Author Topic: Everything to do with Shops  (Read 636367 times)

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Offline DaveR

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Re: Everything to do with Shops
« Reply #1425 on: April 21, 2015, 11:59:27 am »
Interesting this evening,you know i have said that Ethel Austins has been under offer for the last couple of months,well it has been cleaned up now and who do i see exiting there this evening,Mr Hillier,i really should get a life.
I saw it was all getting tidied up yesterday. Interesting how Mostyn Estates seem to have quite an aggressive policy of buying up vacant shop units along Mostyn Street.  ;)

Offline DaveR

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Re: Everything to do with Shops
« Reply #1426 on: April 23, 2015, 09:39:42 am »
The former Milletts shop on Mostyn Street is to be taken by Hope House/Ty Gobaith.


Offline Bri Roberts

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Re: Everything to do with Shops
« Reply #1427 on: April 23, 2015, 12:56:54 pm »
Today, workers appear to be removing the former kiddie's play area outside TK Maxx/ Iceland.

At a guess, I would say it is likely to be replaced with disabled car parking.


Offline wrex

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Re: Everything to do with Shops
« Reply #1428 on: April 23, 2015, 04:26:57 pm »
Already marked out for car parking

Offline Nemesis

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Re: Everything to do with Shops
« Reply #1429 on: April 23, 2015, 07:41:24 pm »
The former Milletts shop on Mostyn Street is to be taken by Hope House/Ty Gobaith.

Dave...........you have blown my cover ! I have kept that quiet for 8 months or more.

NOW We desperately need more volunteers for any aspect of help to man a shop of that size.
Mad, Bad and Dangerous to know.

Offline DaveR

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Re: Everything to do with Shops
« Reply #1430 on: April 27, 2015, 09:19:23 am »
Meant to post this article the other day:

Mostyn Estates investment vehicle buys up Llandudno units
09:22, 22 April 2015 By Owen Hughes

A landowner is planning a retail revolution to keep a seaside town centre thriving.

Llandudno is already one of the most successful shopping destinations in Wales with unit vacancy rates of around 6% - compared with 15% nationally.

Landowner Mostyn Estates has helped with this success story holding the freehold of the majority of the commercial town centre

Now they have also formed an investment vehicle to buy up units in a bid to increase its influence on filling up town centre units.

It has seen the number of retail holdings held by Mostyn and the investment vehicle in the town centre increase from 25 to 36.

This has seen them help to fill a number of key sites in the town that had been left vacant for years.

Edward Hiller, managing director of Mostyn Estates, said: “We control the ground leases across the estate but have had quite a limited influence on the occupational side.

“What we recognise is that in order to realise an ambition and vision for the town we need to be able to implement change to get there.

“We set up an investment vehicle and embarked on buying up a number of units on Mostyn Street and elsewhere.

“In Mostyn Street five years ago we had three holdings, now we are up to 10 or so on that street and in addition we have acquired other units in the town.”

They now have 36 units in the town centre, excluding those on Mostyn Champneys and Parc Llandudno.

Edward added: “We have increased our influence and we are looking to grow that further.

“You want to see a town going in a certain direction. You have to appreciate the range of retailers and the dynamic range of retailers you are looking to attract and what retailers customers and visitors to the town want here.

“You then say ‘right let’s go out there’ and listen to the retailers and what they think and what they want.”

He added: “The town needs a blend of high street multiple and independent, the under 35s are very name brand driven, while the over 50s have a leaning to independent stores.

“We don’t want an identikit town but if we just have independents here you have alienated your youth, we have to get the blend right and if it isn’t right move it in that direction.

“When you have 36 units you can be pro-active.”

He added: “For Llandudno we have learnt what our advantages are, this is a place people enjoy shopping in.

“We need to anticipate what the market might be looking like in the future, how it is evolving, you need to be ahead of the game.

“We are going out to retailers and asking ‘what might be interesting in a town with this target market’. We need to persuade retailers to invest.”

An example of this positive retail engineering can be seen at North Western gardens.

Edward said: “In this area we put in a Starbucks to attract to that under 30s market.

“We are putting in David Forte opposite with a gelateria and he is investing significantly in that, it will be a really attractive offer.

“Then we have chocolatier Maisies opening next to Starbucks in three or four weeks.

“We now have a very interesting group of retailers.”

He added: “This brings us to Tudno Castle, which will happen.

"It will bring together Parc Llandudno and Mostyn Street into a seamless entity and I think this is vital to the future of the town because it is that mix of high street multiple and independent.

“This is not just about us, it is about us and everyone else investing.”

At the other end of the town they have bought the former Millets store, the Cotton Traders unit, the former book publishers shop and old Red Cross shop.

Hope House/Ty Gobaith are expanding into the old Millets store with Gold Store expanding into the former Red Cross shop while the Sweet Emporium has added a second shop in another unit bought by the investment vehicle.

Edward added: “There is a real entrepreneurial spirit in Llandudno and a great civic pride here as well, there is pride on our town and they sell it well.”

David Forte, owner of Forte’s in Llandudno, which will open the new gelateria, said: “The investment by Mostyn shows the confidence that they have in the town.

“They are also committed to retaining the traditional element of the town which is such an important part of the offer.

“We think that tourism in North Wales is becoming ever more popular and Llandudno is an anchor town in the region for tourists. Its history and tradition means it is timeless.

“This investment from us shows the confidence we have in the town and this end of the town, it will see us create 10 additional jobs in the town.

“We would be interested in investing further in the town if the right opportunity comes along.”

Graeme Kerr, from Maisies chocolatiers, said the move to Vaughan Street should help them attract more holidaymakers.

He said: “We have done well since opening on Madoc Street but are looking forward to opening in this new location.

“This is turning into a niche quarter for food with Starbucks opening here and the ice cream parlour to open opposite us.”

James Cassidy, manager at Cotton Traders on Mostyn Street, said: “Llandudno is our flagship store and we have seen sales going up this year. The filling up of units around the store will really help this part of Llandudno.

“We love being in Llandudno, I am passionate about the town and other retailers feel the same. We are not just selling ourselves, we sell the town as well.”

The Gold Store is set to move to a larger store in the summer - tripling the size of their operation.

Amanda Thomasson said this would see them increase staff numbers by three. She said that filling up units was helping that end of the town.

The Sweet Emporium has opened a store on Mostyn Road, adding to its shop in the Victoria Centre. Manager Elaine Corfield said: “When this store become available we moved quickly to secure the site.

“It saw us create more jobs and we have found that it has not damaged trade at the other shop as we get different people coming here with more visitors coming in.”

http://www.dailypost.co.uk/business/business-news/mostyn-estates-investment-vehicle-buys-9094616

Offline Fester

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Re: Everything to do with Shops
« Reply #1431 on: April 27, 2015, 11:47:59 am »
If they are serious about keeping the town thriving, perhaps they should have invested in buying Llandudno Pier?
Fester...
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Offline DaveR

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Re: Everything to do with Shops
« Reply #1432 on: April 27, 2015, 01:02:34 pm »
If they are serious about keeping the town thriving, perhaps they should have invested in buying Llandudno Pier?
That's a very good point. The Pier is focal to the town's success as a resort. If a new owner is intent upon sending the pier downmarket, that could have serious repercussions for the town's image.

Offline wrex

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Re: Everything to do with Shops
« Reply #1433 on: June 09, 2015, 08:33:18 pm »
Shop situation has gone dead,glad to see Mr Hillier around the Animal shop tonight and of course TKMakk opens thursday.

Offline DaveR

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Re: Everything to do with Shops
« Reply #1434 on: June 10, 2015, 10:15:44 am »
Shop situation has gone dead,glad to see Mr Hillier around the Animal shop tonight and of course TKMakk opens thursday.
Not too many empty ones at the moment, Wrex, we're doing better than most towns.

Offline Michael

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Re: Everything to do with Shops
« Reply #1435 on: June 10, 2015, 03:03:34 pm »
  I don,t know about the Williams family being intent on taking the pier downmarket. Hold on Dave, give them a chance to catch their breath. It's not every day a private company splashes out with four million.
  Actually the pier has been through a period of perceived downmarket activity. Remember back to around 1970, golden goose arcade arrives, pavilion turns into a night club, honky tonk jazz bands at the end. Was it first lea sure that owned it then? Dave will know, he was more or less in charge. They hot footed it from the North pier in Blackpoll

Offline DaveR

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Re: Everything to do with Shops
« Reply #1436 on: June 10, 2015, 07:59:20 pm »
  I don,t know about the Williams family being intent on taking the pier downmarket. Hold on Dave, give them a chance to catch their breath. It's not every day a private company splashes out with four million.
  Actually the pier has been through a period of perceived downmarket activity. Remember back to around 1970, golden goose arcade arrives, pavilion turns into a night club, honky tonk jazz bands at the end. Was it first lea sure that owned it then? Dave will know, he was more or less in charge. They hot footed it from the North pier in Blackpoll
You're quite right, Mike. I was being too hasty in judging the new owner, I'm sure he has good intentions.

It was Trusthouse Forte Leisure that bought the Pier back in 1969. They had a policy of buying up piers around the UK and 'modernising' them with amusement arcades, nightclubs etc. A shame that the Llandudno Pier Company couldn't have hung onto it, but they were short of money to reinvest into the pier and received an offer they couldn't refuse.

Offline hollins

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Re: Everything to do with Shops
« Reply #1437 on: June 14, 2015, 08:02:13 pm »
I was in Waitrose in Menai Bridge earlier, what a fantastic shop it is, such great quality food. If only they could be persuaded to open in Llandudno; I imagine the demographic would be perfect for them.


It might be worth checking your postcodes down there for Waitrose deliveries because I have just placed my first order. It always used to say, "Coming soon to your area" but now we are live.....hooray!
Free delivery and a bottle of champagne with your first order. It is coming from the big new Chester store. The choice was excellent so let's see how they get on.

Offline Mr Tunnock

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Re: Everything to do with Shops
« Reply #1438 on: June 15, 2015, 08:20:12 am »
Billy Mac's for sale, a name famous to us locals!

Offline hollins

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Re: Everything to do with Shops
« Reply #1439 on: June 17, 2015, 12:08:03 pm »
He's been! Never thought I would see this day when we moved here. The poor young driver looked stressed. His satnav had taken him to a closed gate and told him to "Prepare to navigate off road!"
3 items substituted and two with today's sell by date which they gave for free.