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Retail in Greater Birmingham

3M views 22K replies 423 participants last post by  Peaky Blender 
#1 ·
I went back to Brum yesterday and found the city centre in a sorry state, with vacant units absolutely everywhere - three and a half years after the Bull Ring opened.

Everyone expected the Bull Ring effect, but things were supposed to have 'settled down' by now. And yet Martineau Place, Bull Street, Corporation Street - even the bit of New Street by the Bull Ring (Mexx didn't last long) all appear to be suffering. Even in the Bull Ring itself, the former Nike store remains unlet and there are other vacant units in the mall.

Great Western Arcade is, as always, only half-let and forlorn as usual. Shops on Corporation Street that ought to be full of people on a Saturday afternoon, such as House of Fraser and Urban Outfitters, were quiet. I didn't even venture to the The Mailbox, but I dread to think how busy (i.e. not busy) that would have been.

So what the cluck is going on? The theory was that landlords would have to lower rents across the rest of the city core once the Bull Ring was opened, and that independents would fill the newly-vacated units. This hasn't happened - not even one bit.

And yet, more retail space is planned - in the form of Martineau Galleries - when it manifestly isn't needed!
 
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#1,042 ·
HMV to snap up some Zavvi stores

Entertainment retailer HMV has said it is to buy 14 stores from troubled chain Zavvi, funded by selling new shares.

Proceeds will also be used to fund a move into the live music market, taking a joint stake in a firm running 11 venues including Hammersmith Apollo.

Ticket sales

As part of the live music deal, HMV will form a new business with MAMA, the firm that currently deals with the ownership and operation of the venues, which also include The Forum in London's Kentish Town, the Birmingham Institute and Aberdeen's Moshulu.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7829339.stm
 
#1,043 ·
I couldn't find a thread about the Bullring, but I think it's appropriate that this is posted given his impact on Birmingham.

Jan Kaplicky dies, age 71


Future systems Director suffers heart attack hours after daughter born
Future Systems Director Jan Kaplicky has died, age 71, in Prague on Wednesday evening. Only hours after his wife gave birth to his daughter, Johanka, Kaplicky suffered a heart attack in the street and died, police and paramedics unable to revive him on the scene.

The Czech architect and his first wife and business partner Amanda Levete, are commonly regarded as the parents of ‘blob architecture’, creating free-form obtuse structures such as Birmingham’s iconic studded Selfridges building and the media center at Lords Cricket ground.

Most recently Kaplicky caused controversy with his design for the National Library in Prague which won the design competition in 2007 but has subsequently been contested by the Czech culture minister. Late last year Kaplicky refused an award for his design from the Ministry of Culture due to the contention.

Kaplicky settled in the UK in 1968 working with renowned architects Lord Norman Foster, Richard Rogers and Renzo Piano before founding the Future Systems studio with Levete in London. Following their marital split after 15 years of marriage the pair remained business partners until October last year, signaling what many regarded as the end of an era. Kaplicky married his second wife Eliška Kaplický Fuchsová in 2007.


Niki May Young
http://www.worldarchitecturenews.com/index.php?fuseaction=wanappln.projectview&upload_id=10942
 
#1,044 ·
It's very sad coming at this time, he was getting a lot of grief over the National Library in Prague from some very small minded people. Without architects like him the boundaries of aesthetic and engineering prowess would remain static ad Birmingham should be proud to have such a startling monument to him and his firm.

As for Future Systems I don't see them continuing, the main partner left some time ago, we may well see the end of this firm.
 
#1,045 ·
Great Western Arcade

Following on from my previous post expressing concern at the number of empty units in the Great Western Arcade, the article below is on the Birmingham Mail web site today - it doesn't look too promising for some of those who are still trading there!:


BIRMINGHAM shop landlords are calling in the bailiffs to claw back cash from small independent shops that are struggling to survive the credit crunch.

One shop, in the Great Western Arcade, is now refusing to open its doors because of the “aggressive tactics” of the hired debt collectors.

A sign on the front door of Dr & Herbs said: “For health and safety reasons we have had to close the shop.

“We cannot accept this anti-social behaviour.

“We will not open this shop until the landlord signs an acceptable behaviour contract to ensure our staff will not be attacked.”

A spokesman for the company, who did not want his name printed, added: “They said they would destroy the business and take everything if the staff did not pay up.

“The bailiffs were very aggressive and it is just not acceptable.

“Customers come to our shop for treatment and they should not be involved in this, and this should not affect the staff because it has nothing to do with them.

“Some of them do not speak good English and they had no idea what was going on. They have refused to sign the behaviour contract and they have asked us to remove the sign explaining what happened from our window.”

At least 11 units at the Victorian shopping arcade between House of Fraser and Snow Hill station, already sit empty.

Another shopkeeper, who did not wish to be named, said: “I know that shops were visited by the bailiffs and the tactics they used were very aggressive.

“I do not see how this will keep businesses here or attract new ones.

“It’s as bad as car clamping. It’s not like a householder who can keep them on the doorstep, you cannot stop them coming into your shop.

“No doubt some are in genuine debt through their own fault, but at times like this I think it would be in the owners interests to be more flexible.”

The Arcade is owned by the Norwich Property Trust and is managed by King Sturge LLP.

John Partington, senior associate with King Sturge, said: “It is quite normal for bailiffs to be called in for tenants who fail to pay their rent in advance of the date stipulated in the lease.

“Credit control personnel attempt to recover tenant’s arrears and become familiar with those who regularly pay late or not at all.

“No notice is given of a pending bailiff visit, for obvious reasons, and at Great Western Arcade, bailiffs visited a number of units last week.

“We cannot comment on individuals but in all cases the bailiff was called last week for non payment of rent.”

Roger Monkman, from the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce, said: “Unfortunately these are the harsh realities of recessionary life.

“It is very unfortunate and obviously we feel for the firms that are struggling, but we expect more of this in the future.

“We were warned that this kind of thing might increase because of problems that small firms will have in paying the rent and VAT bills. The deadline is the end of this month for VAT and we expect it to be very difficult.

“Companies are going to need all the help they can get to survive the recession.

“Extending the time to pay VAT would be a popular way for companies feeling the pinch.”
 
#1,049 ·
Well as I said before, the owners of the GWA are clearly stupid from the fact that they have managed to drive out most businesses and bite off the hand that feeds them.

Now it appears they are bullies too.

King Sturge should hang their heads in shame at being associated with this sort of behaviour.
 
#1,050 ·
Hasn;t the USC chain gone bump?
Yep, but some stores were going to be saved and rebranded. Surprising that such a prominent store wasn't one of those being saved!
 
#1,051 ·
Land Securities close to selling stake in Bullring

11:29 | 22.01.09

Land Securities is close to selling its one-third stake in the Bullring shopping centre in Birmingham to an overseas investor.

It has held talks with several investors, among them US, European and Australian funds, and is thought to be in advanced talks with Australian government fund Future Funds. It is believed the price being paid is around £200m, representing a yield of 6.9%. Cushman & Wakefield is advising LandSecs but declined to comment. LandSecs put the stake on the market in April 2008 for around £300m. Future Funds has assets totalling A$63.4bn (£30.1bn).
http://www.propertyweek.com/story.asp?sectioncode=297&storycode=3132097
 
#1,053 ·
A third of Martineau Galleries?

The Birmingham Alliance, a joint venture partnership between Hammerson plc, Pearl Group Ltd (previously Henderson Global Investors Ltd) and Land Securities Group plc, is developing Martineau Galleries. To date, the Birmingham Alliance has brought to the city Martineau Place, completed in 2001, Bullring in 2003 and Bullrink Link in 2004. Martineau Galleries is the fourth and final phase of its retail-led regeneration plans for the city.
http://www.birminghamalliance.co.uk/martineau_galleries.asp
 
#1,054 ·
Anyone been in HMV in the bullring lately. Have they used some of their backroom or taken a bit of the back of Debenhams as their game section appears to have extended diagonally backwards. Plus has the new lighter floor covering.
 
#1,055 ·
All HMV stores are undergoing refitting. None of Birmingham's store have been refitted yet.

If you ever get a chance visit the Merry Hill store. I quite like the lines of iMac computers that people can use for going on the web, playing games etc.

They are changing from retail to retail and social media.
 
#1,057 ·
All HMV stores are undergoing refitting. None of Birmingham's store have been refitted yet.

If you ever get a chance visit the Merry Hill store. I quite like the lines of iMac computers that people can use for going on the web, playing games etc.

They are changing from retail to retail and social media.
The hmv in the bull ring has undergone a complete refit. Not sure about the other 3.
 
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