'Everything’s leaving': Sheffield's town centre gutted by vacancies

[feargal 21]

Fargate should move more towards restaurants and cafes, with the upper floors of those buildings made into apartments.  Pinstone street should be more independent shops, leading naturally to the Moor for the big chain shops.

 

Voila, town planning sorted. You're welcome.  😉

Edited February 2, 2019 by feargal
Autocorrect buffoonery

[dutch 68]

30 minutes ago, feargal said:

Fargate should move more towards satisfied, with the upper floors of those buildings made into apartments.  Pinstone street should be more independent shops, leading naturally to the Moor for the big chain shops.

 

Voila, town planning sorted. You're welcome.  😉

That's a very unique interesting idea.

British logic isn't going to fix this, this common logic has solved many puzzles but lacks the common sense needed to understand the basics.

One of these basics is that if I walk from train station to fargate there is a presentable route, pretty pleasant to walk on, could go through millennium. That walk says welkom to sheffield

If I walk from station to our new centre its nothing like it, that walk is worse than (sensored). That walk makes you wonder you go right way.

Edited February 2, 2019 by dutch

[kaytie 11]

1 hour ago, Stoatwobbler said:

Thanks to Northern Rail and their incessant strikes, L**ds isn't really an option for me at present. On the other hand, there are a number of retail parks not far from me which are more convenient than Sheffield, Rotherham and Barnsley town centers. Not to mention Elsecar Heritage Centre for nice small shops. And when I lived in Dronfield I came to much prefer shopping in Chesterfield. 

 

For me, these days Cole Brothers is about the only thing worth visiting Sheffield town center for. This is a very bad thing. When you visit a town it's the town center that you judge the place on. 

COLE BROTHERS!!!!!    Crikey you don't come into the centre very often.   It's been John Lewis for decades.

[I1L2T3 10]

33 minutes ago, feargal said:

Fargate should move more towards satisfied, with the upper floors of those buildings made into apartments.  Pinstone street should be more independent shops, leading naturally to the Moor for the big chain shops.

 

Voila, town planning sorted. You're welcome.  😉

That’s basically the plan. A more compact retail area flowing from fargate through the developments around Pinstone st, John Lewis and then down to the Moor. Should link Devonshire Street more cleanly to the moor area too. Castle area can be given over housing, offices.

 

The key to connecting it all for everyone is a regular free hop-on hop-off bus around the city centre. Like the Eager Beavers or bendi bus we used to have

Edited February 2, 2019 by I1L2T3

[dutch 68]

A lot is being spent moving it all and it only benefits people from southern part of the city. Making it significant worse for others to connect with moor than it was to go to fargate.

I use M&S but if they move to moor will stop using them in city centre.

[spilldig 186]

Every time I go into the city centre I am having to thread myself beetween throngs of people, so I don't know what they are doing but at least around mid day it's crowded with people,

[Cyclone 10]

14 hours ago, dutch said:

If places stay empty we could use them to give the homeless somewhere to stay.

I'm sure the owners will be entirely thrilled with that idea.

 

Empty doesn't mean that they are abandoned.

1 hour ago, Stoatwobbler said:

Thanks to Northern Rail and their incessant strikes, L**ds isn't really an option for me at present. On the other hand, there are a number of retail parks not far from me which are more convenient than Sheffield, Rotherham and Barnsley town centers. Not to mention Elsecar Heritage Centre for nice small shops. And when I lived in Dronfield I came to much prefer shopping in Chesterfield. 

 

For me, these days Cole Brothers is about the only thing worth visiting Sheffield town center for. This is a very bad thing. When you visit a town it's the town center that you judge the place on. 

It's pretty bad if you try to visit a department store that hasn't existed for 20+ years!

51 minutes ago, dutch said:

That's a very unique interesting idea.

British logic isn't going to fix this, this common logic has solved many puzzles but lacks the common sense needed to understand the basics.

One of these basics is that if I walk from train station to fargate there is a presentable route, pretty pleasant to walk on, could go through millennium. That walk says welkom to sheffield

If I walk from station to our new centre its nothing like it, that walk is worse than (sensored). That walk makes you wonder you go right way.

What have you decided is the "new centre"?

[Guest makapaka]

Some people call it Cole brothers in sheffield.

 

its not because they dont know it’s John Lewis its because it took over what was a

flagship Sheffield store.

 

there are other examples around the country where locals haven’t adopted the John Lewis name readily.

 

get over yourselves.

[Stoatwobbler 10]

1 hour ago, dutch said:

A lot is being spent moving it all and it only benefits people from southern part of the city. Making it significant worse for others to connect with moor than it was to go to fargate.

I use M&S but if they move to moor will stop using them in city centre.

Part of this is that the North of the city is already well served by out of town retail parks and Meadowhall, so the town center is being tailored more towards the areas of Sheffield in the South where they don't have out of town retain parks. But I'm still unconvinced that having a town center only catering for a fraction of Sheffield residents is a good  thing. 

[bungleboy69 98]

I'd quite like to live on Fargate above the shops, down towards Coles corner would be perfect.

[ECCOnoob 1,020]

Well it's about time they put a stop to it then.   Cole Brothers has had nothing to do with two brothers called 'Cole' since 1927.  

 

It was bought by Selfridges Provincial which was itself bought by John Lewis Partnership in 1940.    It's been part of the John Lewis partnership with John Lewis stock, john Lewis service and John Lewis branding for nearly 50 years.  Its official name was changed to the parent company approaching 20 years ago.  It's even had another slight name and branding change since then.

 

There cant really be that many left to remember the good old days of that old family run department store.   For all the others who still insist on calling it coles it's just stubborn typical Sheffield mentality.

 

As for the Guardian article I think it's a complete hatchet job. 

 

They seem to pick images of a single unit for let on an otherwise completely filled Street.  They've got their facts completely wrong by claiming certain stores are closing when in fact they are simply moving to a brand new development.  Clearly it has been written by someone who is not step foot in the city because if they had they would know full well that Sheffield biggest problem with retail for decades was that it is too spread out - they are trying to fix that.   

 

High Streets are dying all over the country but for some reason this journalist has singled out most of the problems as being a Sheffield one. 

 

Maybe said journalist needs to have a wander more local to his home - having recently being in London and wandering along Oxford Street the so-called flagship of the country - it is itself looking a bit poor relation.  Plenty of cheap, touristy and tat shops piled up on there too.   Yes it may have the flag ships but a big House of Fraser with only a handful of customers in and a bargain clearance section on the top floor hardly screams a roaring success.  It may have a big shiny flagship Primark which is still just a Primark covered in glitter.  John Lewis is John Lewis but just 5 times bigger.  Debenhams is just Debenhams but with a bit more chome and a closed down patisserie-valerie sat in the middle of the menswear floor.    Every other shop is just the same as you can see on fargate or meadowhall.    One could say the only real jewel in the crown is Selfridges but let's face it - we all know full well that if such a thing opened up here a vast majority will simply walk in laugh at the price tag and walk out again.

 

All round the article had absolutely no balance.   no real insight into what the city is about and what's happening.   A pretty ropey attempt to beat some agenda at best.

 

Edited February 2, 2019 by ECCOnoob

[ECCOnoob 1,020]

24 minutes ago, bungleboy69 said:

I'd quite like to live on Fargate above the shops, down towards Coles corner would be perfect.

I would agree.

 

This is what city centres are about now mixed use.   People living, working, leisure activities and some retail all in one place.  

 

We need to move away from just turning the city centre into some glorified shopping mall.  This is what so many people obsess over and it's wrong. 

 

People forget there are other things that happen in a city.  Its the same argument that people try and use when they bang on about the city should be offering free parking everywhere just like meadowhall.  Its stupid.  They have simply no idea that there are other people coming here every day who are nothing to do with shopping.  Such free spaces will be snapped up before shoppers even got out of bed.