[ne14ne1]

^^ Several years ago NCC's Education IT section used to have a floor there

 

[ne14ne1]

And PureGym Gateshead (Jackson St) who had previously always displayed posters inside stating 'free parking at Tesco Trinity Sq' as a "member benefit", have now removed them all and they emailed me back confirming they now have no free parking nearby.

I always go to the gym late on, usually 9-10pm ish.
From next week parking at Trinity will add another approx £15 to my monthly gym expense. This is obviously on top of the actual monthly gym membership itself - however if I drive across into Newcastle CITY CENTRE I can park for free after 5pm.

At the weekend when I visit the gym through the day, I would sometimes pop into the post office, Wilko, Boots, Costa, or Dickson's from time to time...
Good bye Gateshead Town Centre. hno:

 

[ne14ne1]

The car park next to Gateshead Old Town Hall (the one on West Street) is free after 6.00pm or it used to be when I worked at GOTH.

Cheers
GBDT

Oh! Good to know. :banana:

Thanks! Didn't think about that one.

 

[ne14ne1]

I thought this was a kids stationery shop before I read the post properly :lol::lol::lol:

What an absolutely hideous brand and decor.

Although to be fair I can't say I've noticed a smart looking vape shop before.

 

[ne14ne1]

Noticed Reid's shutters for the first time yesterday, they go up rather than down...

Well I never! From the pic they don't look like they roll up, but surely they don't go into the ground as one solid sheet?

 

[ne14ne1]

That section is certainly 'solid'. Looking at this image I'd say it's solid all the way down

Wow. Wonder if there's a basement underneath and the shutter void sits in front of it, presumably with the shutter dating back to when the building was first constructed?

 

[ne14ne1]

Does anyone have any idea who owns Belvedere Retail Park (between Kingston Retail Park & Kingston Park Tesco)?

Theres some terrible pot holes in there, but after a quick Google I still can't see who to report it to.

 

[ne14ne1]

Glug closed.

Sadly not a surprise, never seemed to work after it left the market. Big increase in costs and that end of Grainger st always seems 'tough'

https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/city-centre-grocer-mmm-glug-17267786

In the Chronicle article the owners are quoted saying "along with falling city centre footfall, possible future congestion charges and a massively expanded Christmas Market, means that the numbers now simply don't add up".

A possible future congestion charge? If they're referring to the propossed clean air zone it doesn't sound like that's going to include charging private cars, so not sure what to make of that.

Also, hasn't the massively expanded Christmas market only just opened this weekend? It could have increased their footfall.
I don't know if it's advertised out of the area, but hopefully the new Christmas offer will start to attract additional visitors from other cities, just like Edinburgh, York & Manchester's xmas markets attracts us to visit their cities.

 

[ne14ne1]

Even the branding exercise was a waste of money IMO which would have been a huge wasted cost. No one is bothered who owns a shopping centre and they take the identity away from the place/region to satisfy their own business, instead of just running a successful business.

Good point.
I particularly dislike how Metrocentre's mall signage was all put in Intu black with yellow edging, and the actual mall colour/identity made barely visible until you're almost beneath it.... if that makes sense?

 

[ne14ne1]

Bit of a sad sight on Gateshead Wellington Street with 3 small businesses leaving/left.

 

[ne14ne1]

Bit of a sad sight on Gateshead Wellington Street with 3 small businesses leaving/left.

View attachment 181215

Retail units at High Level Parade arches, Wellington St, Gateshead up for rent - pictures 12/07/20

The situation about Network Rail selling off its leasehold to 5,500 arches across the country has been discussed over a few threads on this section of the Forum since July 2018 , see Newcastle and the North East RETAIL - City Centre..., in particular arches in the Gateshead and Newcastle area

Pictures by myself from Sunday 12/07/20 approx 1000 showing the current state of occupancy of retail unit at High Level Parade arches, Wellington St, Gateshead

Lot of The Arch Co "To Let" signs in place and empty units

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KEN

The arches on Wellington Street Gateshead have lost another tenant as Gee-Kent Ho is also moving to Heaton Road.

As things currently stand, only three arches remain occupied now with Greendaze Hydrophonics, Hungry Shack & Ali Geez.

Five arches stand empty through the departure of Arch 16 Cafe, Block & Bottle, Estate Tea Co., and Gee-Kent Ho (who had two units).

Bridgewater Kitchens remain across the road, but theres also an empty shop on their side of the street too.
I’m not sure I’ve ever noticed this unit occupied.

It is a shame. The Bridges Quarter wasn’t long ago quite a trendy little street of independents.

 

[ne14ne1]

Eldon Square tweeted they are no longer part of the Intu family:

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1314601597700374535

 

[ne14ne1]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1314601170372091905

Metrocentre's Twitter account is now simply 'Metrocentre', where I'm sure it previously included Intu like their Twitter handle (@intuMetrocentre). I could be wrong though. I wonder if the handle will be changed too in due course. No tweet from them however about leaving the Intu family.

 

[ne14ne1]

Do we think we'll see the old Eldon Square branding back or something else?

I hope not, it would look awfully dated now.

 

[ne14ne1]

Looks like Collectables are making another return to Newcastle - opening in the old White Stuff unit on Blackett Street.

My housemates Mam is being transferred there from the Sunderland store. He seemed to think it was the Jack Wills store they were moving into

Yeah, I think it was Jack Wills previous to it becoming White Stuff.

 

[ne14ne1]

Any ideas if they plan to improve the traffic management / flow around the range / Ikea / Asda and coming off the A1 and heading towards that area.

it’s gridlock most weekends, and trying to get out of the range is impossible as traffic is nose to tail.

A free-for-all for car users, vast free parking, roundabouts rather than signalised junctions and very few traffic lights/signalised pedestrian crossings is exactly what the retail park user wants isn't it, otherwise they scream the local authority was trying to drive them out (if you'll pardon the pun) and ruin local businesses?

 

[ne14ne1]

It's complicated. I have used amazon a lot more recently, the business model is smart. Have prime, get the TV and free next day delivery on lots of products. Can Mrs NP be bothered to walk into a shop to get beloved cat's special food [which they may or may not have], why bother when it's the same price or cheaper from Amazon, collect it from the foyer tomorrow.

There's also the returns - I've bought various bits and pieces some of which have not worked... wire cutters where the wire marked the cutters and not the other way round, non pairing fitness and and so on. Want to return, no problem, print the prepaid label, scan and send, there's your refund sir. Will [say] B and Q be as co operative, do I want to find out [it might be the case that say asos is as good, I don't know as I ve not bought form them]?

Whatever we might like to think... you can't get on a bus into a town centre and get a weekly [or larger] shop, not even for 2 of us and a cat, nor can you do it on a bike [though there might be a business opportunity for any sherpas in the area] So driving to shop in the city gets gets harder and I am off to Sainsburys and Aldi where I can buy it and take it to the car [and that s as a city centre resident, imagine living in say Chapel house].

Firstly as has already been said above not many people would do a weekly food shop in the city centre, so that's not really comparable.
Secondly, if you have Amazon Prime why waste your time and energy getting in your car, driving to a supermarket to traipse around it with a trolley, to take it out to the car to load up and drive back when you could've just ordered your weekly food shop from Amazon too and had it delivered for free within a 2 hour time slot of your choosing?

 

[ne14ne1]

I can't speak for everyone but there is a quite a substantial amount of fresh food I would not want to order without viewing it first.

Fair enough, I can't say I've ever had any problems. I suspect they're conscious that if they picked & sent out rubbish it would lead to dissatisfaction with the service, complaints & loss of custom.
Or maybe I've just been lucky so far.

 

[ne14ne1]

Looks like Eldon Square’s new branding has been revealed. Pretty lazy in my opinion...

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1327253217508470785