John Lewis......should be allowed :)

snowmen

jenheiffer wrote: »

Look, JL is not a charity. They only 'stuck it out for so long' because they saw there was something in it for them, not us!:)

True - there had to be something in it for them or they wouldn't have bothered looking at moving to sprucefield in the first place and taking 9 years to find out they couldn't.
I am just surprised at how messed around they were by the council.
As for John Lewis taking trade away from the high street - maybe the high street is becoming outdated and is not willing to change with the times?

motorguy

snowmen wrote: »

As for John Lewis taking trade away from the high street - maybe the high street is becoming outdated and is not willing to change with the times?

The notion of the high street is becoming outdated because people simply flock to these huge out of town retail centres instead. I guess its just a change of habit by customers. I remember my mum and day would have went to say, Banbridge for a 'walk around' of a saturday afternoon. That doesnt really happen anymore.

If prospective customers arent passing your front door then no amount of 'change' will keep you in business.

marcowil

snowmen wrote: »

True - there had to be something in it for them or they wouldn't have bothered looking at moving to sprucefield in the first place and taking 9 years to find out they couldn't.
I am just surprised at how messed around they were by the council.
As for John Lewis taking trade away from the high street - maybe the high street is becoming outdated and is not willing to change with the times?

JL weren't messed around by the Council, they supported the development from the start.
The stumbling blocks came from Planning Service, Lisburn traders and Belfast (Council & traders)

waltsalt

joefizz wrote: »

Have you been to the US lately? Malls and out of town complexes closing and in financial trouble all over the place.
In the last year sears closed about 20% of its shops, JC Penny about the same. Sears estimated to close about 30% of the remainder this year with JC Penny about 10-15% of the remainder.

Not exactly a great example.

Shops are closing all over America as a result of the global recession. This has nothing to do with the viability of out-of-town shopping centres as a concept.

GlynD

America's a big place. Northern Ireland's a small place - sorry to state the obvious.

John Lewis at Sprucefield would empty Belfast City centre even more than it is at the moment.

waltsalt

motorguy wrote: »

Well thats a decision for you to make. Hope you enjoy your horse burgers.

To suggest that a local butcher couldn't get caught up with the same fiasco regarding meat from suppliers is a bit naive.

motorguy wrote: »

I would say pound for pound they're not really that much different from the big players - i used to sell PC's and Laptops from a retail unit and i could match PC World and their ilk no problem. The problem was PC World would put on a big TV campaign for 'SONY laptop half price at £299'. People would flock down in their droves only for the laptop to be 'sold out' (usually one per store was allocated' and they were talked in to a dearer laptop that there was profit on for them. I had people ask me to price match with Tesco's and when you checked the stock Tescos didnt have any!

I said I wouldn't pay crazy local prices. I get most of my electronics from online retailers.

motorguy wrote: »

Plus PC world would hard sell extended warranties, accident damage cover, IT Support, etc, etc - all at inflated prices, so the customer rarely walked away paying just the ticket price.

In the event that you do find a bargain in PC World or the like then it's VERY easy to just say no to all the offered add ons.

waltsalt

BigAl94 wrote: »

If you spend a bit of time doing research you will find many local suppliers who will beat the big boys on price. I usually get free delivery thrown in.

Yes, cheers for the advice. I always research any purchase thoroughly and very rarely will you find something cheaper from one of the local electronic suppliers.

I would bet that for any given electonic item I would be able to find the same or better for cheaper online. And you usually can get free delivery from most of the big boys too.

waltsalt

Like I say, Belfast city centre should really step up to the plate. Let's be honest, about 95% of the shops in Belfast are already replicated in every major town in Northern Ireland, the rest of the UK, most of Europe and many parts of the rest of the world.

What exactly is in Belfast city centre that is so worth protecting?

Here's a small list. Not only are many of these establishments replicated across every town but often multiple instance of them can be found within one town.

Where are the charming, quaint, local businesses that we are all talking about?

Apple shop?
Build a Bear Workshop?
Carphone Warehouse?
Claire's Accessories?
Coast?
Dune?
Exhibit?
Goldsmiths?
H&M?
JD Sports?
Mamas & Papas?
River Island?
The Perfume Shop?
Top Shop?
USC?
Argos?
Debenhams?
Dorothy Perkins?
Evans?
GAP?
New Look?
Quiz?
Burton?


Maybe it's our unique cuisine and fine local eateries that we are referring to:

Chiquito?
Cosmo?
Costa Coffee?
Starbucks?
Frankie & Benny's?
McDonalds?
Nando's?
O'Brien's?
Pizza Express?
Pizza Hut?
Burger King?
KFC?
Subway?

mezza101

waltsalt wrote: »

Yes, cheers for the advice. I always research any purchase thoroughly and very rarely will you find something cheaper from one of the local electronic suppliers.

I would bet that for any given electonic item I would be able to find the same or better for cheaper online. And you usually can get free delivery from most of the big boys too.

very rarely will you find anything cheap in jl

GlynD

mezza101 wrote: »

very rarely will you find anything cheap in jl

Correct. It's actually very similar in all respects to Marks & Spencer. What a pity we didn't have an M&S at Sprucefield -




oh wait, we do!