Who needs Wilkinsons? Say hello to Centrepoint.
Paisley town centre recently received a body blow with the news Wilkinsons had decided not to come to our town. As a result the former Littlewoods store remains empty and an eyesore on our High Street. Certainly bad news, but I’m sure there would have been sighs of relief from many shop owners. Let’s face it - people would not have come to Paisley just to visit a Wilkinsons store. Wilkinsons would have had limited effect on the footfall of Paisley's High Street. What would have happened would be a sudden dip in household sales from the town’s existing shops, further threatening their survival.
So, what now? The closure is still seen as bad news, so what’s good about it? We can wait years and see if another large retailer wants to fill this void in our High Street, or we can take matters into our own hands. Here is my cunning plan.
Where is the demand?
The demand for “high value” goods and fashion is there. At the moment the luxury end of the retail market is bucking the trend on the High Street; unfortunately, in the short term, there is no supply.
I love Debenhams. It’s a classy, bright, sparkly store full of designer goods. What I really like about Debenhams is their concept – small designer units, called concessions, all under one roof. Supposing we got the outlet plan rolling by converting the former Littlewoods store into a Debenhams-like outlet mall, complete with individual designer units, focusing on outlet merchandise?
The idea isn’t as fanciful as you might think. Imagine Paisley as a last-stop shopping point before international travellers depart from Glasgow Airport. Would visiting football fans go to St Mirren Park while the rest of the family go outlet shopping? Imagine hundreds of shoppers getting off the train at Paisley Gilmour Street ready for a great shopping experience, instead of the opposite - hundreds heading for Glasgow!
Where is the supply?
Scotland has only three outlet malls – Gretna Gateway, Sterling Mills and Livingston Designer Outlet. I made a list of those companies currently operating in an outlet environment in Scotland. From this list I removed companies with retail shops in Paisley, Braehead (4 miles away) and Silverburn (4½ miles away) with the thinking why would a brand have a full priced shop and an outlet unit so close to each other. I also removed all food retailers. I still had 89 names on the list! Add onto this list any companies who would consider a brand new outlet in Scotland, or even a duplication (retail vs outlet) in close proximity, and you start looking at serious number of possible clients. Even the option of a short-term unit lease would allow brands to test the water, without the financial commitment of a full shop. Up-and-coming brands and designers could also use the idea, with less financial outlay and staffing requirements compared with a designated retail unit.
Can the existing town centre infrastructure cope?
Is this the right time to start up?
What about costs?
Here is some serious number crunching to support this idea:
The spec sheet issued by CB Richard Ellis can be found at
CB Richard Ellis website or HERE. The property is massive, with retail space over two floors, an ancillary first floor and smaller plant second floor. The shop has two entrances, on Paisley High Street and one inside the Paisley Centre.
RENT: £200,000 pa. including unit 18 Paisley Centre and link. This excludes the basement, but to be included I'm sure a deal could be hammered out.
RATES: With a rateable value of £348,000, rates payable would be £144,072 per annum based on the UBR of 41.4p 2010/11.
COUNCIL GRANT: Renfrewshire Council offered Wilkinsons a grant of £336,000. Would such a figure be possible in connection with this proposal as well?
INTERIOR: The unit would have to be gutted, with quality flooring (such as bowed quartz floor tiles or Amtico flooring, both used by Debenhams), spot-lighting and brand-consistent unit designs and displays, security etc. I think Debenhams offer a glimpse into the future of this site. No smelly carpets of cheap lino or floor tiles anywhere. You can see the proposals from the Wilkinsons application from the attachments. These plans had the basement subdivided from the ground and first floor, and the sort of work they had invisaged.
Basement sales area
ADDITIONAL FUNDING: How feasible is it to have a local share option to raise capital? Each share holder receives a regular percentage of profits as a reward for their belief in the plan.
This is where my knowledge grinds to a complete halt, but hopefully someone somewhere will think seriously about this idea, and maybe move it one notch forward to focus on it’s feasibility. I'm not sure how conscession lets work, but perhaps someone with the knowledge can add to this idea and let us know?
All I ask is for this idea, or the link to this page, to be passed around as much as possible. There will be an entrepreneur somewhere with the relevant experience (funding and legal know-how) who can look further into this idea. If we wait for someone else to do something, we may be waiting years. If we do something NOW, we could have an outlet store up-and-running by 2012.
Please contact us at paisley2020@yahoo.co.uk with any ideas or feedback.
UPDATE: One piece of feedback has suggested the retailer will ask for around 30-33% of the retail price (but the retailer pays the VAT), over and above rental costs for the concession site.
Concession agreement tips and guidelines HERE
Centrepoint is the name given to this idea. This shop is located at the central point of Paisley’s retail activity, located at Paisley Cross between our two ‘anchor’ shopping centres, and at the point of our highest footfall. This plan would develop the site into the most dynamic and exciting shopping place on our High Street and make Paisley the most important shopping area this side of Glasgow.
Much time, money and effort has been spent, and will be spent, in encouraging outlet stores to set up in Paisley. The hub of this development will be the former Arnotts site, but this won’t be up-and-running for many years. In the mean time are we prepared to watch our town centre’s further decline? The outlet idea seems to have the backing of Renfrewshire Council, the Paisley Vision Board and in principal many national stores. A report shows Paisley’s existing catchment area contains nearly 1.3 million people, with a shopping population of 42,600. Should the proposed Arnotts outlet centre go ahead, it could attract up to 96,000 shoppers.
I wondered whether fashion brands would be interested in setting up in a fashion-unit, and how many possible brands could be potential targets.
Shoppers may sniff at the idea of having to pay for parking. The free parking for two hours on a Saturday scheme, currently operating at the Paisley Centre carpark for Paisley Centre shoppers, should still apply. Afterall, the Littlewoods site is part of the Paisley Shopping Centre. Otherwide it might cost a few pounds in parking charges, but focus on the savings on outlet prices. If Braehead or Silverburn charged for parking, would you still go there? Of course you would. I'm glad to see our pubs are making their child-friendliness more obvious, but there still needs to be a concerted effort to highlight those pubs who are family-friendly and prepared to accept families for meals, and not just to be a place to have a pint. Research shows up to 60% of a pub's income is from the sale of food. Apart from McDonalds, there are no fast food outlets in Paisley. Parents take kids, and kids need to be fed. Meals would be an important part of the visitor experience. I think Paisley's circular road might need clearer signage directing new visitors to parking, as it has the reputation of being a bit disorientating.
We are not far off a double-dip recession, so the time couldn't be better. Millionaire Duncan Bannatyne likes recessions. He calls then 'bargain basement time', and it's true. When people are tightening their belts, they start looking for bargains. Companies facing a downturn want to keep business coming in, so are more willing to negotiate prices. The time couldn't be better.
As mentioned above, the demand is there, but how practical is this idea? I have little real estate or retail experience, but over the last few weeks I have climbed on board this very steep learning curve.
Ground Floor sales area
First Floor ancillary
Roof / Plant floor
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