Former Woolworths, Victoria Street, Derby (23 Dec 2010)

Back in January I blogged about Burton upon Trent’s original Woolworths store, and promised to turn my attention in a future post to the nearby city of Derby.

Just as in Burton, another old photograph – this time from a 1938 postcard – is to thank for me finding the location of the city’s original Woolworths store at 28-33 Victoria Street (store #29). From the store number, Woolies must have opened on this site in about 1914.

1938 photograph of Victoria Street, Derby, with Woolworths on the right

The same view today (23 Dec 2010)

To avoid having to stand in the middle of the road, I hope you’ll forgive my modern equivalent shot not being from quite from the right angle. However, just as there is plenty of continuity between the two Burton photos, it’s remarkable quite how similar today’s view of Victoria Street is to the one from seventy years ago, with all the principal buildings from the old shot – including the former Woolies on the right, the Royal Buildings on the left, and the imposing HSBC at the end of the street – still in place.

Postcard of Victoria Street, c.1908

The earliest Woolworths stores tended not to occupy purpose-built premises, though many of those shops – such as Leeds (#5, opened 1911) or Leicester (#49, opened 1915) – were subsequently rebuilt in a distinctive Woolies style.

I’m not clear whether the same was true of Derby; photographs that I’ve seen from the first years of the twentieth century (such as the c.1908 image above) appear to show the site occupied by earlier buildings at that time, but the shot below – thought to date from before 1918 – has today’s familiar property in place. Unfortunately, the detail is a little too fuzzy to be certain whether the card shows Woolworths occupying those premises.

Early (pre-1918?) view of Victoria Street, Derby

...and a similar view today (23 Dec 2010)

Today, parts of it are occupied by the health and beauty chain Savers and a branch of the thriving H&T Pawnbrokers chain, while another chunk is a former Evans store. In the extensive city centre reshuffle that followed the 2007 opening of Westfield Derby, Evans moved to the previous Topshop site; meanwhile, Victoria Street is left with a distinctly downmarket offer and quite a few voids, including an 80,000 sq ft empty Debenhams following the department store’s own relocation to Westfield.

Former Debenhams, Derby (23 Dec 2010)

Of course, retailers moving from one part of Derby city centre to another is nothing new – after all, it’s what Woolies did in 1975, when it left Victoria Street and moved to the newly-built Eagle Centre. More of that in a subsequent post.

However, Debenhams moving to a bigger store in the Westfield centre has left an especially big hole, and it has to be hoped that a permanent solution for the lovely Modernist building – originally designed for Ranby’s department store in the early 1960s by Evans, Cartwright and Woollatt, but now owned by Westfield and occupied by a short-term tenant when I visited – is found soon.

New Next, Newcastle (23 Feb 2011)

Work has been underway on Newcastle’s former Arcadia site for the best part of a year, as the space is transformed into a 55,000 sq ft Next store. Like the old Topshop store that it replaces, Next will have a ground-floor street frontage to Blackett Street as well as a first-floor mall entrance to Eldon Square.

The development’s completion is now close, as hoardings around the store reveal an April opening date. As well as the core Next and Next Home offers, the banners confirm that the store will also stock the Next Sport and Lipsy ranges.

Since January last year, I’ve been recording the building’s transformation in photographs, starting with a shot (below) just before Arcadia’s brands relocated to the Eldon Square extension at St Andrew’s Way.

Still trading as Topshop (30 Jan 2010)

By May (below), the Topshop signage had gone and some holes had appeared in the Newgate Street frontage, but most of the work was evidently going on inside.

Site of new Next store in Newcastle (16 May 2010)

However, the most recent views from January (below) and February this year (top) clearly show the addition of the new structure on top of the existing flat roof, which will provide extra floorspace for Next.

The large blank frontage to Newgate Street has also been nibbled away to accommodate four double-height windows – but, as far as I understand, no doors – while the existing openings to Blackett Street have also been enlarged.

Site of new Next, Newcastle (14 Jan 2011)

Reducing the amount of blank brick wall is surely an improvement, and will undoubtedly enhance the building’s appearance.

However, given the store’s prominent corner location, I am a little disappointed that the opportunity for a more radical redevelopment has been missed. Indeed, it’s a particular pity that the street entrance is set to remain around the corner in Blackett Street, instead of a bolder and more imposing entrance being created on the Newgate Street side.

As I’ve made clear before, attracting Next to open one of its largest UK stores can only be a positive thing for Eldon Square and for Newcastle’s status as a top retail destination. As it is, however, the new store’s design means that it is likely to have a very positive effect on footfall on the mall side, but a fairly limited impact as far as enlivening the street is concerned.

Compared, for example, to how Bristol’s Cabot Circus has both fostered street-level activity and improved the appearance of existing buildings incorporated within the scheme, I can’t help feeling that something more creative could have been attempted here too.

No missing the fact that Peacocks is coming... (20 May 2010)

The opening of St Andrew’s Way back in February – and Hollister, belatedly, in April – may have been this year’s biggest retail events in Newcastle, but, three months on, there continue to be interesting and significant developments in fashion retail elsewhere in the city centre.

At Monument Mall, work is now well underway on the new Peacocks store, occupying the three-storey, 17,000 sq ft unit that formerly housed Zavvi, the Virgin Megastore, and before that Woolworths.

You can’t see anything happening inside from the ground floor of the Mall, or from Northumberland Street, as both frontages are boarded off. Rather, one of the most noticable things is that the Mall smells different to usual – of paint and wood, rather than Millies Cookies!

Northumberland Street frontage of new Peacocks store (20 May 2010)

However, go up or down a level and you can see right into the shop – shiny white tiled floors, escalators and stairs are all visible, with work looking well progressed ahead of the reported opening on 1 July. I’d have taken some pictures closer up, but there will still men in there working at 5:30, and I didn’t fancy being accosted for taking illicit snaps…

New Peacocks store from basement level of Monument Mall (20 May 2010)

Across town on the corner of Newgate Street and Blackett Street, work has also started on redeveloping the recently vacated Arcadia space into a new Next store, which – at 55,000 sq ft – will be one of the fashion retailer’s largest stores in Britain when it opens early in 2011.

Site of new Next store in Newcastle (16 May 2010)

...and the same view back in January

Again, there’s not a great deal to see yet, but the Topman and Topshop signs have been taken down, the site screened off, and some mysterious holes punched into the brick façade facing Newgate Street.

As far as I’m aware, there’s no further news on which retailer might replace Next’s current shop on Northumberland Street, but there’s still plenty of time for details to emerge. One sure thing is that we’re likely to be seeing Newcastle’s fashion retailers playing musical shops for some time yet, as new units are carved out and existing ones freed up.

Gregory's bakers in Bishop Auckland (6 Feb 2010)

The recent focus upon all that’s been happening in Newcastle means that I haven’t had as much time as I would like to explore some other topics of interest – there are at least half a dozen on my ‘to do’ list.  

One thing I’ve been meaning to write up – and now finally am – is a report on my visit to Bishop Auckland, in County Durham, a few Saturdays ago. Other than skirting around the edge on my way somewhere else I’d never been to Bishop Auckland before, but I was generally quite impressed by the town centre. It has a nice range of independent shops (like the 150-year-old Gregory’s bakers^{[broken link removed]}, above) and big-name multiples (such as M&S and Topshop), some attractive streets and buildings, and its main shopping thoroughfare – Newgate Street – had a nice buzz about the place on the day that I visited.

Market Place, Bishop Auckland (6 Feb 2010)

On the downside, I was disappointed by the rather gloomy Newgate Shopping Centre, and by the small and sad-looking cluster of market stalls in the Market Place. Rather like in Tamworth, the look and feel of the market was rather disparate and ad hoc; however, where Tamworth’s market suffers from being shoehorned into too small a space, Bishop Auckland’s seemed to be floating in a public square that was much too large for it.

Entrance to Auckland Castle (6 Feb 2010)

Overlooked by the imposing Town Hall and the entrance to Auckland Castle, Bishop Auckland’s Market Place is undoubtedly among the North East’s most impressive public spaces. When I visited, much of the area was being dug up as part of improvement works that will include new paving and “extra space for events and market stalls”. Once complete, these enhancements will hopefully allow the Market Place to be used to its full potential.

Given what I’d seen on the Bishop Auckland Town website at bishopauckland.org, I’d also expected more of Fore Bondgate: a narrow and historic street off the Market Place that is full of character, but seems to be suffering from a lot of empty units at the moment. However, Fore Bondgate has scope to be a great location in which to build an interesting cluster of independent shops and cafes, and with the right investment and promotion could really be a distinctive and successful retail destination.

Former Woolworths, Bishop Auckland (6 Feb 2010)

Unsurprisingly, a highlight of the visit was being able to tick another North East Woolworths off the list, meaning that there are now only nine left to get of the 33 that closed down in December 2008 and January 2009. I hadn’t seen a photo of the store prior to visiting Bishop Auckland, but even without the giveaway of the red Woolworths fascia, it is instantly recognisable as a Woolies building, with all the familiar architectural traits. Indeed, of all those former Woolies I’ve seen so far, it’s the most similar to the mysterious is-it-an-old-Woolies-or-not in Byker.

Former Woolworths, Bishop Auckland (6 Feb 2010)

Just a couple of doors up from Woolworths is another property that could very easily have become an empty blight on Newgate Street – the Co-op department store, now run under the Westgate Department Stores brand by Anglia Regional Co-operative Society (ARCS). As I’ve mentioned before, Bishop Auckland’s Co-op department store was one of three North East shops rescued by ARCS when the Co-operative Group decided, in 2005, to exit non-food.

Westgate Department Store, Bishop Auckland (6 Feb 2010). Photograph by Graham Soult

It’s easy to see why ARCS stepped in to save the store, as it really is at the heart of Bishop Auckland town centre, and its only department store. Its street frontage is vast, and it sells all those types of products – such as toys, furniture and electricals – that would otherwise be difficult to find on the local high street. Pleasingly, the store seemed to be doing a decent trade on the Saturday afternoon when I was there – long may it continue.

Republic promo shot

With exciting mounting over the opening of Eldon Square’s St Andrew’s Way extension in less than a week’s time (10:30 on Tuesday 16 February, to be precise), it really feels as if Newcastle is the centre of the UK’s retail attention right now.

Searches for ‘Hollister Newcastle’ have been dominating my blog stats for weeks, while yesterday, Apple’s official announcement of its new store opening turned ‘Eldon Square’ into a trending topic on Twitter. The arrival of these big US names has undoubtedly created a real buzz around what was, only a few months ago, a development featuring plenty of existing Newcastle retailers opening much-improved stores but very few new arrivals to the city.

With so much attention focused on Hollister and Apple Store, it would be easy to overlook the impressive new stores in St Andrew’s Way for retailers such as Topshop, New Look and Republic, all of which will have much larger and more modern shops than at present.

I was therefore pleased to receive a press release today about the “eagerly awaited” new Republic store, which is apparently 8,392 sq ft, and has been “designed in Republic’s ‘utilitarian meets kitsch’ imitable style” (that should be ‘inimitable’, surely?), with ”a striking fascia framed with iron girders, exposed brick and pipe work and natural materials offset by candy coloured chandeliers and metallic, flocked wallpapers”. I’ve never stepped foot in a Republic store before, but I might be tempted to take a look if only to admire the chandeliers.

Indeed, though Leeds-based Republic refers to itself in the press release as ”the UK’s leading retailer of men’s and women’s branded fashion”, it isn’t a retail name that I know very much about – perhaps because I’m outside its target demographic for “big brand names such as Henleys, Fenchurch, Diesel G-Star and Bench”. Still, Republic’s “unique model”, featuring a “carefully edited selection of ‘best of season’ styles and an extensive denim offering” must be doing the trick, given that it’s grown from a single store in 1986 to more than 100 across the UK now.

Jacob Snell, Republic’s Regional Manager, is quoted as saying that: “We’ve wanted to expand in Newcastle city centre for a long period of time and Eldon Square is a great opportunity. We have a fantastic, loyal customer base in the North East who we’re looking forward to presenting our exciting new shop fit and store design to”. Assuming that Republic’s existing store in Douglas Way is to close when the new one opens (though the press release doesn’t say so explicitly), it will be interesting to see who takes over the vacated unit. In quite a prominent spot close to John Lewis, it’s certainly among the most attractive of those sites that are being freed up.

Having managed to weave most of the content from Republic’s press release into my blog post, it would be remiss of me not to mention that customers “will be able to take advantage of opening offers and promotions including an impressive 20% off discount in store” – possibly a less stressful option than joining the nearby throng for one of 1,500 free Apple T-shirts.

Next, Northumberland Street, Newcastle (5 Feb 2010)

Following the apparent confirmation of earlier rumours about Next planning to open a new store in Newcastle’s Eldon Square shopping centre next year, it seems timely to take a look at the retailer’s current Northumberland Street premises, shown above.

It’s quite a handsome building when you stand back and look at it – particularly in comparison to the brutish, blank, brown brick facades of the Primark (formerly C&A) and Bhs building next door. Imagine then how things might look if a building in the style of Next’s premises wrapped all the way round the corner into Northumberland Road, in place of the existing Bhs/Primark block… something like the view below, perhaps?

Old postcard of Bhs site, Northumberland Street, Newcastle

Perhaps I should have known already, but before getting a copy of the fascinating new Newcastle Through Time book for Christmas, I hadn’t a clue that today’s Next building is a retained fragment of the building above - the remainder of which was demolished in the early 1970s to make way for more modern premises for the then ‘British Home Stores’ and C&A. I’m none the wiser, however, about which retailer was occupying the Next site at that time, or indeed what the reason was for retaining those three last bays. Perhaps someone out there can shed some light on the matter?

The same view today

One thing I do know is that the story has a neat, if slightly tenuous, link to a building mentioned briefly in one of my first blog posts – Murton House, in Grainger Street. Having housed the Henry A Murton department store from about 1910 until its takeover by the Co-op in 1957, the Co-op made substantial changes to the interior in the 1960s, before moving out of the premises in 1971. Conveniently, C&A was able to take the property over after only a short period of vacancy, occupying the building until 1973 while its regular premises in Northumberland Street were demolished and rebuilt.

Similarly, British Home Stores apparently moved to Pilgrim Street during the redevelopment of the site – again, answers on a postcard if you have any information on where exactly that was.

Existing Topshop, Newcastle

Back in the present, we do now know a little more, courtesy of The Journal, about the proposed new Next store in Eldon Square. It will:

• Reportedly be “one of the largest branches of Next in the country”
• Supposedly replace, rather than supplement, Next’s existing Northumberland Street store (handily freeing up a prominent unit for somebody else – perhaps Zara?)
• Take over a small amount of space occupied by Eldon Leisure in order to create space for a “flagship store”.

The fact that Next will be nibbling into Eldon Leisure seems to reinforce the view that its intended location must be the current Arcadia Group space, presumably incorporating three floors - the street and mall levels (current Topshop), and the floor accessed by escalators from the mall that currently houses Topman (and, if I understand correctly, the adjacent bit of Eldon Leisure).

This space equates to the whole of the brown-brick block shown in the photo above. However, with a reported £8m redevelopment budget, it has to be hoped that something creative can be done to get rid of those blank and lifeless façades – either by building out into the open space between it and the new St Andrew’s Way (the redbrick section to the right of the shot), or by punching some more openings into what is currently there.

Debenhams, Eldon Square South

A few interesting titbits of Newcastle retail news ahead of the opening of Eldon Square South – St Andrew’s Way – on 16 February. Anchored by a new Debenhams store, Eldon Square South is of interest beyond Tyneside as one of only a handful of major retail developments to be opening in the UK during 2010. 

I recently blogged about Abercrombie & Fitch’s sister brand Hollister having Meadowhall and the Trafford Centre as its “most northerly outposts”. Now it seems that we’re going to be getting our own Hollister in Eldon Square, meaning that the shopping centre’s extension will – impressively – be fully let when it opens next month. 

In an earlier post about Eldon Square’s extension, I noted that “the real test… will be ensuring that the large and prominent units being vacated by New Look, River Island, Topshop, et al do not stay empty for long”. The word at SkyscraperCity is that Next is going to be taking over the soon-to-be-former Topshop/Topman site, though it’s not yet clear whether this will be in addition or instead of the retailer’s existing Northumberland Street store. The existing Next store is very cramped, but given that it had an interior makeover not too long ago my guess is that it will be retained alongside the new store. Either way, I hope something will be done to improve the current Topshop/Topman unit’s ugly brick walls, which present such a blank and unappealing face onto Blackett and Newgate Streets.

Existing Topshop, Newcastle

We’ve known for some time that Tesco Metro is coming to the Eldon Square extension; now it seems that a Tesco Express is opening up at nearby Eldon Garden as well. That begins to explain the Sony Centre’s move into one floor of the former Pier store, freeing up the prominent unit facing Percy Street for Tesco. It still seems curious, however, that having had no city centre Tesco store until now, there will soon be two within a few hundred metres of each other.

Equally, with M&S, Waitrose, Sainsbury’s Local, Tesco Metro, Tesco Express and The Co-operative Food all operating in the Percy Street / Newgate Street area, it will be interesting to see whether all of them are able to thrive. When I walked by last week, ‘Store Closed’ signs in the windows indicated that the Food Co supermarket in the soon-to-be-redeveloped Newgate Centre had already succumbed.

Food Co, Newgate Street, Newcastle (11 Jan 2010)

Expect more musical shops over the coming months as, with the opening of Eldon Square South, Newcastle city centre adapts to the biggest geographical shift in its retail focus for more than thirty years. Interesting times!

Wellington Square in Stockton

With Britain’s high streets having to work hard to survive – let alone thrive – in the current downturn, I was pleased to read about an initiative here in the North East that aims to bring something new and a bit different to one particular shopping centre.

Though the present high number of voids in our town centres means that there are some good rental deals to be had, the middle of a recession is surely still a scary time for anyone thinking about opening their first shop. Consequently, the ShopStart initiative – offering a prime, fitted-out retail unit, free of charge for a year, to someone with the right product idea and business plan – is likely to attract a lot of interest.

However, only one lucky winner – an entrepreneur, start-up business, market trader, or person recently made redundant – will have the opportunity to launch their retail business at the Wellington Square Shopping Centre in Stockton-on-Tees, with a planned opening in time for the Christmas shopping onslaught.

So, what exactly are the judges looking for? Let’s take a look at what the Wellington Square website says:

Applications are invited from a wide range of prospective retailers, some of whom may have been trading from home, individuals and fledgling businesses that will be given an opportunity to pitch their retail concepts to a panel of business experts…

The judges will be looking for innovative, sustainable business ideas that demonstrate the potential to succeed. Whether it is toys, hairdressing, pet grooming, food or baby products, ShopStart is the way for budding entrepreneurs to own and run a business in a successful North East shopping centre.

So, if you’ve got a great retailing idea but need help and advice to get it off the ground, this is your chance to make your application to be the North East’s next retail success!

There’s also the likelihood that the new shop will be something that brings real interest and value to Wellington Square, with the judges looking for “creative, innovative retail concepts”. The competition is certainly a bold move, but one that could pay dividends for the shopping centre, both in terms of positive PR and in – potentially – bringing something refreshing and distinctive to its retail mix.

Wellington Square's H&M store

Of course, a cynic might suggest that in the present climate, giving away a shop unit that would otherwise be empty is rather a no-brainer; after all, our high streets barely have a shortage of vacant shops at the moment. To be fair though, Wellington Square seems to be doing better than most, successfully attracting new lettings, and boasting a pretty strong tenant line-up that includes H&M, New Look, Marks & Spencer, River Island and Topshop among its major stores.

As always with such competitions, there’s some small print to be aware of, but a prize worth almost £60,000 – rent for the 674 sq ft unit close to WHSmith and Caffe Nero would normally be £42,500 a year, with another £16,247.50 in rates – can hardly be sniffed at.

For anyone who might be interested, the closing date for applications is 5 September 2009 – all the information you need, including the application form, can be found on the Evening Gazette website. Good luck!