Chester city centre traders report a successful 2010

Jan 13 2011 by Allison Dickinson, Chester Chronicle

SHOPS and restaurants across the city centre are saying they had a bumper Christmas.

Shoppers braved the icy conditions to take advantage of early Christmas bargains, bringing a sense of festive prosperity to the city despite the recession.

Grosvenor Shopping Centre general manager Julie Webb said that, even though the centre had a shaky start to the year, 2010 ended on a high.

She explained: “We lost 11 traders in six months through insolvency and while we set about replacing those, it seemed like every time we signed a new tenant we lost another.

“I have been in shopping centre management for more than 20 years and I have never known anything like it.

“But we still finished up 1.87% across 2010 against 2009.

“We are also now almost at full occupancy and 2010 saw new names like APPY Feet, Baron John Menswear, Gift Box, Mimco, Whitewall and Mococo and enquiry levels for shop units is growing stronger again.

“It’s quite a turnaround.”

Christmas trading as a whole in the Grosvenor Shopping Centre was successful with the December period seeing a 3% increase in footfall on 2009.

Neil Parnell, the General Manager of Marks & Spencer, Foregate Street, said Christmas sales in the store were up 5% on 2009, placing it in the top 15% of M&S shops in the country.

“We looked like breaking all Christmas records up until the heavy snow and freezing weather but a 5% increase on 2009 was a great effort by everyone.

“Looking back we made a conscious decision to get involved in the city and work with city management.

“The results of that, with Free After 3 and the new Chestival programme, made a big difference to not only our figures but also the way we and other retailers feel about the city in which we trade – there is a real feeling of optimism around, that wasn’t evident three years ago.”

Restaurants, too, had a good year.

Bar Lounge, in Watergate Street, celebrated a very special 2010 with record customer levels.

Operations manager John Welsh said: “There is no doubt that the city as whole has been busier this year and the buzz throughout the Food and Drink festival, Chestival, Theatre in the Park and the Winter Wonderland just down the road has meant we have had plenty of customers to work with on our many different offers.”