Everything to do with Shops

[Dave]

I think truck drivers wages will be getting better very soon, I was told yesterday, one of our big supermarkets is employing over 70's as van delivery drivers.........

With my 70th imminent that makes me feel a lot better! I have no intention of applying but it's the first positive I have seen about hitting this milestone. Most of it is depressing and involves being made to feel old when I otherwise wouldn't!

[SteveH]

MARKS and Spencer will move from the heart of Llandudno town to the retail park next year.                       ref pioneer

The retailer, which is currently located on Mostyn Street, will take over the unit on Parc Llandudno that used to be occupied by Denbenhams,

The new store will offer customers food, clothing offer and a large M&S Café.

A spokesperson from M&S said: “We’re really looking forward to welcoming customers to our relocated Llandudno store in Spring 2022 – this will be a full-line store offering both food and clothing."

[SteveH]

Waitrose is offering a salary of up to £53,780 to entice new lorry drivers, while Pimlico Plumbers says its staff can earn up to £150,000 as a "reasonable" wage due to the number of customers calling up

Lorry drivers are being offered a salary of up to £53,780 by Waitrose in one of the most surprising high-paid jobs currently available.

The bumped up wage from the posh grocer puts its lorry drivers on a better salary than secondary school teachers (£40,880), solicitors (£43,190) and architects (£42,930), reports The Times.

The position at Waitrose offers “a vast range of benefits and a healthy work-life balance” with perks including discounted holidays and access to a private members club.

Waitrose isn’t the only supermarket offering increased salaries and starting bonuses to entice new drivers.

Tesco and Iceland have been pushing up salaries by up to 25% and offering sign up bonuses of at least £1,000. M&S has a sign on incentive of £2,000.

cont  https://www.mirror.co.uk/money/most-surprising-high-paid-jobs-24867937

[SteveH]

The Poundstretcher store in Llandudno is set to close later this month.

The discount brand launched a CVA rescue plan in July last year with rent cuts demanded off landlords to help save stores.

Now it has been confirmed that the shop on Mostyn Champneys in Llandudno will also close on September 17.

Five staff will lose their.   ref DP

[SteveH]

PLANS have been lodged for a new Costa Coffee at Mostyn Champneys Retail Park in Llandudno.

The plans, submitted to Conwy County Borough Council by applicant Hercules Unit Trust Ltd, involve converting part of Aldi into the coffee shop.

The existing Aldi store is set to expand in size; Argos - which hopes to move elsewhere in the town and has given notice to quit the unit - will be stripped out to allow for the expansion of supermarket.

cont  https://www.northwalespioneer.co.uk/news/19566555.latest-costa-coffee-expansion-aldi-llandudnos-mostyn-champneys/

[SteveH]

Supermarket chain Morrisons has said it expects the UK's lorry driver shortage to push up prices this year.
It said the lack of drivers, plus higher freight charges and commodity prices, could lead to higher prices.

However, it said it would seek to mitigate those and other potential cost increases, such as any incurred in maintaining good product availability.

Transport secretary Grant Shapps said the UK must "stand on its own two feet" and not rely on EU drivers.
Speaking after Morrisons reported its latest trading figures, Mr Shapps rejected calls for more immigration to resolve the problem.

"We have to stand on our own two feet as the United Kingdom. There are a lot of people coming off furlough. I look forward to them getting jobs."

Lorry driver shortages have have been blamed on EU workers leaving the UK following Brexit as well as during the pandemic and tax changes making it more expensive for drivers from elsewhere in Europe to work or be employed in the UK.

Industry bodies estimate there is a shortage of about 100,000.
Mr Shapps said: "To say this is an issue of Brexit is completely untrue. What it is about - is coronavirus."
He pointed to the global driver shortage in the US, Poland and Germany and said the UK was not alone in having supply chain problems.

cont https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-58498427


The trend of shops and services being moved out of Welsh town centres needs to be reversed to help high streets and to tackle climate change.
That's the message from Deputy Minister for Climate Change Lee Waters who said town centres in Wales had been “hammered” by the explosion in out of town development, with supermarkets and other shops and services pulling customers away from high streets.

cont  https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/north-wales-tesco-attracts-10m-21520370

[SteveH]

Three prominent North Wales store units up for auction this month
Boots store, M&Co unit, and outdoor clothing and equipment site will go under the hammer

A Boots store, well known clothes shop and converted chapel unit will all go up for auction this month.
Allsop is staging a commercial auction on September 23 - with three prominent units in North Wales going under the hammer.

It includes the Boots store in Ruthin - with the chemist currently signed up as tenant until 2025.

In Llandudno, the attractive M&Co unit on Gloddaeth Street, is heading to auction, with the brand's lease lasting 12 months from any sale.

They pay £27,000 a year at the location after being one of 200 stores saved after the chain was bought out of administration last year.

cont  https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/property/three-prominent-north-wales-store-21540748


A shopping centre Iceland store that closed earlier this year is set for a new future.
The frozen food giant announced in April that the Bay View shopping centre shop in Colwyn Bay would shut in May.
Now a plan has been submitted to change the use of the site.

Instant Group have applied for the unit to be used by the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) as a job support centre to help workers hit by the Covid pandemic.

cont https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/plan-closed-down-iceland-store-21529939#comments-wrapper

[SteveH]

North Wales high street has boomed more than any other UK town centre since lockdown lifted
Llandudno has bounced back strongly this summer according to the latest data

A high street in North Wales has topped the list of locations bouncing back the fastest post lockdown according to a new report.

Card payments specialist takepayments Limited analysed card transaction data to reveal the town centres that are booming and those that are struggling following the easing of lockdown restrictions.

They looked at data from the week of the final easing of lockdown restrictions in England (July 19th 2021).

Although Wales didn't have the same 'freedom day' as in England, spending in Welsh resort Llandudno saw a 46% increase in card transactions compared to the same period pre-pandemic (2019). This placed the town - which has seen a huge influx of visitors this summer - at the top of the UK table.

cont  https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/north-wales-high-street-boomed-21560834?IYA-reg=a05105fc-304d-4c50-9807-edab51f779a4

[SteveH]

Continuing the Story about the Range, going into Parc Llandudno, from the "Whats Llandudno like right now" thread.

The Range want former Outfit store on Parc Llandudno retail park
The national chain would take on the unit if permission can be secured to extend the site

Now there are plans to accommodate The Range on the retail park but this will require an extension to the corner unit.

Llandudno Retail Park wants to more than double the floorspace of the unit with a mezzanine floor and a new garden centre to the side of the site.

It would add an extra 1,330sq metres to the sales space - taking it to 2,475sq metres.

This would be a remarkable turnaround for the retail park and comes as Llandudno bounces back strongly from the pandemic.

cont  https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/range-want-former-outfit-store-21582039

[SteveH]

Llandudno retail park's remarkable comeback after pandemic and despite loss of big name stores
The site lost Laura Ashley, Monsoon, Accessorize, Outfit, and Debenhams but firms like Marks & Spencers and Regatta are stepping in to fill the gaps

But the closures left huge gaps on the shopping park that was close to full prior to the Covid-19 crisis.

However the strength of the retail sector in the town has been demonstrated in the way the park is now recovering.

Regatta has already moved into the Monsoon Accessorize unit to add a new name to the park.

cont https://www.dailypost.co.uk/whats-on/shopping/llandudno-retail-parks-remarkable-comeback-21607148

[SteveH]

The ‘tenacious’ spirit of independent Welsh retailers saw the number of indie stores grow in the first half of 2021 - despite months of lockdown.

Last week the Local Data Company published the figures for the chain store sector with a fall in the number of units of 260 in Wales - with 164 openings and 424 closures.

Now the stats are out for independents show that there are actually 41 more stores compared with the same period last year.
This is in spite of Wales’s non-essential retail sector being in lockdown from January 1 until April 12.

There were 667 closures over this period but this was surpassed by new openings, which stood at 708.
However putting the multiple and indie figures together means Wales still saw a drop in shops - with nearly one in five units now empty.

It is hoped indies can help reverse this overall decline in the future.

Tess Turner, joint owner with husband Jon of Little Lily & Co boutique, was one of those expanding, adding a Llandudno store to their existing shop in Rhos-on-Sea.

 “We took the opportunity during the pandemic to re-evaluate our business plan and the direction the business was heading.

“When we saw there was an empty unit in the Victoria Centre in Llandudno, we knew it was a chance to expand the business to give us greater footfall and a wider audience.

cont  https://www.business-live.co.uk/economic-development/tenacious-spirit-independent-welsh-retailers-21637644?IYA-reg=a05105fc-304d-4c50-9807-edab51f779a4

[SteveH]

Firstly a lack of (foreign)  truck drivers, now a lack of CO2 due to foreign companies shutting down, not to mention having to buy PPE from foreign companies, time the UK got its act together and become self reliant again.

Iceland boss shares concern for run-up to Christmas amid gas supply shortage
'This is no longer about whether Christmas will be OK. This is more about keeping the wheels turning and the lights on so we can actually get to Christmas.'

Mr Walker said that meat products, chilled bakery goods, salads and carbonated drinks were all being affected by the shortage of gas supplies. He said: "This is an issue across a wide array of different product categories."

He added: "What really shocked me is that 60% of CO2 production is concentrated in two factories, which are both owned by a foreign business and it was their economical choice to simply shut it down due to [prices].

"This is something that's critical to national security. Not just food, but healthcare as well. It seems quite perplexing that it's at a whim of a private enterprise in terms of whether it's profitable or not, and whether they produce it or not."  ?  ?

cont  https://www.dailypost.co.uk/whats-on/shopping/iceland-boss-shares-concern-run-21619929?IYA-reg=a05105fc-304d-4c50-9807-edab51f779a4

[SteveH]

Update on the CO2  story above.........

The British food industry will be forced to pay five times more for carbon dioxide as part of a government deal with a US company to restart production in the UK.

Environment Secretary George Eustice said carbon dioxide prices would rise from £200 per tonne to £1,000.

The government has agreed to pay out tens of millions of pounds to CF Industries to reopen a plant in the UK.

The closure had raised fears over food supplies and the nuclear industry.

US-owned CF Industries recently shut two UK sites that produce 60% of the country's commercial carbon dioxide supplies, because of a sharp rise in gas prices.

Farms, food producers and supermarkets have warned that a shortage of carbon dioxide will lead to significant disruption to the manufacture and supply of fresh produce.

The Times also reported that ministers were concerned that the UK might have to close its six advanced gas-cooled nuclear reactors, which also use CO2.

cont  https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-58641394

[Ian]

Astonishing, really, when you consider CO2 production is an essential aspect of our security.  I really wonder how those who espouse privatisation can defend handing such crucial industries to foreign companies.

[mull]

The lunatics took over the asylum a while ago, remember all" oven ready"..

All coming home to roost now. Sad thing is it is the most vulnerable who will pay the price.