Broughton Retail Park development.
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I see that Broughton Retail Park are going to be getting a new M&S food alongside the new cinema and restaurant facilities. I can’t help but wonder what damage this is going to do to Wrexham? I already know of people from Wrexham who would sooner travel to the Vue at Cheshire Oak when they wish to go to the cinema rather than use the Odeon because they refuse to pay the extortionate parking fees at Eagles Meadow. I also know of people who do their weekly shop at Tesco Broughton because they find it easier to park there.
When this new development is complete I fear that not only will it attract people from the surrounding towns in Flintshire in Denbighsire who will choose to shop at Broughton rather than Wrexham, but also people from Wrexham itself.
Why should I go to Eagles Meadow and pay for the privilege to use their facilities, when I will soon be able to drive to Broughton, see a film and enjoy a nice meal without having to pay an arm and a leg to park there?
@WrecsamGirl 16085 wrote:
I see that Broughton Retail Park are going to be getting a new M&S food alongside the new cinema and restaurant facilities. I can’t help but wonder what damage this is going to do to Wrexham? I already know of people from Wrexham who would sooner travel to the Vue at Cheshire Oak when they wish to go to the cinema rather than use the Odeon because they refuse to pay the extortionate parking fees at Eagles Meadow. I also know of people who do their weekly shop at Tesco Broughton because they find it easier to park there.
When this new development is complete I fear that not only will it attract people from the surrounding towns in Flintshire in Denbighsire who will choose to shop at Broughton rather than Wrexham, but also people from Wrexham itself.
Why should I go to Eagles Meadow and pay for the privilege to use their facilities, when I will soon be able to drive to Broughton, see a film and enjoy a nice meal without having to pay an arm and a leg to park there?
Could not have put the above any better, but as said on here before why can’t people in authority see what is staring them in the face, and why does no one do anything about it, or at least try :rolleyes:
The truth is that the developers will be sensitive to the interests of their customers (the shops) who in turn are sensitive to the interests of their customers (the shoppers).
The same logic does not apply with Councils who regard the Rate paying shops as a cash cow to be milked even where there is no milk to be had. One reason that they don’t focus on the state of play in the High Street is the way that the rates are collected. Firstly, the rates don’t directly go into their coffers and secondly, if the shops are unoccupied, rates will still be paid in certain circumstances.
Of course, as the real effect of this is now being understood, many Councils are wising up and thinking beyond the immediate and getting their head around the abstract.
It just happens that some Councils are brighter than others (or perhaps more intent on encouraging enterprise and less on spending money)
@Alunh 16093 wrote:
The truth is that the developers will be sensitive to the interests of their customers (the shops) who in turn are sensitive to the interests of their customers (the shoppers).
The same logic does not apply with Councils who regard the Rate paying shops as a cash cow to be milked even where there is no milk to be had. One reason that they don’t focus on the state of play in the High Street is the way that the rates are collected. Firstly, the rates don’t directly go into their coffers and secondly, if the shops are unoccupied, rates will still be paid in certain circumstances.
Of course, as the real effect of this is now being understood, many Councils are wising up and thinking beyond the immediate and getting their head around the abstract.
It just happens that some Councils are brighter than others (or perhaps more intent on encouraging enterprise and less on spending money)
Very Good :) Wrexham must be bottom of the class:rolleyes:
I also think its sad that we don’t support and encourage small independent shops more in Wrexham. They are opening up all the time and then they close soon after, presumably down to a combination of rent and a lack of interest from customers. We have two lovely victorian arcades in the town centre, Central and Arcade and both are almost empty. Why can’t we utilise them more? It makes me so angry! The council don’t seem to care that our town is dying, we are the biggest town in North Wales for gods sake!
@WrecsamGirl 16107 wrote:
I also think its sad that we don’t support and encourage small independent shops more in Wrexham. They are opening up all the time and then they close soon after, presumably down to a combination of rent and a lack of interest from customers. We have two lovely victorian arcades in the town centre, Central and Arcade and both are almost empty. Why can’t we utilise them more? It makes me so angry! The council don’t seem to care that our town is dying, we are the biggest town in North Wales for gods sake!
I also think it is sad.Having said that, what could anybody sell that is not already available in the town at a price competitive enough to give them a living.Food is the only suggestion that I could come up with were you might have a chance.
I think the answer to your question is in your first paragraph, where you ask “what damage is it going to do to Wrexham”. Everyone going somewhere else is the damage it is going to do to Wrexham. I have said for a long time that the issue of Wrexham, and probably many other places too, is a catch 22. Lack of shops and the parking issues put people off and send them off to other places such as Broughton and Cheshire Oaks but nothing is going to be sorted out, either with new decent shops or the parking charges reducing unless it is financially beneficial for the companies to do so. If no one is coming here, where is the incentive for anyone to make it better? The only outcome will be that Wrexham will become a ghost town (and no, it isn’t one already). This will in turn leave many vulnerable people missing on their social outings to town, people such as the elderly and disabled who rely heavily on public transport to get anywhere. If there is no need for it, it’ll be cut leaving no buses for anyone to get anywhere. Except of course the famous Number 1 service to Chester.
@WrecsamGirl 16085 wrote:
I see that Broughton Retail Park are going to be getting a new M&S food alongside the new cinema and restaurant facilities. I can’t help but wonder what damage this is going to do to Wrexham? I already know of people from Wrexham who would sooner travel to the Vue at Cheshire Oak when they wish to go to the cinema rather than use the Odeon because they refuse to pay the extortionate parking fees at Eagles Meadow. I also know of people who do their weekly shop at Tesco Broughton because they find it easier to park there.
When this new development is complete I fear that not only will it attract people from the surrounding towns in Flintshire in Denbighsire who will choose to shop at Broughton rather than Wrexham, but also people from Wrexham itself.
Why should I go to Eagles Meadow and pay for the privilege to use their facilities, when I will soon be able to drive to Broughton, see a film and enjoy a nice meal without having to pay an arm and a leg to park there?
@justjojo2011 16314 wrote:
I think the answer to your question is in your first paragraph, where you ask “what damage is it going to do to Wrexham”. Everyone going somewhere else is the damage it is going to do to Wrexham. I have said for a long time that the issue of Wrexham, and probably many other places too, is a catch 22. Lack of shops and the parking issues put people off and send them off to other places such as Broughton and Cheshire Oaks but nothing is going to be sorted out, either with new decent shops or the parking charges reducing unless it is financially beneficial for the companies to do so. If no one is coming here, where is the incentive for anyone to make it better? The only outcome will be that Wrexham will become a ghost town (and no, it isn’t one already). This will in turn leave many vulnerable people missing on their social outings to town, people such as the elderly and disabled who rely heavily on public transport to get anywhere. If there is no need for it, it’ll be cut leaving no buses for anyone to get anywhere. Except of course the famous Number 1 service to Chester.
You are quite right in your line of logic here. There is a push and pull factor in play and whilst we have recently been pushing our consumers out of Wrexham with our rash actions, other towns and developments have been pulling their act together. It is excellent, therefore that the new Council leadership appear to have grasped the seriousness of the situation. It is not so much that Wrexham lacks shops because the quantity and quality of the Multiple offer since 2008 (when Eagles Meadow opened) has improved; the problem appears to be that the old town, denuded of its Anchor stores has leaked independents (which depended upon them for footflow).
The key element in turning the situation around is to urgently try and revitalise the old town. In part this requires very favourable parking conditions, in part this relates to across the board pressure to revisit the Rates question. Many Independent shops either occupy or could be persuaded to occupy Council properties. It would be fantastic if the Council revisited the philosophy of its Rental values in the Peoples Market and the Chester Street, Henblas Street, etc area. I am in daily conversation with several Entrepreneurs who would quite happily invest in town centre capacity if some of these conditions were adjusted and it could be possible to compete with other towns and developments.
Broughton clearly will have advantages with its range of key stores and free parking but and this is a big BUT many shoppers like the variety and depth of shops that you can find in Wrexham, Chester and Shrewsbury (to name 3). To reiterate some of the points made above, the situation in Wrexham is still salvageable (whatever the doom merchants claim). In my area of activity, for example, there are Game shops (Game), DVD shops (Mad 4 Movies & myself), Multi media shops (Moonlight records & self), Comic shops (Soda), Book shops (Waterstones, Stan’s Books in the Butchers Markets and others. People poo poo the fact of Charity shops but, believe me, they attract the shoppers especially in the area that I trade in and Wrexham has loads, Broughton Park none (?)
@Alunh 16330 wrote:
People poo poo the fact of Charity shops but, believe me, they attract the shoppers especially in the area that I trade in and Wrexham has loads, Broughton Park none (?)
Charity shops may well attract shoppers,but in my opinion that type of shop attracts browsers looking for second hand bargains.The entrepreneur is looking for buyers not browsers.Charity shops probably do not pay full rent or rates,so have a head start.The variety in Broughton Park (only one phone shop) is far superior to Eagles Meadow and now with M & S new food shop opening shortly the fight gets harder.
Quite agree about the advantage that (say) Cheshire Oaks and Broughton have over Wrexham’s offer. Despite what you say though, I would never dream of driving up to one of these places because they have no shops that are of interest to me.
I am very much the shopper who despises the clone towns because they are all the same. Each unit in Broughton will offer the same as the branch in Wrexham and the branch in Cheshire Oaks (with some small variation. Where there are so-called Home Towns with a preponderance of small traders there will be a possibility of finding items that are unique. Charity shops and Independent traders are similar in that you never quite know what you will find within them and that for me, is the beauty of Chester and Wrexham. Secondly, the Charity shops are not just for browsers; they turn over a lot of money from a lot of customers. Whilst Chester’s main streets are Multiple dominated, they have some great secondary sites and the street by Tesco (Foregate Street?) is one of my favourites.
Having said this, Wrexham is sliding quickly. In part this is because the Markets lack vitality, in part because the real Indie shop is squeezed out between Rates and Car Parking. That said, I stick to the original argument that there remains much in the town to attract a variety of Customers…….at present
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