Retail issues in Sunderland city centre

[BMX Bandit]

Not to worry man we can always just open another car park

Will need more parking once the workers return like. Good idea.

 

[Shandy drinker]

Would the d Pyrex warehouse site at deptford not been a good site for m and s to fit their new model

 

[Walter H. White]

Haven’t kept up to day with the rest of the thread but we really need to help support the city centre by spending our money in it, rather than online or travelling further afield, myself included.

I know some of these closures have been a National decision rather than just isolated to Sunderland not being profitable, but it’s incredible the amount of people who are fuming with the closure/lack of shops, yet in the same breath say they haven’t been to Sunderland in years and would rather for the Galleries/Metro Centre.

People complain about too many Poundshops, would rather an upmarket place like John Lewis but do you really think they would help support it? These same people complain about paying a couple quid to park for crying out loud.

If more people chose Sunderland first and then used other locations/online as a second choice, the city centre would be in a much better state.

The M&S decision surprises me, mind. It’s always got plenty of people in when I go although the food section seems to be the main reason people go there.

The new development nearby would bring even more trade too you would think?

Good luck getting parked at the Galleries, that’s all I’ll say. Nightmare.

 

[tysonstorm]

Too many of us can identify with this behaviour, and it is exactly why Town Centre retail sites are closing.

Not a blame thing, but behaviours have changed and the traditional high street retail outlets are no longer viable.

I predict that in the future, town centres will have more residential and less retail units, with more boutique businesses than big chains. more coffee shops and leisure type outlets. Town centres will become more habited outside of retail hours.

Big retail outlets will be in out of town centre sites

It's a shame like because I stopped shopping in the city centre when I couldn't get the sizes or styles I needed. M&S themselves were the worst. I would check online and see something I liked, i prefer to try clothes on than just blindly buying online so I would pop into the store to see if they had it in and try it on, they wouldn't and be told by staff to order it online.

You can order stuff online for delivery or collection in store. I used to do click and collect but then the parking charges shot up and it became cheaper to get it delivered.

To compensate for the lack of people coming in, car park owners jack up their prices because profits are down, so it makes it even less viable for people to shop in the city centre. The parking charges to park at the Bridges is shocking!

These behaviours and habits have been engineered by the likes of M&S to maximise their profits. The likes of M&S and others have helped kill off the high street to monopolise their respective markets, and when it's no longer profitable enough for them they jump ship leaving cities and towns empty.

 

[Shandy drinker]

It's a shame like because I stopped shopping in the city centre when I couldn't get the sizes or styles I needed. M&S themselves were the worst. I would check online and see something I liked, i prefer to try clothes on than just blindly buying online so I would pop into the store to see if they had it in and try it on, they wouldn't and be told by staff to order it online.

You can order stuff online for delivery or collection in store. I used to do click and collect but then the parking charges shot up and it became cheaper to get it delivered.

To compensate for the lack of people coming in, car park owners jack up their prices because profits are down, so it makes it even less viable for people to shop in the city centre. The parking charges to park at the Bridges is shocking!

These behaviours and habits have been engineered by the likes of M&S to maximise their profits. The likes of M&S and others have helped kill off the high street to monopolise their respective markets, and when it's no longer profitable enough for them they jump ship leaving cities and towns empty.

You are right about retailers engineering the situation
Chains have done it for years

 

[NWO]

There's more car parks in Sunderland than shops, embarrassing really.

I can barely spend an hour there and much rather spend more of my time travelling to Metro Centre/Elon Square, where my time can be well spent

 

[Cheese n Ipa]

Master debonair??

If you want to look like you are a reject from Peaky blinders and love wearing bald patch covering flat caps.

 

[Mackemansj1]

Haven’t kept up to day with the rest of the thread but we really need to help support the city centre by spending our money in it, rather than online or travelling further afield, myself included.

I know some of these closures have been a National decision rather than just isolated to Sunderland not being profitable, but it’s incredible the amount of people who are fuming with the closure/lack of shops, yet in the same breath say they haven’t been to Sunderland in years and would rather for the Galleries/Metro Centre.

People complain about too many Poundshops, would rather an upmarket place like John Lewis but do you really think they would help support it? These same people complain about paying a couple quid to park for crying out loud.

If more people chose Sunderland first and then used other locations/online as a second choice, the city centre would be in a much better state.

The M&S decision surprises me, mind. It’s always got plenty of people in when I go although the food section seems to be the main reason people go there.

The new development nearby would bring even more trade too you would think?

Good luck getting parked at the Galleries, that’s all I’ll say. Nightmare.

It was the same in the cinema closing thread, just people making excuses for why they went elsewhere in the same sentence moaning we've lost a cinema. Use it or lose it, you get the city centre you deserve at the end of the day Sunderland has always been on the lower end. Ive lived here all my life and let's face it it's not an affluent, and people like to feel better about themselves by "going" to Newcastle or the galleries than going to town. It's always been the same people moan about stuff be then do nowt about it, or never even were effected in the first place. Like you say they moan the town is a shit hole with nee shops etc but have been going elsewhere or shopping online causing it.

 

[Sing in the Roker]

There's more car parks in Sunderland than shops, embarrassing really.

I can barely spend an hour there and much rather spend more of my time travelling to Metro Centre/Elon Square, where my time can be well spent

Mag

 

[Brett]

Some good ideas in here and other forums yet this is as far as they get , would love sunderland to be more forward thinking and open up the floor for ideas themselves

People shout and scream at social media but if they was a legitimate way to get ideas across then you wouldn't have a leg to stand on

 

[Super Hodge]

Really sad about M&S.

The council have a real issue to contend with there. There won’t be many cities that aim to develop a cultural quarter with a new hotel, slightly higher end bars and a cultural centre where the patrons of such places will be a snot’s flick away from boarded up stores and cash generators.

The city has some great ventures but it is very spread out and each great little area is littered with eyesores and dereliction.

Agreed. Though maybe more business will now gravitate towards Keel Square and create a new, smaller city centre emanating from that area

 

[Gene Hunt]

It was the same in the cinema closing thread, just people making excuses for why they went elsewhere in the same sentence moaning we've lost a cinema. Use it or lose it, you get the city centre you deserve at the end of the day Sunderland has always been on the lower end. Ive lived here all my life and let's face it it's not an affluent, and people like to feel better about themselves by "going" to Newcastle or the galleries than going to town. It's always been the same people moan about stuff be then do nowt about it, or never even were effected in the first place. Like you say they moan the town is a shit hole with nee shops etc but have been going elsewhere or shopping online causing it.

There are a lot of good areas in Sunderland. There are new housing developments springing up all over and the houses are in big demand. Unfortunately most of these people must go elsewhere as when you do venture into town it’s full of the dregs of the earth.

However I will balance that by saying that the last time I was in Newcastle I thought that the place was looking really scruffy. I hadn’t been for a few years and was surprised at how run down Northumberland Street and its surrounding area was, and how many homeless people and scruffy chavs there were. They are heavily diluted by lots of City Centre workers and students though. Sunderland doesn’t have that luxury.

 

[Mackem00]

Haven’t kept up to day with the rest of the thread but we really need to help support the city centre by spending our money in it, rather than online or travelling further afield, myself included.

I know some of these closures have been a National decision rather than just isolated to Sunderland not being profitable, but it’s incredible the amount of people who are fuming with the closure/lack of shops, yet in the same breath say they haven’t been to Sunderland in years and would rather for the Galleries/Metro Centre.

People complain about too many Poundshops, would rather an upmarket place like John Lewis but do you really think they would help support it? These same people complain about paying a couple quid to park for crying out loud.

If more people chose Sunderland first and then used other locations/online as a second choice, the city centre would be in a much better state.

The M&S decision surprises me, mind. It’s always got plenty of people in when I go although the food section seems to be the main reason people go there.

The new development nearby would bring even more trade too you would think?

Good luck getting parked at the Galleries, that’s all I’ll say. Nightmare.

This.

 

[YES WE GYAN]

Aren't the buildings all along High Street W from Keel Sq to M&S due to be renovated as part of the Riverside project in one of the stages?

Think the plan was to turn them into further office space as part of a 'central business district'.

 

[Mackemansj1]

There are a lot of good areas in Sunderland. There are new housing developments springing up all over and the houses are in big demand. Unfortunately most of these people must go elsewhere as when you do venture into town it’s full of the dregs of the earth.

However I will balance that by saying that the last time I was in Newcastle I thought that the place was looking really scruffy. I hadn’t been for a few years and was surprised at how run down Northumberland Street and its surrounding area was, and how many homeless people and scruffy chavs there were. They are heavily diluted by lots of City Centre workers and students though. Sunderland doesn’t have that luxury.

Yeah Newcastle has alot more homeless begging than Sunderland and is looking a bit drab but shopping wise you could fit the shops left in Sunderland in one street in Newcastle. It's way better and always has been. It's those moaning about the town but always going elsewhere that make me laugh.

 

[42]

Aren't the buildings all along High Street W from Keel Sq to M&S due to be renovated as part of the Riverside project in one of the stages?

Think the plan was to turn them into further office space as part of a 'central business district'.

Think that's the longer term vision, but there's no actual concrete plan as such yet.

 

[Shandy drinker]

Think that's the longer term vision, but there's no actual concrete plan as such yet.

Does the model include m and s

 

[RichD]

Unfortunately the state of the UK high street retail market is at an all time low. The old triadically branded shops are dying out and they wouldn't be coming back. Sunderland is like most towns and cities up and down the country we'll have to find alternative ways to bring punters into the city centre. and that means think outside of the box..

 

[Shandy drinker]

Unfortunately the state of the UK high street retail market is at an all time low. The old triadically branded shops are dying out and they wouldn't be coming back. Sunderland is like most towns and cities up and down the country we'll have to find alternative ways to bring punters into the city centre. and that means think outside of the box..

Towns that by good fortune kept or encouraging independents seem to be doing the best

Except Hexham

 

[42]

Does the model include m and s

On the plans it does look like the current m&s isn't there in the current state