Marks and spencer Swansea

[FearOfAJackPlanet]

On a slightly related note, I had a double-take recently when I saw a Primark store in an upmarket shopping mall in Nashville, Tennessee. Didn't realize they were trying to break into the US market. No doubt some unsuspecting americans thinking this is high class european fashion...

 

[monmouth]

On a slightly related note, I had a double-take recently when I saw a Primark store in an upmarket shopping mall in Nashville, Tennessee. Didn't realize they were trying to break into the US market. No doubt some unsuspecting americans thinking this is high class european fashion...

Elasticated waistbands. They’ll sell shitloads.

 

[Niigata Jack]

Not sure I buy in to the city centre is dead theory.

Plenty of other cities throughout the UK which I have visited for work have thriving centers.

Not sure Swansea council have the same view for Swansea City centre as the councils do in other cities and towns.

Hereford has a decent Town centre and has a newish shopping precinct on the old Market grounds near Edgar St football ground, biggish Waitrose shop, Next, River Island, Matalan, Mountain Warehouse, TK Max, Clarks, Fat Face and Pandoras Jewellery plus the coffee shop outlets, Millar and Carter, Beefy Boys decent French Steak house. Wagamama's plus a few other outlets.

 

[cmajack]

On a slightly related note, I had a double-take recently when I saw a Primark store in an upmarket shopping mall in Nashville, Tennessee. Didn't realize they were trying to break into the US market. No doubt some unsuspecting americans thinking this is high class european fashion...

They have one in Orlando, when did they open in Nashville and where?

 

[Jack2jack]

There was a blue print laid down by Swansea but it was completely thrown out by London. That is who decided how our town would develop post WW2. The worst type of soulless architecture which we are starting to recover from.
The city centre shopping is undergoing a major transition to a mixed use experience led visit ans not a pure retail experience. There are a few exceptions but this will be the new norm. Swansea has the coast as its joker and should be banking on that.
The ugly will slowly disappear and who knows how it will actually turn out. Fact is Swansea is not a wealthy area and, elephant in the room time, it is in Wales not these "lovely and trendy English towns" so we don't have the locals to prop up the economy and we will not have visitors because we shag sheep.

Hey JL,
When you say the blueprint was thrown out by London, can you expand on that please. I understand that WAG didnt exist at that time, so I assume it was down to cost and rebuilding ad cheaply and quickly as possible, and that was down to central government. TIA

 

[FearOfAJackPlanet]

They have one in Orlando, when did they open in Nashville and where?

Don’t know when it opened, but it must have been fairly recently. It’s in CoolSprings Galleria, which is technically Franklin, I think, but I always consider it part of greater Nashville.

 

[Jack2jack]

Absolutely not. The city centre is a disgrace compared to what it was twenty years ago. If there is a regeneration plan (I haven’t seen one if there is), then it needs to deliver quickly.

Harsh but fair.

 

[cmajack]

Don’t know when it opened, but it must have been fairly recently. It’s in CoolSprings Galleria, which is technically Franklin, I think, but I always consider it part of greater Nashville.

Thank you.

 

[JackSomething]

Is it moaning or people just expressing an opinion that differs to yours?

All a matter of perspective I suppose.

I do think it's telling that for all the negative opinions expressed, no-one has come up with a single practical solution for sorting it out other than what is being attempted currently.

 

[Smurph]

All a matter of perspective I suppose.

I do think it's telling that for all the negative opinions expressed, no-one has come up with a single practical solution for sorting it out other than what is being attempted currently.

Big retailers are not avoiding Swansea out of stubbornness what they're doing is avoiding risk.

Until the council shifts from cosmetic change to creating a centre that genuinely works for shoppers it will continue get worse and worse.

The council aren't interested in reviving shopping in the centre of Swansea.

 

[Jack2jack]

Fair enough if you're done, but did you not see the list of everything that been built/improved in recent years? If you can't acknowledge a massive amount of work has gone on that has improved things and can only concentrate on the retail options, then we can't really have a sensible discussion on the topic.

Do you think that and I'll use 'Swansea' rather than target successive council administrations here, and also keep retail out of the argument as I think that's a separate issue; has made the most of the 7 miles of wonderful seafront, or the docks area. Was it a complete and utter disaster getting rid of the Mumbles tram. Do you think that the train station is in the right place. Do you consider Castle gardens a success, it was constructed in 1991 and is now ready for the bulldozer.
How about West Way I believe we are already on its 3rd iteration.
My other beef here is that many of the decisions about the future look of Swansea were made by people who didnt even live here and we not fully invested in its future. I could go on and on and on, and I understand it's all about opinions.
And if you like and you pay my design fee of a very reasonable of £150/hr I'll come up with a few options of how I think it should look, with any luck they should be ready in about 12-18 months time, and I thrown in some pretty rendered images for you.

 

[jack_lord]

Hey JL,
When you say the blueprint was thrown out by London, can you expand on that please. I understand that WAG didnt exist at that time, so I assume it was down to cost and rebuilding ad cheaply and quickly as possible, and that was down to central government. TIA

Swansea Blitz: The failed attempts to rebuild a shattered town

The "superior attitude" of the government meant Swansea never fully recovered, a historian says.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Jack2jack]

Swansea Blitz: The failed attempts to rebuild a shattered town

The "superior attitude" of the government meant Swansea never fully recovered, a historian says.

www.bbc.co.uk

Thanks JL,
Fascinating read, and partly as I had anticipated. Bloody tragic. Thanks again.

 

[Niigata Jack]

Big retailers are not avoiding Swansea out of stubbornness what they're doing is avoiding risk.

Until the council shifts from cosmetic change to creating a centre that genuinely works for shoppers it will continue get worse and worse.

The council aren't interested in reviving shopping in the centre of Swansea.

Top Post Smurph.

 

[JackSomething]

Big retailers are not avoiding Swansea out of stubbornness what they're doing is avoiding risk.

Until the council shifts from cosmetic change to creating a centre that genuinely works for shoppers it will continue get worse and worse.

The council aren't interested in reviving shopping in the centre of Swansea.

Probably because reviving shopping in the centre of Swansea to the point where they deem the risk worth it is an economic impossibility at this point in time. If anyone actually knows how to make that work, I'm sure councils all across the country would love to know about it.

I was up in Bristol before Christmas and their massive empty Debenhams building was a real eyesore. In more positive news about Swansea, it looks like we'll be getting our empty Debenhams in use again before they will.