What ideas do you have

[said]

What good ideas can you think of to create good marketing options for the three closed/closing store in Southport? What would be good for the old Mc.Donald's place?

The BHS store would be highly suitable for TJ Hughes - while Debenhams store could be partitioned off to allow for entrepreneur retailers paying low costs. Beales could be a good quality family fashion store to fill the void of the other two stores - what do you think? Mc.Donalds could be used for fashionable furniture or white goods?

[*concerned*]

McDonalds corner should be demolished, along with the Market Hall, and replaced with a Multi Storey Car Park!

That way you can ensure you increase footfall into the town centre

[Hamble]

Convalescent homes for the elderly.

[gsgsgs]

What good ideas can you think of to create good marketing options for the three closed/closing store in Southport? What would be good for the old Mc.Donald's place?

The BHS store would be highly suitable for TJ Hughes - while Debenhams store could be partitioned off to allow for entrepreneur retailers paying low costs. Beales could be a good quality family fashion store to fill the void of the other two stores - what do you think? Mc.Donalds could be used for fashionable furniture or white goods?

If the likes of Debenhams can't survive in Southport why would similar style outlets?

In all honesty I can't think of a use for BHS or Debenhams, perhaps opened up for independent traders?

Beales has the advantage of a carpark, giving more options. With investment ground floor bars/restaurant & gym with accommodation on the upper floors,but is there sufficient business for another hotel or will this simply take trade from existing businesses, robbing Peter to pay Paul?

[salus.populi]

One thing is for certain a street that is almost a mile long dedicated to shops is unsustainable in a town this size now.
Personally I'd close Central 12 apart from Asda and close the shopping part of Ocean Plaza and get the shops there to move into the town centre. Problem is the buildings of Lord Street are probably not the sort of premises that modern retail businesses want but are protected by listed building or conservation area status. Why would you move to a Victorian building you can't alter much when you've got a purpose built retail shed that you can do whatever you want to internally with parking right outside? You only have to feel the floor moving under your feet in Beales and Debenhams to realise that!
Things will probably get a lot worse before they get better.

[*concerned*]

Not forgetting the empty stores on Chapel St,..... BHS, HMV etc

[sandGroundZero]

"What good ideas …to create good marketing options for the three closed/closing store in Southport?"

"…marketing options"? who's marketing? Agents of freeholders? Or, perhaps you're thinking the Business Improvement District organization should step in; Debenhams and BHS would presumably have been supporters of the BID scheme.

[sandGroundZero]

"One thing is for certain a street that is almost a mile long dedicated to shops is unsustainable in a town this size now.
"Personally I'd close Central 12 apart from Asda and close the shopping part of Ocean Plaza and get the shops there to move into the town centre."

Southport's visitor economy is all about inducing visitors from outside the town. Are you suggesting that is misguided?

salul.populi: "Problem is the buildings of Lord Street are probably not the sort of premises that modern retail businesses want but are protected by listed building or conservation area status. Why would you move to a Victorian building you can't alter much when you've got a purpose built retail shed that you can do whatever you want to internally with parking right outside? You only have to feel the floor moving under your feet in Beales and Debenhams to realise that!
"Things will probably get a lot worse before they get better."

There are of course many problems associated with the maintenance of listed buildings and promoting a bygone feel — Southport Englans's Classic Resort.

[Alikado]

"…marketing options"? who's marketing? Agents of freeholders? Or, perhaps you're thinking the Business Improvement District organization should step in; Debenhams and BHS would presumably have been supporters of the BID scheme.

A sizeable part of the BIDs income will have disappeared with the stores closing, therefore they will have a lot lot less to spend on promotion of the Town.

The Town Centre needs to be shrunk and abandon Eastbank St from Talbot St, Lord St except from Hulme St to St Georges Place, Pedestrianise from Eastbank St to Neville St (except Buses etc), encourage all shops to move into that rectangle and redevelop the rest into housing or offices on ground floors and Neville St & Scarisbrick Ave reserved for 'Tourism' outlets. Drastic but if not done in 5 years the whole Town Centre will look like a neglected inner city shopping shopping centre.

[sandGroundZero]

"The Town Centre needs to be shrunk "

Who will shrink the Town Centre?

Alikado: "…and abandon Eastbank St from Talbot St, Lord St except from Hulme St to St Georges Place, Pedestrianise from Eastbank St to Neville St (except Buses etc), encourage all shops to move into that rectangle and redevelop the rest into housing or offices on ground floors and Neville St & Scarisbrick Ave reserved for 'Tourism' outlets. Drastic but if not done in 5 years the whole Town Centre will look like a neglected inner city shopping shopping centre."

…who'll abandon; who'll encourage?

[salus.populi]

Southport's visitor economy is all about inducing visitors from outside the town. Are you suggesting that is misguided?

].

No and I'm not sure how you'd think that from what I've stated.

[said]

One thing is for certain a street that is almost a mile long dedicated to shops is unsustainable in a town this size now.
Personally I'd close Central 12 apart from Asda and close the shopping part of Ocean Plaza and get the shops there to move into the town centre. Problem is the buildings of Lord Street are probably not the sort of premises that modern retail businesses want but are protected by listed building or conservation area status. Why would you move to a Victorian building you can't alter much when you've got a purpose built retail shed that you can do whatever you want to internally with parking right outside? You only have to feel the floor moving under your feet in Beales and Debenhams to realise that!
Things will probably get a lot worse before they get better.

I bet you with the right level of management, rent and business rates this town could be made successful. If you look across the UK, there are once run down seaside resorts that are successful. Of course the first attraction is an attractive beach - but on the business side, independent retailers with good imagination.

Yes the big chain stores are suffering now - These have mostly had their day. They have been managed by Head Office personnel, far removed from where each store is located, with a one size fits all theory. This is wrong! Each store is different depending on where it is located. A real manager in each shop can identify local requirements, can see when markets change and can adapt to meet those changes.

For instance, would you sell a large variety of swimsuits in an inner city town and exactly the same in a seaside resort? Would you sell perhaps, buckets and spades in an inner town shop? Would you sell evening wear in a shop next to a beach? No - but the large department stores do and get left with wasted stock.

Lord Street? Promote smart clothing with the latest fashions in mind. i.e. As an example - corduroy is in fashion now - but people still wear tight narrow legged trousers/tights! So blend the two into a smart outfit! Promote those fashions with weekly fashion shows and videos. Find a buyer with talent! Shops selling electric leisure gadgets, specialising in just those items - will be managed by a knowledgeable staff who can answer all your questions on the items - instead of department store staff who do no have a clue. This is very important! Look at Dixons and Curry's - you can alwasy get answers to your questions. Shops selling specialist bakery items - could have a back room where people can learn to make their own bakery items etc., Furniture shops catering for the modern smaller type houses, bijou storage, etc.,

Take your car to a do it yourself garage. For a fee, learn how to repair your own car etc.,
No more cheap trash - decent items at a fair price. You will save more because items will last longer.


We are now at the tail end of a recession where shops hired young people on lower wages. Good for their economy - but lousy for customers to be served by a sour faced, miserable kid who thinks no further than their mobile phone.
Where chain stores and companies are distance managed to save on costs and in which the staff feel undervalued and need to do as little as possible because they will be paid anyway. Chain stores were forced to reduce staff numbers because they were/are managed by equity firms, who do not car how much or how little shops sell. They will profit anyway.

Let local managers manage and deal with the staff and customers as only a local manager can. We are not on the continent, we are not in the USA - the UK is a country full of shopkeepers. Shopping to many people is a social experience - so bearing that in mind, make the atmosphere friendly - you can't do all these things on the internet!

[sandGroundZero]

The rail station and other properties on that side of Chapel Street look ripe for re-development.
If the passenger platforms with station were relocated back towards Virginia Street /C12, the flow of traffic could be diverted away from Lord Street. There are endless possibilities for development of the recovered property.
High quality, high dwelling density, low rise housing along with a new hub for public transport and ideally, 21st century technology applied to moving visitors from the new rail station to Lord Street, the Promenade and the sea front would make these visitor economy destinations more attractive.

Lord Street's ornamental façades and verandas are, I expect, costly to maintain to a high standard. Renovating the internal spaces of Lord Street retail properties would, hopefully, make them attractive for a selection of high-end boutiques — these should generate sufficient customer appeal to justify a (presumably) higher rent.
Of course, this plan supposes that in an age of internet shopping, there will be a place for some bricks and mortar retailers, those that are sufficiently unique to draw-in customers from beyond the town. A higher town centre population, perhaps including residential flats in the upper floors of Lord Street, would add to the vibrancy and viability of the business district. All that being said, it is difficult to predict how much retail floor space even a revitalized Lord Street will sustain in the years ahead.

Finally, Southport residents will likely appreciate a more mundane set of essential retailers offering the day-to-day requisites. Retail outlets in the vicinity of Meols Cop fit that bill. [That being so, a new Merseyrail station at the underused (or unused?) Park and Ride facility would be good, too. ]
Better public transit and reduction in the volume of private automobile traffic, perhaps with the fully autonomous, electric vehicles promised soon would enhance the general livability of Southport.

[said]

The rail station and other properties on that side of Chapel Street look ripe for re-development.
If the passenger platforms with station were relocated back towards Virginia Street /C12, the flow of traffic could be diverted away from Lord Street. There are endless possibilities for development of the recovered property.
High quality, high dwelling density, low rise housing along with a new hub for public transport and ideally, 21st century technology applied to moving visitors from the new rail station to Lord Street, the Promenade and the sea front would make these visitor economy destinations more attractive.
Lord Street's ornamental façades and verandas are, I expect, costly to maintain to a high standard. Renovating the internal spaces of Lord Street retail properties would, hopefully, make them attractive for a selection of high-end boutiques — these should generate sufficient customer appeal to justify a (presumably) higher rent.
Of course, this plan supposes that in an age of internet shopping, there will be a place for some bricks and mortar retailers, those that are sufficiently unique to draw-in customers from beyond the town. A higher town centre population, perhaps including residential flats in the upper floors of Lord Street, would add to the vibrancy and viability of the business district. All that being said, it is difficult to predict how much retail floor space even a revitalized Lord Street will sustain in the years ahead.

Finally, Southport residents will likely appreciate a more mundane set of essential retailers offering the day-to-day requisites. Retail outlets in the vicinity of Meols Cop fit that bill. [That being so, a new Merseyrail station at the underused (or unused?) Park and Ride facility would be good, too. ]
Better public transit and reduction in the volume of private automobile traffic, perhaps with the fully autonomous, electric vehicles promised soon would enhance the general livability of Southport.

Yes, Bingo! - you have some good ideas there. I had not even considered the transport side of it. Where the Manchester Line/Southport Junction is located was due to the coal depot in that area and since that is no longer used - it would be a better place for both links. Good ideas for Lord Street too, Yes, the upper floors of the retail shops should be created into flats - maybe the rent could then be reduced on the shops to attract new retailers. I hope some of the local councillors are reading these posts!

[sandGroundZero]

"…the Manchester Line/Southport Junction is located was due to the coal depot in that area and since that is no longer used - it would be a better place for both links. …"

There are advocates of restoring the curves at Burscough junction — part of the movement to reverse some Beeching cuts. That would make it feasible to extend Merseyrail services through Southport and Ormskirk creating a useful new route. You could have trains circulating in both directions. Whatever the logic of removing the curves, restoring services could be a tonic for Southport and West Lancs.
All of the above underscores my contention that it is folly to advocate Southport breaking its formal connections with Sefton (and/or the Liverpool City Region). Links are necessary. What is required is a thoroughgoing revision of citizens' participation in local and regional governance.