Nine months in, Gateshead’s Trinity Square hits footfall high and eyes 100% occupancy
When Gateshead’s Trinity Square opened its doors in May last year, you could have been forgiven for being a little underwhelmed by the extent of...
Read more....Author: Graham Soult
Charles Clinkard Q&A: “Maintaining good relationships with suppliers is key”
Think of a great northern city, and the chances are that you’ll bring to mind one of the great northern retailers that’s based there. Bradford...
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Tips for indie retail success at Spring Fair today
In what seems to be becoming a regular occurrence, I’m off to Spring Fair International at the NEC today (Monday 3 February) where – as...
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Five years after closure, Newton Aycliffe Woolworths may soon be occupied
If you’ve managed to miss me hogging the airwaves this morning – on BBC Radio 5 Live (which you can listen to here), Wales, Scotland,...
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Promoting the fair trade cause: Retailer Q&A with The Home Decor Company
Though navigating the economic downturn continues to challenge many stores, one of the fascinating subtexts has been the growth of new independent retailers, sometimes borne out...
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Five years on from Woolies’ collapse, Boyes signs for the Coalville store
It’s hard to believe that it’s five years ago today – on 26 November 2008 – that Woolworths collapsed into administration after trading in the...
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Exclusive: Lego Store set for 29 November opening at Intu Metrocentre
The new Lego Store at Gateshead’s Intu Metrocentre is to open on Friday 29 November, I understand. The imminent opening of the store seems to have prompted...
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“We present a new way of shopping”: Retailer Q&A with The Longest Stay
As you’d expect, running the Home Interiors Directory (part of my CannySites.com business) means that I get to work with a lot of etailers who are...
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Resurgent Game reopens axed stores in Newcastle and Sunderland
A year and a half after 21 North East stores closed following Game’s collapse into administration, two of those shops – in Grainger Street, Newcastle and...
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Fenwick Newcastle’s autumn window impresses – but WHSmith opposite falls short
Newcastle’s iconic Fenwick department store is rightly known for its annual Christmas window – which can’t, scarily, be very far off making its appearance for 2013....
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Adidas and Toys R Us move quickly to fill Intu Eldon Square voids
In recent months, the St Andrew’s Way section of Newcastle’s Eldon Square has seen its first tenant departures since opening in February 2010, with the...
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B&M recruits for Gateshead Team Valley store ahead of 16 November opening
The thriving discount retailer B&M is recruiting staff for its new Gateshead store, which is scheduled to open at Team Valley Retail World on Saturday...
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Good news for Sunderland as fashion store Utopia takes over ex-Peacocks
Sunderland’s ex-Peacocks unit in The Bridges is finally to be reoccupied, after more than 18 months of vacancy. The prominent Market Square store was one of...
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Old Woolies fascia exposed as Byker Wetherspoon’s readies for October opening
The Newcastle suburb of Byker will gain a welcome addition when its new Wetherspoon pub – The High Main – opens at 63 Shields Road on 22...
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Tracking down Darlington’s original Woolworths – 73 years after it relocated
Never one to let a good Woolworths anniversary pass me by, today – 20 September 2013 – represents 73 years since Darlington’s Woolworths store relocated...
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Celebrating Britain’s new indie retailers at Autumn Fair
Regular readers will know that one of my favourite things about working in retail is discovering really interesting and successful independent shops – whether that’s...
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Shrewsbury: the town where independents are keeping the high street buzzing
Regular readers will know that I visit a lot of British high streets – including more than 400 different ones in the last four years...
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Got a question about starting a retail business? Ask a Sage Business Expert
As you may recall, one of the many hats that I wear is as a Sage Business Expert. Set up by the Newcastle-based software company nearly...
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Gateshead’s Metrocentre prepares for overnight Intu-fication
I understand that Gateshead’s Metrocentre is to gain its first Intu-branded external signage overnight tonight (11 July), ahead of a weekend of celebrations to mark...
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North East stores invade London as Metro Outlet heads to Croydon’s ex-Allders
In the same month that Middlesbrough-based furniture institution Barker and Stonehouse has opened its first London store, in Battersea, it’s been revealed that another firm with...
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