retail
M&S has opened a new concept store on the site of the former Debenhams ‘'store of the future'. The 75,000sq ft store at the Roaring Meg retail park in Stevenage spans two floors and offers clothing, beauty, an opticians, a café and a food hall including ‘fill your own’ stations. Store design expert John Ryan praised the opening, saying: “What marks this out both as a store of the future and as different from almost any other branch that might be mentioned is that it feels like one enterprise. If Marks & Spencer can draw lessons quickly from what has been done here and take it elsewhere, its clothing and home will be in with a real fighting chance.”
Leisure
The City Pub Group plans to expand after announcing its ‘strongest balance sheet since inception’. They said that by November 2021 they had been trading ahead of 2019 levels, although this momentum was impacted by the emergence of the Omicron variant. The group plan to have 65-70 pubs open by the end of next year, with some sites already in development. City Pub Group chairman Clive Watson said: “We have a very strong platform from which to grow and much to look forward to despite the inflationary headwinds…we can take full advantage of, adhering to our strict criteria, freehold acquisition opportunities that arise.”
Property
A community-led town centre regeneration project has been examined to see if it could inspire high street redevelopment efforts across Scotland. The Midsteeple Quarter scheme in Dumfries was visited by the Scottish Parliament’s economy and fair work committee. A number of vacant retail properties in the town have been bought for conversion for retail, residential and community use. The committee hopes that Dumfries can serve as a model for redevelopment across Scottish town centres to address the challenges of large vacant units and absent landlords. Convener Claire Baker said of the Midsteeple Quarter: “They’re making good progress here and they’ve had real community engagement and involvement in the plans being taken forward… We’re looking for good examples that we can look and see if it offers solutions for other places in Scotland.”
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