Post Office move….
-
Posts
-
People will always pay more for what they perceive to be premium product/place/service and historic Chester is a must see for shoppers (as is Bath, York, and others). These places developed over centuries and in the main before the motor car. They exist and are successful. Accessing Chester is a nightmare to go to by car and the place does well despite the inconvenience of shopping there; that is because the established offer is so good.
Wrexham is not Chester or any of the others and has to work hard to survive in what is a very “Customer is King” era. Wrexham can’t afford to have dirty Market stairwells and lack of convenient Parking and neither can it afford to lose any more businesses. I understand what you are saying about the offer needs to come before the shoppers but the simple fact is that no business will invest money in a town if the terms and conditions for trade are not conducive to running a business. That is why the Manchester Met were called in and if you check their list of plus factors for a town, Parking is very high. Incidentally, this is not just about Parking charges, it is also about convenience and a huge reason why M & S moved out of Rhyl and Wrexham centre is to get Parking by their stores. The success of Cheshire Oaks, Broughton and the Trafford Centre (as well as every Supermarket) shows this
Incidentally, if you want to see how Car Parking can make a difference to a business, check out Home Bargains in Gwersyllt. Whilst this is NOT the only reason that the place is bedlam, the sheer convenience of being able to park right outside this type of shop explains why they have two in the Wrexham area, but none in the traditional town centre itself
[quote quote=112390]Incidentally, if you want to see how Car Parking can make a difference to a business, check out Home Bargains in Gwersyllt. Whilst this is NOT the only reason that the place is bedlam, the sheer convenience of being able to park right outside this type of shop explains why they have two in the Wrexham area, but none in the traditional town centre itself
[/quote]
I know I have mentioned this on here before, but Prestatyn got it exactly right when they built a similar thing to Eagles Meadow, but the big difference is they built it right in the town and there is also
-
FREE PARKING
for three hours, and this has transformed the whole town.
Just received this reply from the Post Office regarding my feedback form:
Dear Sir
Wrexham Town Centre Crown Post Office®
15 Henblas Street, Wrexham, LL13 8AEThank you for completing the online questionnaire regarding our proposal to relocate Wrexham Town Centre Crown Post Office to WHSmith at 56 Hope Street. Your views are important to us and we welcome your feedback.
This proposal is part of our ongoing modernisation of the network and would allow us to maintain a Crown Post Office in Wrexham while providing a new modern branch for our customers from a bright new environment.
The branch would operate from a newly built dedicated open plan Post Office area located on the first floor of the WHSmith store, which as you are aware, can be accessed by a customer lift or stairs. The lift can carry up to eight people and can accommodate pushchairs and wheelchairs and there would be directional signage in the store so customers could easily find the Post Office. There would be clear access to this lift and WHSmiths would ensure that the aisles are kept clear of obstructions and all other areas of the store comply with applicable legislation.
In regards to the fire evacuation procedures; as you would expect, Post Office Ltd and WHSmith take the safety of their customers and staff very seriously. WHSmith are fully aware of their responsibilities in respect of current fire regulations and store evacuation procedures, with plans already in place across their stores. They would also reassess these plans as part of any new branch fit out, to ensure that risk assessments are suitably updated and evacuation procedures reviewed and tested, recognising the greater level of customers likely to be on site should a PO branch be installed.
Consultation ends on 1 June 2016, when we will undertake a final review of the feedback we have received, including yours, and evaluate if any changes need to be made to our original proposal. Once the final decision is taken we will display information posters in the current branch, details will also be published on our website http://www.postofficeviews.co.uk
I hope my response has been helpful and thank you for taking the time to contact us.
Yours sincerely
Graham Hodson
Programme Correspondence TeamThink of the positives here.
There will still be a crown post office in the middle of Wrexham whereas many small towns have lost their post offices over the last few year. Plus WH Smiths will have a nice new refit which will look nice.So hopefully we will have a branch of smiths on our high street for the foreseeable future despite claims they will be the next chain store to move out of town or to eagles meadow.
Also with a bit of luck the opening hours for the post office will be longer as well matching W H Smiths opening hours.Yes it would be better on the ground floor, probably at the back of the store so people have to walk though pas the magazines and stationary to get to the counter. I hope that’s what they do once the consultation process is finished.
However even a post office on the first floor with a modern lift and staircase is better than no post office all.
We have to accept that as smiths already runs 107 post office branches from it’s stores already and is looking to increase that number that this is inevitable.
If Wrexham didn’t have a branch of smiths in to town center for the post office to move to then almost certainly it would be lost altogether.Its worth noting that WH Smiths now has a store within a store at the toy shop in Gwersyllt, next to the new Home Bargains. Also within the toy shop is a post office. Is this a new plan for certain types of shop to avail themselves of each others trading. Of course as stated in another thread on this forum, the free parking available to shop in the variety of stores is also a major draw.
Win Win !.
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
