I COULD have almost been convinced of the existence of cloud cuckoo land, or cloud pigeon land, reading Janet Alty opining, "we are at the end of the retail era" (Postbag, last week).
Will she sport a sandwich board on the Parade proclaiming "The End of the Retail World is Nigh"?
If so, this is bad news indeed for those retailers who as reported are having misgivings about the BID initiative - whose only benefit I can see is t
o provide employment for Helen Smith.
Leamington has been lucky for the past years, in that it has benefited from the paucity and quality of shopping in the surrounding towns. That era is fast coming to an end. New developments are currently taking place in Stratford, Kenilworth and Rugby, which will reinvigorate their town centres.
Add Solihill, Birmingham and, most importantly, Coventry where something like a billion pounds is to be spent on transforming the city centre, then Leamington will have a real fight on its hands to remain a major player as a shopping destination.
This won't be achieved by acceding to the demands of the Green Party or the Leamington Society, even though they consider the proposed Chandos Street Development to be the pits. Innovate or die; the first item on the BID agenda should be to pedestrianise the Parade.
This would provide a real fillip, and vastly enhance the shopping experience. It would also give BID a real selling point to attract the shoppers, most of whom have to drive on expensive petrol. They are increasingly discerning about where they spend their money. Speciality shops are fine, but they won't provide the footfall for major retailers. - Graham Beattie, Odingsel Drive, Long Itchington.
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