Number of empty shops in Leicester city centre 'is on the increase'
The number of empty shops in Leicester has increased with nearly one in five now vacant, a survey claims.
New figures show that 18.24 per cent of the city centre's shops are unoccupied.
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Number of empty shops in Leicester city centre 'is on the increase'
This compares with 14.12 per cent just six months ago.
Traders and business experts say the economic slump is still having an effect on retailing in the county.
Dermot Breen, city centre chairman of Leicestershire Chamber of Commerce, said: "Any empty shop is a tragedy because it means someone's business has gone up the spout, but it could also be that they have relocated to another address."
The figures, released by the Local Data Company, puts the city fourth in the East Midlands for the proportion of empty shops, behind Nottingham, at 23 per cent, Hinckley, 19.7 per cent, and Worksop, 18.3 per cent.
Nationally, it was 13 per cent in June, compared with 12 per cent last year.
City centre director Sarah Harrison disputed the figures. She said she could not think of any major empty spaces in the city centre.
"This is a huge increase of empty shops in a defined retail core area and I cannot see where it has come from," she said.
In Leicester, the figures were based on a survey of 840 shops in the city centre.
Independent jewellers Amabis, in High Street, blamed the increase in empty shops on the Highcross.
Assistant manager Anja Petterson, said: "People often just go straight to Highcross and don't come out to the other shops.
"It's a vicious circle – once one shop is empty it tends to have a knock-on effect on other businesses on the street."
Tom Brown, manager of Irish Clothing, which has three shops in Leicestershire, said the recession was to blame
He said: "We've just got to wait for it to be over.
"There have always been empty shops and there always will be, that's just business."
But Stuart Delahoy, who owns gift shop Set, in St Martins Square, finds it hard to believe the figures.
He said: "I think things are really starting to pick up.
"There are four new shops going to open up in St Martins before Christmas.
"Elsewhere in the city, high profile once-empty shops, like the old Habitat, are now filled, as are many of the smaller premises."
The city is 12th in the UK's list of large centres for vacant shops. Hinckley is the only place in Leicestershire with a higher percentage, with 19.7 per cent of its shops empty, although this figure has improved by 0.05 per cent.
Coalville has 15.6 per cent of units vacant, Loughborough 15.1 and Melton 12.6. They have all seen a small increase.
Phil Garton, a retail expert at De Montfort University, said the proportion of empty units was likely to increase further.
He said: "There's been a recession and people are spending less. Retailers have also been retrenching and deciding to pull shops out of areas where trade is too marginal for them to stay."
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by anon, anon
Friday, September 10 2010, 6:57PM
“"I neither need to be right nor insulting": no, just to have the last word and be repetitive!”
by david, leics
Friday, September 10 2010, 6:26PM
“A legacy of the Labour council and Labour government, after 15 years of government, look what has happened? The people of Leicester voted for this!!!!!”
by martin, le3
Friday, September 10 2010, 5:15PM
“anon, anon - yeah yeah like I said previously "I've said what I thought - but that doesnt mean that I am right and it doesnt mean that anyone else is wrong", I'll quote the relevant bit again "that doesnt mean that I am right". I neither need to be right nor insulting.”
by anon, anon
Friday, September 10 2010, 4:56PM
“Jane, Another Planet, "shhhhhhh, it's not THAT important": then y r u commenting?
martin, le3, i can c that ur too stubborn to admit when ur wrong so i won't waste anymore time on u. have a nice w/e by urself in the PS where u can tell everyone (i.e. urself cos u'll be the only one there) how right u were!”
by martin, le3
Friday, September 10 2010, 4:25PM
“"u exasperate me when u deliberately refuse to take account of the context. eg u say "I dont think central Leicester is particularly expensive to park in, and nowhere is very far to walk"; this implies that other posters are wrong" - but it doesnt though does it? I've given my opinion, I've said what I thought - but that doesnt mean that I am right and it doesnt mean that anyone else is wrong, it just means that this is what my view is. People 'think' all sorts of stuff, it doesnt mean people that think differently are wrong. I could write more objectively about what constitutes a reasonable parking charge, or a reasonable walk - but whats the point? I think what is happening is that you have a clear idea in your head about what "context" I should be taking into account; I am typing whatever I fancy underneath a Mercury story.
anyway - have a nice weekend. :-)”
by Jane, Another Planet
Friday, September 10 2010, 4:12PM
“anon,anon, shhhhhhh, it's not THAT important.
Actually, I agree with those who've said that Highcross has had a negative impact on shops in the centre, well, Highcross and Fosse Park. I have to admit, when I want to go shopping in the city I tend to go to Highcross because it has good shops, I can park and I can avoid bad weather if necessary. I sometimes venture out of there and shop on Silver St., the arcades, the market, Horsefair st. and Market st. but would venture outside of that area. It's not because I'm lazy but I have a health condition so can't walk too far. Sadly, every Highcross and out of town shopping centre will have the same impact on the town its built in. Maybe a sign of the times? At the end of the day, how old are most of the shops in Leicester city centre? Were they there 200 years ago? Maybe we just have to move with the times. Maybe we should start thinking of the Highcrosses of this world AS the city centre and use what WAS the city centre for building homes. Oh, have I said too much?”
by anon, anon
Friday, September 10 2010, 2:59PM
“martin, "martin, when will u learn ur opinion doesn't matter": yes this SOUNDS personal if u miss out the rest of my sentence: "if ur already using a (failing) service?": any intelligent person would understand that the ur i was referring to applies to ANYONE who is a user of a failing service (myself included).
" i suggest u find a dictionary and look up the word implicit": yes it's a bit short but u exasperate me when u deliberately refuse to take account of the context. eg u say "I dont think central Leicester is particularly expensive to park in, and nowhere is very far to walk"; this implies that other posters are wrong when they say town IS expensive or too far to walk. they are not wrong 'cos for THEM it IS too expensive and too far. for u, and probably most ppl who continue to shop or socialise in town, it ISN'T too expensive or too far (otherwise u & they would obviously stop going). that is why ur/their opinion doesn't matter; ppl who are happy with the current charges are hardly going to complain if those charges are reduced!
" I'd concentrate on the ones that you could actually do something about": i think this is precisely what i, and other posters, are doing by talking about more and cheaper parking. and by siting parking nr PS it would breathe new life into that area. charles st effectively cuts the city centre in 2 and "town" is effectively now west of charles st. anything that can attract more footfall east of charles st is to be welcomed (now that all of our "cultural" gems are sited there otherwise i would have said leave it to develop as a residential area. one of leic's main selling points was that town was so compact compared to nottm but the council appear to be trying to turn the whole of the inner ring rd area into a competitor to the west end!).”
by Nick, LE
Friday, September 10 2010, 2:26PM
“The problem is the people who shop their (Highcross), who are either too lazy to leave the highcross, or so ignorant they think there is nothing outside it.
The whole city centre is walkable from highcross within five minutes.”
by Graham, Whetstone
Friday, September 10 2010, 2:23PM
“I'd also like to know how many of the '5 household names' that the Highcross has declared as potential new openings are actually already represented in the city and are really just 'moving' rather than opening... could it be there'll be another 5 boarded up stores soon?”
by Graham, Whetstone
Friday, September 10 2010, 2:19PM
“To answer some questions posed below as to why people are not shopping in Leicester, here's my reasons:
I don't live far from the city centre, but if we need to buy anything then as a family we usually consider Blaby, Wigston, Oadby, Fosse Park, Hinckley or Lutterworth before coming to Leicester - the reason?, it's so damn awkward to drive in & park...
I do use the bus daily to work (in the centre of Leicester) but wouldn't bother bringing my family of 5 in by bus at an evening or weekend because of the cost; nor would I drive to the Enderby 'Park & Ride' because by the time I'd have done that and travelled to Leicester, I might as well be already parked up in the city and be shopping.
Incidentally I used to use the train from Narborough a lot, but Blaby DC put the kybosh on that when they introduced parking charges at the station, so therein lies a moral: council policies may be well intentioned but are ultimately ill thought out.”