Closures of Debenhams hit cities hard, but it’s not all gloom and doom
UNCERTAINTY continues to surround huge empty shopping units in Wales’s three biggest cities a year after Debenhams closed its stores for the final time.
The retail giant shut its doors in Newport’s Friars Walk Shopping Centre on May 4 last year, and did the same 11 days later at the Quadrant in the heart of Swansea and in Cardiff’s St David’s shopping centre.
This was just a few months after the company announced that attempts to rescue its 124 stores had failed and that the department store, which had been trading for 242 years, would cease trading.
In January 2021 the firm was sold to online retailer Boohoo in a £55m deal, but that still resulted in the closure of all of its stores and the loss of thousands of jobs.
As well as the tremor the collapse of Debenhams caused in the jobs market and on the high street itself, what has become of the large units left empty by the company’s collapse?
One place in Wales which has seen something of a proactive approach in filling a large and empty retail space is Carmarthen.
Wales’s oldest town was dealt a huge blow last May when its Debenhams store shut because it was not only the biggest shop in town but also the one that an entire regeneration project had been based around.
When St Catherine’s Walk Shopping Centre opened to much fanfare in 2010, it did so tying much of its hopes around the neck of Debenhams, a sprawling two-storey store in the centre’s prime spot.
Since being empty, the unit has, on more than one occasion, been used as a temporary site for pop-up shops, offering local and independent businesses the opportunity to showcase their produce in a high street environment.
Furthermore, there are plans to transform the unit, which was also the venue for the count at the recent local council elections, into a hub to deliver a range of health, well-being, learning and cultural services all under one roof.
While it may be disappointing to some that the site will no longer be home to a retail giant, the plan, which is still in the early development stages, is expected to see the creation of state-of-the-art leisure, culture and exhibition spaces alongside health and educational facilities, together with tourist information, customer services and more.
Swansea has also been hit by the closure of shops in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Debenhams had been seen by many people as the beating heart of the city centre’s shopping scene for more than 40 years, having opened at the Quadrant shopping centre in 1978.
While Swansea Council does not own the unit, a spokesman for the local
authority said it “recognises the importance of this retail site and are continuing to explore options to bring it back into use”.
The picture for the shopping centre as a whole seems to be brighter than some had feared, despite the continued uncertainty surrounding the former Debenhams store.
New shops have opened elsewhere at the centre, which is maintaining a “stable” footfall, according to operations manager Lindy Emms.
“The closure of Debenhams was a huge loss to the Quadrant and the UK high street,” she said.
“However, footfall within the centre has remained stable, with many retailers outperforming targets.
“While we lost Debenhams in 2021, we have since gained several new retailers that offer our shoppers new and exciting reasons to visit, from The Entertainer and Clothing Culture to specialist sport retailers Rugby Heaven and Moti.
“We have even experienced heavy investment in existing stores, most notably jewellery giant Ernest Jones, who chose our branch to be the first new-concept store in Wales.
“This was as a direct result of the exciting Copr Bay developments shaping the city.
“We have also seen the arrival of many local pop-up stores through the Pop-up Wales initiative, where we are able to offer more than just retail experiences.
“Hundreds of people have sought support from our Dementia Hub and the Swansea Pride pop-up alone.
“We’re proud of how the centre continues to adapt and we are confident that our few remaining empty units will soon be filled.”
Retail expert Laura James, a business and management lecturer and programme manager at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David, believes the delay in filling the empty Debenhams units in Welsh cities may be down to a “shift in culture” which means decisions on what can fill such spaces need to offer resilient and effective solutions, thus ensuring a sustainable future for cities and high streets.
“The development and advance in online shopping has certainly caused a shift in consumer behaviour and has indeed demanded that high street retailers rethink their offering,” she said.
“A failure to foresee and adapt to this advancement in online shopping behaviours has undoubtedly had an impact on those who have struggled to adapt, with the shift to online shopping being accelerated by Covid.
“This must not be confused, however, with the death of the high street – we are far from this.
“This is a revival of the high street to new bustling communities and a reinstatement of being the heart of the town.
“The development of the Carmarthen Debenhams unit in partnership with others has been tremendous and success stories have tumbled out from this, which is so encouraging to see.
“Innovative shopping experiences which offer opportunities to local independent retailers can offer consumers a new shopping experience with diversity and choice.
“Online shopping will continue to grow, but will grow alongside the high street harmoniously with the regeneration of these spaces.
“Whilst large retailers did pull in consumers, this is not necessarily the case any more as these retailers move to a more online-dominant strategy.”
Mrs James also thinks innovative yet simple ideas, such as the introduction of free parking offers, can play a key role in bringing shoppers back to the streets in the wake of Covid-19 and the effect it’s had on trade since April 2020.
“Just like any other sector, the high street has changed and adapted and this can be advantageous to us as consumers too,” she said.
“The high street is our community – a place to shop, to meet friends for coffee, to work and to engage with community projects.
“Some people will require a degree of enticement and this could be done with free parking and holding community events, and this has already been seen in a number of city centres.
“The best thing we can all do to help our high street is to continue to shop locally and allow it time to grow and flourish.”
Mrs James firmly believes the glory days of the high street are not a thing of the past.
On the contrary, she says the future can be a positive one for the city and town centre retail market, although it will never look quite the same as it once did.
“We will continue to see the community coming together and hear success stories of our lovely independent local businesses,” she added.
“We will see the partnerships between local authorities, educators and local communities working together closely to empower individuals and drive forward success, listening and adapting to create the bustling high street that will be the new glory days.”