Comments on: Welcome to Blackpool, JD Wetherspoon!!!!

By: True Blackpudlian

True Blackpudlian — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 23:07:53 +0000

Some good points Frustrated. Blackpool used to have Pizza Express where Bella Italia is on Church St. I would love a Waitrose on the Fylde Coast but they only ever seem interested in London and the Home Counties. They are regularly voted ‘Britain’s favourite supermarket’ etc but how can they be when they represent such a tiny proportion of the population. Everytime they open a wave of new stores most of them are in London (where they are on every corner already) or in Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Surrey etc. So I wrote to Waitrose asking for some Lancashire stores and got some automated tripe like ‘Due to the sensitive nature of our new locations we are unable to divulge any further information’. I wouldn’t say there is enough Caffe Neros; Preston has 2 of them, Lytham and St Annes each have one and yet not the main town of the Fylde Coast, and it does my head in because I really like Caffe Nero. Funny you should mention Zara, I read a retail report for the Talbot Gateway on the Council Planning Applications site and it mentioned that Zara is a retailer which seeks representation in Blackpool.

By: Frustrated

Frustrated — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 22:54:47 +0000

There’s a pizza express in Lytham – maybe they think that’s enough? Same re Cafe Nero.
I don’t understand why we haven’t got more big names in Blackpool though. St Annes has declined shopping wise and I would think that was because it’s terrible to park in. Lytham is a bit better but not much. Blackpool isn’t great to park but it’s much easier to get on a bus so it’s a much better location for any upmarket stores. And nobody’s mentioned Waitrose yet – we could really do with one as Booths in Lytham isn’t anywhere near the standard and everything’s so expensive without actually being good in there.
And what about shops such as Zara?

By: True Blackpudlian

True Blackpudlian — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 21:46:16 +0000

Very good comment John Bickerstaffe, I can explain some of those disappearing; Tchibo has virtually closed down all operations in the UK, Mecca I don’t know but there is another on Talbot Rd, Harveys has moved to Squires Gate Lane, Burger King (no explanation!) I wrote to with no reply, arrogant sods. The others I can’t explain.

As for the names that aren’t here I totally agree I would like to see all of those and more. I think we have the clientele for Pizza Express, Preston’s got one and Preston is hardly upmarket. Plus we have affluent areas of Blackpool, then Fylde and parts of Wyre. But I see what you’re saying you can go pretty much anywhere else and you see these names but not here and it really annoys me.

By: John Bickerstaffe

John Bickerstaffe — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 21:15:25 +0000

It says something when we make a big song and dance about Wetherspoon finally making it in to the town centre. I’d have preferred one in a different location – being next door to the Tower Lounge, you know it’s going to be surrounded by knobheads at the weekend – but it’s a good location for Wetherspoon. Plenty of space for them. I don’t think they’ll mess about with their door policy, although I’m sure the Licensing Committee has got its own plans for Mediaeval restrictions on the place already.

Anyway… Back to Wetherspoon and their presence in the town centre: we’ve lost some high street names in recent years and we struggle to attract de facto names that can be found in the town centres of many smaller places across the UK. Why is this? We need nakedly honest information to understand our situation better.

Let’s have a look at who has gone:

- Virgin Rail
- Tchibo
- Co-operative Bank
- House of Fraser (Binns)
- Mecca Bingo
- Burger King
- Somerfield
- Harvey’s Furniture

Some names that should be here and can be found in smaller town centres across the country:

- Nando’s
- Pizza Express
- Footlocker
- Gap
- Caffe Nero
- Moss
- Office
- Schuh
- Sony Centre
- Krispy Kreme

Not an exhaustive list, but you get the idea. I realise that a number of those aren’t realistic – Pizza Express and Moss, for example – because we just don’t have the clientele, nor is it realistic to expect that they will travel from afar when there are stores closer to home, but Jesus H Christ… Some of those names are fairly ubiquitous in other town centres. Why not ours?

By: True Blackpudlian

True Blackpudlian — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 20:55:24 +0000

Some excellent points I just wish a millionaire or a developer would buy it up and make something of it because it is a horrible building well past its sell-by date.

By: John Bickerstaffe

John Bickerstaffe — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 20:51:54 +0000

Well ‘we’ can’t just demolish it because ‘we’ don’t own it – and rightly so. However, that’s not to say that the complex is not i) an eyesore, ii) a dump, iii) smelly and severely lacking in desirability…

It’s been said before that the building is ‘iconic’ (no doubt a meme started by The Gazette, recognising that any erection older than a decade is part of our heritage). In some ways, this is true. Therefore, it’s critical that a benevolent and flamboyant millionaire with more money than sense steps forward and makes an irresistable offer for the building to its present owners and then redevelops it before some mong applies for it to become a listed building. Of course, redevelopment makes an assumption for demand for commercial property…

By: True Blackpudlian

True Blackpudlian — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 19:14:57 +0000

Precisely, I hate seeing empty units everywhere especially prime sites. Next target should be the Palatine Buildings where there are FOUR empty nightclubs (Jellies, Palace, Linekers and Klub DNA) and two cheap shops. Why can’t we just demolish or at least redevelop that site and do something with it? However I do remember in 2007 the Noble Brothers (ala Coral Island, Funland) applied for planning permission to convert those buildings into a casino and leisure complex but surprise surprise the idiotic Labour council led by anti-Blackpool crusader Roy Fisher slammed the door on them because of the stupid supercasino. Now we are left with nothing. God help us if Liebour ever get back in.

By: Zim Flyer

Zim Flyer — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 18:41:38 +0000

it’s also the location of the building it will occupy, it sends out a good message to see this building open for business.

By: True Blackpudlian

True Blackpudlian — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 12:50:24 +0000

You’re right there may be hundreds of Wetherspoons up and down the country but Blackpool is about the only big town I know without one along with a host of other chains. So it is important from that point of view plus there is a lack of decent pubs in the town centre in the daytime.

By: john

john — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 12:32:14 +0000

This is just a pub not the second coming? There are hundreds of Wetherspoon up and down the country has Blackpool gone that far down to make this so important?