Friars Walk in Newport City Centre is due to open in Autumn 2015 and with Debenhams the anchor tenant, it has attracted over 35 retail units, as well as 11 restaurants and a cinema.
After plans for a similar investment fell through in 2008, the development was re established in April of this year with a further £15 million injected into its construction.
However these developments are having a detrimental effect on independent traders, becoming accountable for the rapid decline in footfall that High Street shops across Britain are now faced with.
A major distraction
With plans underway, discussions surrounding the investment in Newport has raised concerns for the city centre, with its arcades, newly refurbished market and two main shopping streets to keep in business.
Focus is now shifting from outer shopping areas towards the new complex, as further expansion and planning in Spytty retail park is being discouraged by the Council, with a fear of diverting attention from Friars walk.
This is urging stores such as fashion retailers, New Look and Topshop to relocate back to the city centre into Friars Walk, but not to the High Street which occupy much smaller, traditional and less branded space.
Wildings department store on Newport High Street has stood the test of time maintaining regular business over unsteady periods. However, over this coming year their stature will be challenged once again.
Wildings store manager, Sally ford, believes Friars Walk will affect the flow and path of footfall in the city. “Planning officers should really stand back and create a holistic and long term vision for where they want Newport to be in 20 years time,” she expressed “rather than following a blue print that may have worked at another time.”
A key principle for the store is to remain true to their customers as they are one of few shops on the High Street that offer unusual, different and quirky products that are not easily found elsewhere.
Wildings traditional department store which has been trading since 1874
Cardiff Comparison
Similarly in Cardiff, the arrival of St David’s 2 has caused problems for businesses, both on the High Street and in the old arcades.
St David’s 2 opened in 2009 dominating the centre and enticing stores such as John Lewis with a reduction on rates as an incentive to move.
However, whilst payments remain steady for stores like these, smaller, more independent shops outside the centres have higher rates to pay.
According to a study by the Local Data Company High Street traders have seen a continuous rise in rent from 5.4% in 2008 to 14.1% in 2013.
Lucinda Cox from The Pen and Paper Stationery in the Royal Arcade explained how, “Customers now don’t even need to leave the centre or go outside to enjoy a full shopping experience. This means we have lost a lot of passing trade.”
Nevertheless the stationery shop is working to encourage more trade by re-inventing themselves through the usage of social media on Facebook and introducing new opening and closing times to attract more custom.
Businesses who are struggling are also driving sales by becoming more familiar with their customers and community, putting out promotions that vary from other shops and setting up an online shopping website to enhance their sales with the growth of online shopping.
The alter argument
Many views suggest that the regeneration of the city as a whole has and will continue to increase tourism and attract new businesses, which, in turn keeps independent and chain shops in business.
Councillor John Richards from Newport City Council released figures displaying an increase in visitors to the city centre over the summer period, compared to last year, with a rise of 7,000 shoppers passing through the centre per week.
He believes the increase is due to new businesses such as Admiral and The Seren group housing close to the centre, employing hundreds of people which has driven sales.
Sheila Davis from Newport City Council commented, “There is nothing stopping Commercial St landlords modernising their retail offer to compete”.
Smaller premises may find it impossible to attract retailers with less promise of a high footfall, nevertheless Pandora Jewellery has recently opened on Commercial Street indicating how Friars Walk may work as an advantage to chains that are not positioning themselves within the complex, but just outside.
Davis believes, “Friars Walk will be the catalyst that brings national retailers into Newport that aren’t there now, will increase footfall to neighbouring shops, will encourage other landlords to invest and finally, we will see the rise of Newport, and see it thriving.”
With less than a year to go until Friars Walk opens its doors, it is uncertain whether the High Street will survive or diminish.
Further investment may be needed by the council to bring other forms of business to the centre as the central Government have recently suggested more schools, health centres and other businesses should fill empty buildings rather than more shops.
Although with the excitement of Friars Walk and its anticipated arrival, it is hard to imagine the city now, without it in its future and what it is sure to bring to its long overdue advancement.
Free parking needs to be implemented close to the high street to encourage people to shop there
