Swansea city centre has faced some tough times in the recent economical climate, and as the Co-operative store on the corner of Portland Street and The Kingsway is closing its doors this week, it would seem that the city centre is still suffering.
The Evening Post reports that the Co-operative store, which was once the home to Mothercare and C&A, will be empty once again on Saturday. The same article also reflects on the recent closures of Mountain Warehouse on Oxford Street, as well as Phones 4 U and Monsoon, which have been part of the city centre for years. However, it is not all bad news;
We opened a new store in Swansea city centre on November 1st. At Goose Island, we believe that it is important to invest in the city centre, as we believe it can still be a successful and bustling place where people can find everything they are looking for. Our new store had a successful opening day, and has remained busy since, seeing a steady footfall of new customers.
The Evening Post article also highlights a number of figures and statistics which show that Swansea is actually fairing a lot better in the retail sector than most of the UK. According to R3, the trade body for Insolvency Professionals, 21.82% of Swansea city’s retail businesses have a higher than normal risk of insolvency, compared to 22.21% of retail businesses in Wales, 25.04% in the UK, and 26.65% in London. These figures show that the city centre is heading in the right direction, which will surely give retailers a boost coming up to Christmas, however, more still needs to be done through schemes such as Swansea BID.
Goose Island’s owner and manager, Karen Hutchings, was given a chance to comment in the article on our new store opening, as well as the city centre situation in general;
We are looking forward to connecting with a lot more Swansea customers at our new store, and hope to see the growth of other independent retailers within the city centre in the near future.
You can read the full Evening Post article here.
“A planning application has already been submitted for the Mountain Warehouse site, and Barclays is carrying out a major refurbishment of the former La Senza building on Oxford Street as it prepares to relocate from The Kingsway.
National chain Las Iguanas has confirmed it’s moving to Wind Street and independent fashion retailer Goose Island, which has shops in Mumbles and Cowbridge, has opened in Plymouth Street.”
We opened a new store in Swansea city centre on November 1st. At Goose Island, we believe that it is important to invest in the city centre, as we believe it can still be a successful and bustling place where people can find everything they are looking for. Our new store had a successful opening day, and has remained busy since, seeing a steady footfall of new customers.
The Evening Post article also highlights a number of figures and statistics which show that Swansea is actually fairing a lot better in the retail sector than most of the UK. According to R3, the trade body for Insolvency Professionals, 21.82% of Swansea city’s retail businesses have a higher than normal risk of insolvency, compared to 22.21% of retail businesses in Wales, 25.04% in the UK, and 26.65% in London. These figures show that the city centre is heading in the right direction, which will surely give retailers a boost coming up to Christmas, however, more still needs to be done through schemes such as Swansea BID.
Goose Island’s owner and manager, Karen Hutchings, was given a chance to comment in the article on our new store opening, as well as the city centre situation in general;
“Swansea city centre is facing serious challenges with a number of national chains closing down, continued competition from out-of-town shopping centres, and the growth of online and mobile retailing.
Our shopping centre needs to be a social place with a vibrant daytime economy, offering something that neither shopping centres nor the internet can match. We want to show our commitment to the city centre rejuvenation by opening a boutique that offers shoppers a personal and high quality shopping experience. We hope that other independents will follow suit as we believe this approach will be a huge step in the city centre regeneration plans.”
We are looking forward to connecting with a lot more Swansea customers at our new store, and hope to see the growth of other independent retailers within the city centre in the near future.
You can read the full Evening Post article here.
No comments:
Post a Comment