T.E.Roberts demolition

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  • #68756

    jimbow
    Participant

    @Rondetto 14438 wrote:

    It passed through my mind about all the money they spent on the pavements around King street, and to see all the empty and boarded up shops there. Certainly hasn’t attracted any new businesses.

    If the pavements around King Street were left as they were, we would now have empty and boarded up shops as well as shabby pavements.Now at least we have not so shabby pavements in which to try and attract new business.The money came from a grant, and if not used would probably been used in another town.We in Wrexham have to make a start somewhere,don’t knock it.

    #68766

    ddraig
    Participant

    I really think the demolition of that rather shabby 70s (I think) building is a positive thing.

    Its true to say that most towns have too many shops in their town centres (Wrexham as many as any given recent developments). A successful and virbant town centre needs a true mix of residential, retail, public and office space. We all bemoan the lack of restaurants and decent eateries in the centre of town (especially in the evenings), the only way to improve both that and the retail offer is to have a greater footfall (and quality of footfall). Offices are a positive aspect to that mix, they physically bring people in to town for 5 days of their week and ultimately and significant proportion of those will grab lunch, pop to the shops or have a pint after work.

    If you increase the people and the footfall in town then the retail will come. Telling M&S or Tesco to open a shop on King Street will not work. The market will tell them they need one.

    #68749

    Alunh
    Participant

    @Katia 14425 wrote:

    ” One interesting point in the Design and Access Statement refers to the choice of location, noting: “The site is outside of the central retail area defined by Wrexham Council, and is on the peripheral of the commercial district. “

    “The council has indicated a preference for town centre office development outside of the central shopping zone.”

    Yes that is an interesting point.
    Is that statement the view from Unite The Union or from Wrexham Council ?
    King Street was once a major part of retailing in Wrexham, with MotorMania, Phase One Records, T E Roberts, Laminate Flooring, Jones The Computer, Ecclestons Bakery, Merit Travel, Barnes The Chemist, Wrexham Office Supplies, Wrexham Leader Office, Prontaprint etc, as well as estate agents, solicitors , hairdressers and tattooists. Go back far enough you would have Wrexham Scooters and the milk bar cafe.

    So at some point a decision was made that King Street is peripheral, by that it looks like they mean excluded, I wonder if the business owners were formally informed of this stance. Along with a revision of their business rates, presumably some of them thought they were trading in the town centre, albeit not the epicentre, that would have been Woolworths.
    This maybe explains why King Street never benefited from Christmas decorations, or if ever, fairly poor efforts. It wasn’t in the ” Central Shopping Zone “.

    I am so pleased that you spotted this Katia. This conclusion seems to have been drawn somewhere in between the time that the Bus Station development was floated and the time that I spoke to the Town Centre Manager about this very thing in 2005. At the time I was trading in King Street (Phase One Records) and we were initially spun a yarn about the Bus Station development, Birkenhead, and how the Bus Station development there had added 40% trade to local businesses. This was when the Bus Station development was in its planning stage and the trading fraternity was told that the Bus Station was a major retail regeneration enterprise (as well as a Bus Station). Several businesses actually opted to relocate to the top end of town as a result.

    By the time that the development was concluded it was clear that there would be little possibility of a vibrant area whatsoever. I still retain numerous letters on this issue especially as, at the time, it ripped my business to shreds. I was told in 2005 that the Council no longer consiedred this a core retail area (in response to various questions about Pelican crossings and so on). Hope this sheds somemore light on the matter

    #68754

    johnhoppy
    Participant

    Its shocking that a part of town seems to have been abandoned as a retail area. Who actually makes these decisions….councillors…officials…is the policy discussed at council meetings? Or is there a mysterious ‘Boss Hogg’ in the background who decides these matters for us?

    #68750

    Alunh
    Participant

    I’m guessing that it is someone within the Economic Development remit but it could be the Councillors themselves. Perhaps there are minutes somewhere that would reveal the truth.

    I must confess that I was shocked when I was told in stark terms that the “Council” no longer regarded King Street as a core retail area for future reference within whatever plans there were on the table

    #68748

    zinger
    Participant

    I always feel the the bus station blocks out King Street. It certainly wasn’t joined up thinking. I seem to remember reading that they are talking of putting in a walkway to King Street from Grosvenor Road & the old folks housing development. What is the point when they are moving the shops further away? The old folks are forgotten when it comes to town planning. The older independent ones still like to collect their pension and it will be a heck of a walk for them to go from Grosvenor Road to Henblas Street for the Post Office.

    #68753

    BenjaminM
    Participant

    To blame the construction of the new bus station on the demise of King St. as a retail entity is a fallacy. There has been a bus station on that site since at least the 50’s.

    In the previous post by zinger the word ‘they’ is used on more than one occasion. Perhaps for the sake of clarity, he could qualify who the term refers to. Does it refer to the Council, Developers or indeed the previous occupants of the premises? As is well known, some of the previous occupiers have developed a ‘ butterfly’ approach to locating their business and some have ceased trading, caused in the main by exceeding their usefulness to the public.

    Wrexham has evolved, some being for the good, some for the bad. It seems quite obvious to me that King St. Has become more of a commercial hub by the very intertwined relationship between Estate Agents and Legal Practices that are well established in that locality. The majority having carried out business there for some considerable time. After all, do not other town and cities have their retail zones and commercial enclaves that work harmoniously, without detriment to each other?

    On the other point raised regarding the proposed access route from Grosvenor Rd. to King St.,how can that be disadvantageous? Perhaps the writer knows the present location of the future occupants of the housing development. I have trouble in thinking of any dwellings closer to the town centre than those proposed.
    For my money, the retailers are architects of their own downfall and to blame others is purely an attempt to deflect responsibility.
    I certainly do not blame the planners for permitting a change of purpose group for the buildings on King St. because if they hadn’t, the premises would undoubtedly have remained empty for a considerable time, which would have brought on another tirade of blame setting and unwarranted abuse.

    #68751

    Alunh
    Participant

    I actually agree with much of what Benjamin has to say about many businesses being the architects of their own destinies and so on.

    Unfortunately, given the lack of any facts on the subject, he can barely comment on this subject.

    Businesses come and go we all know. Unfortunately, a major development can ruin a business in close proximity just in the development stage. The upheaval of this business caused a huge fall in all local retailer turnover patterns and it was not a slow drip, it was immediate.

    Secondly, the reconfiguration of the area did act negatively and immediately on several businesses including T.E.Roberts. The old bus station and the old road configuration had certain advantages to retail that the new one did not. Just to give you a small taste of this. People coming tothe oldbus station which was not enclosed would walk in any which way to the range of shops and the Egerton to fill in time (andkeep warm). This ended

    #68760

    steveg
    Participant

    But introducing mini markets into King Street would surely only further reduce the trade in the town centre?

    #68759

    DR
    Participant

    With regards to mini supermarkets, There has been a few rumours that a Tesco will be opening up in one of the units on the new Regent Street development

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