Forum Topic

More stores to quit the Broadway Centre

The Gazette is reporting that four more shops are to leave the Broadway Centre.They're Burtons, Dorothy Perkins, Wallis and Evans - all owned by Sir Philip Green's Arcadia group, which has already closed its Miss Selfridge branch in the Broadway Centre.  The group is blaming high rents - and the imminent completion of White City's new Westfield centre.So if there aren't enough shops to fill the existing Broadway Centre, how do the developers of Dickens Yard and the Leaf expect to fill even more acres of retail space?

Mark Percy ● 6846d39 Comments

Response to :-  "The Gazette is reporting that four more shops are to leave the Broadway Centre.They're Burtons, Dorothy Perkins, Wallis and Evans - all owned by Sir Philip Green's Arcadia group, which has already closed its Miss Selfridge branch in the Broadway Centre.  The group is blaming high rents - and the imminent completion of White City's new Westfield centre.              xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx  Sad to say Ealing has deteriorated in so many ways. It just ain't what it used to be. The whole nature of our " town " and environs is changing. When I moved to Ealing 35 years ago, and for a longtime afterwards, you could buy almost anything. Now you can buy practically nothing. The multiples come and go, none seem to stick for long. There used to be many privately owned shops and businesses even in W5 area but no more. Remember Squires?  There are a few enclaves of individual shops in Northfields and Pitshanger Lane still. But the Town Centre is fast becoming a white elephant. If businesses move out 'cos  of too high rents, can the Council not intervene on the basis of " against public interest " or some other suitable argument.

Tony Price ● 6845d

Surely the answer is to reduce rents to a level where they are affordable, and to have a deliberate policy of reserving a number of units for high-quality, non-chain stores.On Northfields Avenue we have two butchers, two bakers, a florists, a bespoke shirtmaker (who also repairs leather jackets for a fee), a thai cooking school (which also sells an amazing variety of eastern ingredients), the best cobbler I've ever come across and a car-parts shop, as well as cafes, restaurants and takeaways.  This makes the quality of so much better down at this end and I love showing off Northfield Avenue to guests from out of town.  Anyway - I'm not sure what the point of what I'm saying is but...I hope that Ealing Broadway can get to the level where I'm not embarrassed of it!

Leon Markham ● 6844d

So this is what Ken meant when he said we'd be sorry to turn down the tram!

Alan Brainsby ● 6844d

Since when was Ken into commerce or any sort of private sector reality?

Graham Weeks ● 6844d

According to "Honest John", ex car-dealer, and columnist to the "Daily Telegraph", part of the trouble of rents is that landlords are looking for a return of about 10% per annum. So if the site is worth £1 000 000 then they will want a rent of £100 000. Easily done if you are a main agent for a car brand, little competition, just shove the cost of servicing up. To maintain the service history, therefore resale value, people have to pay. That's why  "back" street garages are cheaper - not paying vast overheads - but probably giving the same service.The same logic must apply to electricals, food, and clothes.  Give it a couple of years and we'll be bemoaning the disappearance of the £1 shops in Ealing.

Alan Brainsby ● 6844d

Isn't there a risk then that you get into a cycle, where rents go up and up until no-one can afford them, your shopping centre turns to ****, and your property's worth loads less?  Although I suppose if you turned all of those shops into yet more tiny flats you'd make millions.Re pound shops - as I understand it things like pound shops, mobile phone accessory shops, perfume shops and dodgy clothes shops always flock to distressed areas because their margins are so very high.  If you buy a hands-free for £19.99 the shop probably paid less than 50p for it (if it's a non-branded one).  You end up with a situation where the only people who can afford the rents are national chains or tat-shops.How do areas like Chiswick High Road manage to keep their combination of nice local shops?  I would love to know...

Leon Markham ● 6844d

Response to :- "part of the trouble of rents is that landlords are looking for a return of about 10% per annum. "            xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx          Morrisons quit 'cos their rent was £1 million per annum. Shame, as they were a good store, and brought many shoppers into the Centre, benefitting other traders, who likewise come and go. Gone are the days when one could go back to a shop  for a repeat order a couple of years after,as chances are they have gawn.

Tony Price ● 6844d

It's possible that many of the Chiswick shops are freehold and aren't leased so there isn't the need for massive profit or turnover.Of course we should be grateful for the massive rents charged - they fund our pensions, if we live long enough. Maybe Chiswick is 50 years behind Ealing and in 2060 will be the land of £1 shops or their equivalent.

Alan Brainsby ● 6843d

Response to :- "Of course we should be grateful for the massive rents charged - they fund our pensions, if we live long enough."            zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz        Sorry to say Alan, but commercial property is a bad investment. Portfolios have fallen sharply  and which no doubt  will gather pace as Gordon's pigeons come home to roost, plus of course the credit crunch taking it's toll reducing business activity. Property portfolio managers won't even let investors get their money out, have put a 6 month time lag on any withdrawals. And Gordon has done more to devastate pensions more than anyone. 

Tony Price ● 6843d

And Chiswick High Road is anyhow disproportionately full of phone shops and chain coffee shops. The areas with varied and idiosyncratic stores seems to be Devonshire Road and Turnham Green terrace - not the high road at all.

Sara Nathan ● 6842d

At this time commercial properties are bad investments but it wasn't always like that, and it's funny that the general collapse in pension funds will hit in 2010 onwards, just in time to b*gg*r all those 65/60 year olds.Perhaps if the EBC is devoid of shops then Glenkerrin could use the vacant shops and car park to house building materials and workers' caravans.

Alan Brainsby ● 6842d

Marks and Spencers reported today and the results were very poor. The Arcadia group will probably have done worse so this is part of an inevitable retrenchment. Chances are they plan to have outlets in White City so maybe from a corporate point of view they think Ealing is too close. That won't necessarily mean that people from Ealing go to shop in White City. Unless you are on the Central line it would be just as easy to go to the West End.

Paul Cavanagh ● 6841d

It certainly seems that we'll be soon enjoying the village life of our rural society - the nearest shops are in the "big" towns, and a bus ride away.Realistically what shops do we need to be local?Add to/modify this list if you wish.On a daily basis - food shops, newsagents, tobacconists,  off-licences, post offices, pharmacies, banks, convenience shopping.Weekly - clothes shops, hardware, DIY shops.Less frequently - electrical/electronic shops, furniture and furnishing shops, travel agents, estate agents, car dealerships.Arguably we've got the daily mix in Ealing Broadway, and outside the EBC, with the possible exception of Tesco.If we lose Argos then there's Shepherd's Bush, Hammersmith, Hounslow.

Alan Brainsby ● 6841d

Shops like Miss Selfridge would find it hard to compete with the new Primark. They are selling to the same market for a fraction of the price.  More grown up shops will survive.  I can't get too upset about losing Wallis and Dorothy Perkins they are very dull.All these shops are also contained in the Outfit branch in Greenford, I think that's the main competition to the Ealing branches, and it must be much cheaper having them all under the one roof.

Jane Salisbury ● 6841d

bookshop...gotta have a bookshop to call yourself a town.

Sara Nathan ● 6841d

Has Waterstones gone?

Graham Weeks ● 6841d

Also, a couple of good greasy spoons please.

Gerry Tan ● 6841d

Sara - you are right about a bookshop. I completely forgot.It's one of the reasons Doncaster isn't a city, they haven't got a good bookshop. Another reason is that fewer than half the population can read. Only joking!

Alan Brainsby ● 6841d

Response to :- " Marks and Spencers reported today and the results were very poor."            xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx      Quite so, but in reality sales were only down by 2%, which ain't much but the effect on share price was dramatic, down 20% !!! today. The markets are very jittery, up and down like a yoyo in response to every little bit of info, whether good or bad. Over-reaction and a bad sign.

Tony Price ● 6841d

Well Sainsbury's was out today and their sales figures were really good so all the retailers will bounce back. I think Arcadia remain in a weak position whatever and we shouldn't confuse the uncertain trading position of one group for a general decline in sentiment about Ealing.

Paul Cavanagh ● 6840d

Sainsbury is basically a food retailer and we all need food, regularly.Sainsbury also said Its Taste the Difference luxury brand and its Basics products were its best-selling ranges. This would indicate that the big brand name food products, therefore bigger profits, are under pressure.With another set of price rises in domestic fuel, also something we use regularly, together with a "pay cut" for those on £30k plus because of NI contributions increasing from April 2008 the future looks interesting.

Alan Brainsby ● 6840d

There was another full page ad in the local paper last week telling us that the Leaf was going to save Ealing's shops. We are being promised 'quality national brands' such as Zara (?) Habitat (quality?) Hobbs and Laura Ashley as well as 'great' restaurants like Wagamamma and Zizzi. Can't say any of this would swing it for me but the developers do seem to be dominating the debate on this matter.

Paul Cavanagh ● 6829d

I find a lot of Ealing shops so disappointing. You spot something in a magazine but when you go to Dorothy P / Oasis/ Wallis etc they don't have it! Even New Look up in West Ealing's a bit rubbish. Wonder if you can make clothing out of those pink recycling bags ?

Viv Ellis ● 6829d

You probably could use the pink sacks for clothing. Problem could be the ashes.:-)

Alan Brainsby ● 6829d

Response to :- "I find a lot of Ealing shops so disappointing. "                xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx      Totally agree, never used to be that way. Ealing used to have some interesting shops, including in West Ealing, Rowses for example. But the nature of our town and environs has changed so much it will never be the same and indeed will become even more alien to we the "ordinary " inhabitants. Hanwell has been changed beyond recognition,likewise West Ealing well on it's way and the change spreading towards Ealing proper. Beyond that going towards Shepherds Bush along the Uxbridge Road one feels alienated and totally so in Shepherd's Bush market, where I doubt there is one English shop / stall left. And yet there are those  who tramp these boards who say we should be pleased. Well I ain't and nor are many immigrants themselves. I know several who want to get out of the multi-cultural paradise while they are still alive. Sunday I had a visit from a Kosovan friend, whom I have known for 10 years. I signed  his naturalisation application.  He got married 5 years ago to a Kosovan girl he met in Switzerland where  his mother is, now has 2 children, works hard, earns good money etc etc, BUT says this country and London in particular have gone down so much he and his family want to get out. His 4 yr old daughter has just started at school , where he says she will not learn english properly. Of the 35  pupils, only 3 are of the same background, ie white, 1 is Irish, 1 is Polish and his daughter, and also the teachers are all from " warmer climes ". So he will move abroad, either back to Kosovo which he says is now better than here, or Belgium where his brother currently is. 2.4 million whites have fled London since this Govt. got in, proving them to be the most racist in history. Iraqi friends say the same, as do East African asians who all came here 'cos it was English, not a hotpotch of everything and nothing that we have been turned into. My Kosovan friend lives in an adjoining Borough where he has been on the Council's Housing waiting list for almost 5 years with no luck as vacancies go to those from " warmer climes " and the " mutual " corruption / bribes /  back-handers involved is he says rife and why he doesn't get allocated a place as he refuses to pay the £2000 " fee ". Saddens me to see my country dragged down like this, but then I am regarded as racist.

Tony Price ● 6829d

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monomania

Gavin Gilbert ● 6828d

Tony, I'm a bit confused by your piece. By "warmer climes" do you mean Torquay or Bournemouth?

Raymond Bradbury ● 6827d

Response to :- " Tony, I'm a bit confused by your piece. By "warmer climes" do you mean Torquay or Bournemouth? "xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx        The following from racists such as Trev. Phillips and the Archbishop of Rochester should help dispel confusion?        " daily telegraph  'White flight' increasing, race chief saysBy Philip Johnston, Home Affairs Editor  Last Updated: 10:01am GMT 15/01/2008            The flight of the white middle classes from the inner citiesis accelerating, the Government's race relations chief has said.Robin Page compensated over 'race' arrest                  Phillips: 'white flight accelerating'  Trevor Phillips said so-called ''white flight" - an Americanphenomenon now increasingly seen here - was deepening racialsegregation.Mr Phillips has warned in the past of the growing polarisation of thecountry along ethnic lines.But his use of the emotive term ''white flight" will fuel thecontroversy triggered by the Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali, the Bishop ofRochester.He said last week some Muslim enclaves were "no-go areas" for Christiansand there was a need for greater integration.  Mr Phillips, who chairs the Equality and Human Rights Commission, saidthe Bishop was right to raise the issue because white families weremoving out of areas with high ethnic minority populations.  Interviewed on Radio Four's Today programme, he said: ''There areareas in which there is no contact or very little contact betweendifferent ethnic and cultural groups.  "Nobody is putting up walls and gates but we all know that invirtually every big city there are places where different kinds ofpeople feel uncomfortable, whether that is Asians in so-called whiteareas or white people in so-called black areas."  He added: "We know that white flight is accelerating. That schools -we know this from studies done by Bristol University - are becoming moresegregated than the areas they sit in. So there is a phenomenon we haveto deal with and I think that the Bishop of Rochester was right to raisethis."  The term "white flight" was coined in 1960s America to describe theemergence of inner city ghettos.  However, Government ministers have preferred to refer to it as''churn" and to attribute the movement of people to house pricefluctuations.  A survey conducted by the old Commission for Racial Equality in 2006found that a quarter of Britons wanted to live in an all-white area.  The movement has been especially notable in London, which has alwaysseen a big turnover of population, and is now witnessing unprecedentedmovement.  Last year, nearly 245,000 people left inner boroughs for the suburbs,rural areas, or new lives abroad.  The movement has a bigger impact in northern cities where communitiesalready live "parallel lives".  As a consequence they become "shut off" and vulnerable to politicaland religious extremism.  Research by Migrationwatch suggests movement within Britain is mainlyfrom areas of high ethnic minority population to those withpredominantly white populations.  Sir Andrew Green, the chairman of Migrationwatch, praised Mr Phillipsfor confronting the evidence of "white flight".  "This is another courageous contribution from Trevor Phillips, who isclearly prepared to face the facts about the current strains in oursociety," he said.  "We would add - although he does not - that massive levels ofimmigration are a significant factor in this."

Tony Price ● 6827d

...but what has this to do with climate?

Raymond Bradbury ● 6827d

Response to :- " ...but what has this to do with climate?               xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx        Sorry, but I don't understand this reference / concern with climate, ref. was made to PERSONS from, not climate itself. Confusion abounds ?

Tony Price ● 6827d

you keep talking about warmer climes and linking it to accusations of racism - are people from Devon and Dorset (let alone those from Somerset or even Cornwall) on the take. Please explain.

Raymond Bradbury ● 6827d

Response to :- "you keep talking about warmer climes and linking it to accusations of racism "          xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx    Please read more carefully, reference is made to persons from warmer climes, not CLIMATE per se and there is no reference to racism nor linking thereto. Sorry to disappoint you. 

Tony Price ● 6826d

Mr Bradbury - firstly may I congratulate you on having an excellent name.  Secondly I feel I must warn you - I am having trouble understanding the cause of Mr Price's semicoherent rants, but I have come to the conclusion that he is a plant, put in place by Ken Livingstone and Gordon Brown, to ensure that any discussion which touches the tricky subject of race is immediately swamped in a deluge of lunacy.This allows them to continue to decide what we should do, as any sensible person shies away from engaging in a discussion where the only people talking sound as though they are mad.Either that or he is following a pro-pictish, anti West-Country agenda.

Leon Markham ● 6826d

"Price" sounds a bit foreign, west of Herefordshire  /Shropshire /Cheshire, to me, but being 3/16 Welsh myself I couldn't possibly comment.

Alan Brainsby ● 6826d

Don't let him get started on the Welsh - We'll be here all day. Although noone could describe the climes in Neath as "warmer".

Raymond Bradbury ● 6826d

You're right. I see Tony Price's name come up and immediately can't be bothered to express a view. It amazes me that any discussion, however far removed from immigration, ends up being about the same old stuff. ~In a global economy these arguments are redundant.

Penny Crocker ● 6826d

We should ask for two versions of the forums - a "TP Enabled" one which allows you to discuss the impact of immigration on everything from the Broadway Shopping Centre to Zebra Crossings, and a "100% TP Free" version which just edits out all those posts and allows the rest of us to waste time in peace.EALING TODAY EDITOR - can you help???  Surely a function which allowed us to choose users to ignore posts from, based on our profile, would be pretty easy to achieve?

Leon Markham ● 6826d

Response to :- " In a global economy these arguments are redundant "          xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx          It's the economies that maybe global, not the populations of each country. Maybe it is we who will be redundant when your wishes come fully to fruition. Sad to say for you and " yours ", the vast majority of those in the country have the same feelings as myself, and likewise 2.4 million in London alone since NL got in. No-one as yet has explained away their racist views why those other than traditional indigs are so much better. Yesterday I went to Plumstead by public transport, catching a bus at North Greenwich station. Of the 70 or so persons in the queue I was the only white face, so if you went to live there, or Woolwich which appears the same, you and those of like mind would be in a permanent state of euphoria. Redundant maybe, but just think of the utter joy you would feel.

Tony Price ● 6826d

Response to :- " EALING TODAY EDITOR - can you help???  Surely a function which allowed us to choose users to ignore posts from, based on our profile, would be pretty easy to achieve? "                xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx      Good gracious me, surely the person must realise the solution to their problem lies within their own hands!!.

Tony Price ● 6826d