Sainsbury were never going to be repaid cash were they? So, to take a charge out seems perfectly sensible to me.
As for the Echo story, the Council only have themselves to blame for what has happened in the High street. Rates are too high and it's full of shops that sell tat, Asian greengrocers, coffee shops, fast food shops and mobile phone shops - and very little else. Also, of course, parking in Southend is extortionate. If they want to revive the High Street they need to look at addressing those two points and attract more individual and boutique shops to the High Street.
As for the Echo story, the Council only have themselves to blame for what has happened in the High street. Rates are too high and it's full of shops that sell tat, Asian greengrocers, coffee shops, fast food shops and mobile phone shops - and very little else. Also, of course, parking in Southend is extortionate. If they want to revive the High Street they need to look at addressing those two points and attract more individual and boutique shops to the High Street.[/QUOTE]
You echo what I've been saying for ages, the traditional High Street as a high volume, large floor space, retail environment is a dying business model.
Prime High Street locations are expensive both rent and rates wise, unless they are in some form of shopping centre area they are generally difficult to service logistically for deliveries and maintenance vehicles. Storage/warehousing area is at a premium versus retail area in the high rent environment as every sq foot has to pay its way, this impacts on the stock levels and ranges that can be carried in store which in turn impacts on the retail experience for the customer; this is difficult to do even at places like Lakeside. It is not unusual to see major retailers at Lakeside advising customers to buy from their online store if they haven't got the right size/colour in store. Debenhams at Lakeside even advise customers that if they haven't got an item in store then if it is ordered by 8pm they will deliver it to your home before 12noon the following day!
I live 20 minutes walk from the High Street, I paid a visit a fortnight ago. Did I go to shop? No, I went to see a film, I then walked down part of the High Street to have a meal and then went home. My previous visit must have been a good 7-8 months earlier when I went to watch the live opera on the big screen at the Forum. I shouldn't think I'm atypical of many other Southend residents.
Even worse for the High Street, and something which also effects the smaller 'convenience' retailer, the one who sells a newspaper, sweets, cigarettes, etc., as well as the bigger stores, is the fact that many thousands of jobs have disappeared from the Victoria Avenue/Town Centre area over the last 10-15 years with all the banks and insurers leaving either the town centre or the town completely. These were people in reasonably well paid jobs, for the local area, who were on the doorstep and could easily do some shopping in their lunchtime. The people working for the remaining bank in town, RBS, are now a 15-20 minute bus ride/drive away from the town centre, simply not a viable customer base in a lunch hour. The few jobs that have replaced those in the emptied bank buildings are more likely to be lower paid call centre/customer service jobs so the potential customer base from local employment has not only declined in number but also potential spending power.
Even more to compound the effect of the loss of jobs many of those buildings are now being converted into flats and being aimed at people who are likely to be commuters and therefore only likely to be around at weekends during business hours.
I think all these factors have and will do for the High Street as much, if not more than, the mostly leisure targetted Fossets Farm.