[hollow man]

Seconded, or at least a hint!

Yeah Shiggy!, open up fella!

 

[fazaz]

There was an article in the Journal on the 9th October (Can't find it on the website anywhere, but North Tyneside Council rejected planning permission for a Nando's and a Krispy Kremes at the Silverlink fearing it would drive custom away from the nearby towns of Wallsend and North Shields

There's not one Krispy Kremes North of Manchester and NTC piss the opportunity up the wall.

(sure i have posted this before but it's beter in the correct thread now)

They knocked KK back?!??!!!:nuts:

I would die and go to heaven if they opened an outlet anywhere in the NE!!

Call it sad, but I give ANYONE I know who is going to Manchester / London / Bham money EVERYTIME to get me a dozen KKs!! :lol:

Lets all write to them and tell them to take one of the two kiosks facing onto Clayton Street in the ES extension!!! Plan and a half!

 

[bigchrisfgb]

Yeah, they had one in Gatwick aswell, I never got one though.

 

[jwmacintyre]

Hmm, bad news about Kurt Geiger opening up in the MC, again I'd rather see them open up here.

There is a store here next to French Connection on Grainger Street!

 

[bigchrisfgb]

There is a store here next to French Connection on Grainger Street!

Oh yeah, I forgot about that one, still Dunne, and FCUK prensence there should suggest Newcastle can deal with those sort of stores. Now to get Armani, Ted Baker etc to all open up here.

 

[Newcastle Historian]

As has been said on here a number of times, many 'national retail chains' consider their MetroCentre store to be their Newcastle store, so if they are open there they may not wish to open a "second" Newcastle store, as they would see it.

Not all store chains are as obvious as Debenhams about it, but in their 'thinking and planning' most will be. Certainly, many hotel chains are quite up-front about it!

Anyway, as an example . . .

http://www.debenhams.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/category_10001_10001_18765_-1

So, in essence, if a chain has a branch in MetroCentre, there isn't much point in holding our breath on them opening (a second) store, in the City Centre.

Some will, some won't, some have!

 

[shiggy]

krispy kreme is run by a sole franchisee company in the uk. they are aiming to get as north as newcastle, but at the moment its a no. they have a partnership agreement with TESCOs in the UK so they are also pretty limited on that front. Yes Acorn Rd jesmond has been proposed.

I would be very interested to see the article from the journal if anyone has it?

regarding Pilgrim Street (apologies on Northumberland Street) i dont think it will be retail or leisure. all i can say is that street needs a strong office user.

also the metrocentre is due to be anchored by another department store where the cinema used to be. talks are ongoing but it will be interesting, john lewis, selfridges???

 

[toonlad]

regarding Pilgrim Street (apologies on Northumberland Street) i dont think it will be retail or leisure. all i can say is that street needs a strong office user.

also the metrocentre is due to be anchored by another department store where the cinema used to be. talks are ongoing but it will be interesting, john lewis, selfridges???

Yeah that makes sense to have offices, there is no way the retail drag can extent that far down, I dont know if there are enough shops in the world! But I still think we need an 'Anchor' building. So something with sufficient floor space that the numbers working in the building fuel decent foot-fall. I also think intergration of leisure into the basement and lower floors would be good.

In some ways I wonder how feasible it would be to have a 'family entertainment complex' down that way. Cinema, bowling, quasar, soft-play area, climbing wall, daycare facilities etc. Then family restaurants and things too. Would be a big draw and would be what the gate was always meant to be before the council started giving licences to Casinos and half-naked cheerleader bars!


On the metro centre front, they said a while back that Tesco had it, so unless things have changed, expect a superstore. Soon it will be 'GatesTESCOhead'

 

[bigchrisfgb]

In some ways I wonder how feasible it would be to have a 'family entertainment complex' down that way. Cinema, bowling, quasar, soft-play area, climbing wall, daycare facilities etc. Then family restaurants and things too. Would be a big draw and would be what the gate was always meant to be before the council started giving licences to Casinos and half-naked cheerleader bars!

Yes, that is where Newcastle's next target lies, after we have completed everything else first though, but having Pilgrim St as entertainment st, next to our retail area is a very good idea.

 

[toonlad]

Yes, that is where Newcastle's next target lies, after we have completed everything else first though, but having Pilgrim St as entertainment st, next to our retail area is a very good idea.

We do need another cinema in Newcastle though. The Empire is a heap of dung. We should get AMC or UGC to open up. I do think Cinemas are great anchor tenants, people often eat and drink before the cinema, so they draw in more leisure.

 

[bigchrisfgb]

We do need another cinema in Newcastle though. The Empire is a heap of dung. We should get AMC or UGC to open up. I do think Cinemas are great anchor tenants, people often eat and drink before the cinema, so they draw in more leisure.

I tend to agree, the one at the Gate is rather shabby, fortunatly for me I live around the corner from Silverlink.

 

[TownPlanningNE]

regarding Pilgrim Street (apologies on Northumberland Street) i dont think it will be retail or leisure. all i can say is that street needs a strong office user.

also the metrocentre is due to be anchored by another department store where the cinema used to be. talks are ongoing but it will be interesting, john lewis, selfridges???

I actually saw people working on the old Bank of England building today, not sure if it's just coincidence though?

Selfridges MetroCentre would be nice!

 

[geordiejon]

Selfridges arent opening any new UK stores their provincial stores are struggling. As mentioned they own land in Glasgow- but the plans for a store have been shelved. Plus MC is certainly not the Trafford Centre and I would dance naked down the red mall if a high end retailer opened in the centre. John Lewis is possible - although i doubt that too what with it being so close to Bainbridges in the town.

I also had heard that Tesco was to open where the pictures is- however the council may well feel that the build of a Tesco in the MC could affect the speed and development of the Town Centre. However the planned Tesco was not that big really and apparently they were to take some of the Pizza Hut unit (dunno where that is going- although to be honest I a not sure if a lot of the restaurants/ bar will be successful now that the pictures is not in that area of the centre) so there would be space for a large unit. There is also the old Woolworths unit in the Metro Centre which is rather large too.

Re: Pilgrim Street- as we have all siad before the area near the roundabout will never be retail. The only realistic retail will be where the old Odeon is. End of. The whole block to the old Northern Electric could see our decent iconic retail offering. However I think any start would be after 2012 at the very earliest.

Re: Hollister- I have been looking around and I doubt the double unit under offer is Hollister- it simply would be too large- they seem to be taking units of 6-7000 sqft- which is really the size of one unit in the ES- to be honest the onelast unit according to CSC website is that size so it could be that- still dunno what the double one could be.CSC must be waiting till closer the time of opening before announcing it- for the size my money would have to be Zara or Urban Outfitters TBH.

 

[johnnypd]

selfridges wouldnt open in the metro centre even if they were expanding, imo.

 

[bigchrisfgb]

Zara would be a good coup for ES, infact all 3 of them would be, Hollister, Zara, and Urban Outfitters.

 

[johnnypd]

Another example of gateshead and north tyneside being considered Newcastle. from property week.

Bench follows Gap into Newcastle

20.11.09

Bench is to open a 4,349 sq ft womenswear-focused outlet store at the Royal Quays outlet centre in Newcastle before the end of the year, on a turnover-based rent

This follows a letting to Gap in July. Sanderson Weatherall and Brian Oakwell & Co are the agents.

 

[bigchrisfgb]

Another example of gateshead and north tyneside being considered Newcastle. from property week.

Bench follows Gap into Newcastle

20.11.09

Bench is to open a 4,349 sq ft womenswear-focused outlet store at the Royal Quays outlet centre in Newcastle before the end of the year, on a turnover-based rent

This follows a letting to Gap in July. Sanderson Weatherall and Brian Oakwell & Co are the agents.

Damn it, I saw Bench and Newcastle, then I sawWoman focused, outlet, and Royal Queys.

 

[AngerOfTheNorth]

im not suggesting we copy what has been done elsewhere, every site is different and poses different challenges. My post was designed to highlight the ambition and finish of retail projects in cities of similar population and retail spend, and even smaller in some cases. It is too late for ES South but when it comes to rejigging the rest we should be more ambitious. EPS will not happen - at least not as a single huge retail-led scheme on the level of L1 or Cabot Circus, so it is pointless to cling onto it as our great white hope. i do wonder if the council's pointless focus on drafting and redrafting masterplans for that area has anything to do with this ES redevelopment flying under the radar of 'quality control'. the council have a stake in the mall so should've been more active in promoting good design. In particular in drafting a masterplan they actually had some hope of implementing so that ES is not developed piecemeal in the future as it has been until now, but rather following a pre-defined pattern.

I agree - without labouring the point, it's simply a case of a lack of quality. The site is actually pretty huge and they're creating a huge amount of new retail space which will in turn should make them a pretty healthy profit (in the long run). And with the site being so deep in plan, the ratio of exterior walling to the amount of space should be pretty low - in theory, giving them plenty of cash to spend per sq metre of facade.

They could, therefore, have produced something genuinely high quality, that would have raised the bar within the city.

Then again, as we all know the council owns 40% of the building. Can we therefore assume that 40% ownership = 40% of the construction bill? If not, a deal has to be struck with the owner of the rest of it, who won't be very happy if they end up being forced to spend any extra than necessary by the people who they're carrying the financial can for. I'm not suggesting anything underhand, but the council are hardly going to refuse their own planning applications, are they?

 

[elliott]

Thank god Bench aren't opening in town then and in Royal Quays instead, along with Henley's and Superdry they epitomise chav culture with awful branding splashed across their merchandise. I'd rather have an empty unit tbh, but i'll be impressed with Hollister is we get it; as its a store i'd actually shop in.

Also as mentioned about a new department store in the Metro Centre, i get the feeling that some people think they wouldn't open there due to lower spending per head. But i've seen many people on this thread say that Newcastle should get one. Its the same (or at least, wage social bracket) people who shop in both of them. So if you don't believe the Metro Centre will get one, then Newcastle City is even less likely i believe.

 

[bigchrisfgb]

I agree, that Bench, Henleys, and Superdry are nothing more then expensive styles of Chav clothing, but I do think Newcastle should have these stores. It's all about choice, and like it or not, these are big names that people unfortunatly look for, so our city centre not having them is not really a good thing.