes: why is it H-H-Hell on the high street?

Ambitious Tyne Bridge mall plans to be unveiled

The ghosts of Washington’s former Woolworths

Logging the North East’s long-closed former Woolies

Robbs and Joplings owner Vergo Retail in administration

Sunderland’s old Woolies – a survivor almost to the end

Vergo Retail – the saviour of unloved Co-op department stores?

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