Soult's Retail View

Former Woolworths, Newton Aycliffe (5 Jan 2012)

Headlines:

• 214 ex-Woolworths stores visited, out of the 807 that closed following its collapse
• Of those, only 12 currently empty (6%)
• 7 continually empty (3%)
• 35 with two or more post-Woolies uses (16%).

Looking at my blog, you might be forgiven for thinking that I’ve forgotten about Woolworths in recent months.

It’s certainly true that the number of Woolies-related posts has slowed down a bit – partly due … Continue Reading

Like Santa in Keswick, does HMV have a mountain to climb? (27 Nov 2011)

Eighteen months on from securing a £220m refinancing ‘lifeline’, HMV’s warning today that it is … Continue Reading

Primark, Newcastle (30 Oct 2012)

The outside of Newcastle’s enlarged Primark is finally starting to gain its funky cladding, as the Northumberland Street store gets ready for its planned opening.

Since I last updated on the project at the end of July, the exterior of the building has changed … Continue Reading

TJ Hughes, Middlesbrough (12 Sep 2012)

TJ Hughes, the discount department store chain, has announced that its Middlesbrough store will reopen next week, at 10am on Wednesday 3 October.

Under the heading ‘We’re back!”, window posters at the store have been trumpeting an ‘October 2012′ reopening for the last few weeks, but … Continue Reading

JJB Sports, Cardiff (17 Aug 2012)

Last week’s news that Dick’s Sporting Goods, the US sports chain, has written off the £20m investment it made in JJB Sports just four months ago is the latest in a line of challenges for the beleaguered retailer.

It’s hard to believe … Continue Reading

TJ Hughes, Lichfield, prior to closure (19 Mar 2010)

The confirmation that Debenhams will be opening up in Lichfield’s former TJ Hughes store in March 2013 is great news for the city, and should give a big footfall boost to neighbouring retailers.

The … Continue Reading

Promotion for Crawley store on Wilkinson website (15 Aug 2012)

Wilkinson’s “newest and most exciting concept store” has opened at 14-26 The Broadway in Crawley this morning (15 August).

Designed to “offer the community a more modern and interactive shopping experience”, the new store further evolves the modern look that Wilkinson has been rolling out across its estate, such as … Continue Reading

Ex-TJ Hughes, Middlesbrough, prior to arrival of Metro Outlet (30 Sep 2011)

TJ Hughes is to reopen its store in Middlesbrough’s Captain Cook Square, it has been confirmed.

The move comes almost exactly a year after the store … Continue Reading

Former Peacocks, Middlesbrough (7 Mar 2012)

Middlesbrough might have lost its Pure Party store in the fallout from Clinton Cards’ collapse, but as some retailers depart the town others are arriving – or expanding.

Just now, it seems that the once thing the town can’t get enough of is discount variety … Continue Reading

Hoopers, Carlisle (9 May 2012)

The recent news that Hoopers in Carlisle is to close is clearly a disappointing development for the city, but it’s also very sad for anyone – like me – who values the role that independent department stores play on our high streets.

Across the country, the big three department store chains … Continue Reading

Existing Metro Outlet in Gateshead (25 Mar 2011)

Middlesbrough had some retail good news on Saturday, as a new store opened its doors in the town’s former TJ Hughes premises – following on from the … Continue Reading

Discount UK fascia

Multi-price value retailer Discount UK is to open its 30th store, in Swindon, this week – under a dual fascia with its Yorkshire-based parent brand, Poundworld.

The news, flagged up by Soult’s Retail View reader Lee Sartin, links nicely to several of my earlier blog posts. I’ve previously written about Discount UK in the … Continue Reading

Former Woolworths (now temporary BHS), Swindon (11 Sep 2011)

If you saw my earlier post about the shiny new BHS in Swindon, you might be wondering what happened to the retailer during the 18-month period that its old store was being redeveloped. Well, rather … Continue Reading

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

CKU window poster (8 Aug 2011)

While the rescue of Newcastle’s TJ Hughes store ensures that the value stretch of Grainger Street retains its retail anchor, work is also progressing well on the more upmarket developments at the street’s Monument end.

In the unit freed up by Kurt Geiger’s move to Eldon Square, … Continue Reading

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

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 … Continue Reading

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

Former Woolworths (now Sports Direct), Stafford (30 Sep 2010)

The more former Woolworths stores I blog about, the more predictable it gets that I’ll be mentioning now-familiar discount names such as B&M Bargains, Home Bargains, Poundland or … Continue Reading

Former Woolworths, Coalville (24 Aug 2010)

Regular readers of Soult’s Retail View will know that I have something of a penchant for visiting lots of old Woolworths stores in a short time, usually – for better or worse – by bus.

Back in August, I took the opportunity to undertake another such jaunt, bringing in 11 former Woolies sites … Continue Reading