Town centre avoiding worst of recession, Chron survey shows
Town centre businesses in Northampton appear to be fending off the worst impacts of the recession, according to a survey carried out by the Chronicle & Echo.
At the height of the recession last year, the Chron carried out a survey to find out how many of the town's shops were standing empty.
The figures recorded in April 2009 showed 76 stores – or 16 per cent – were standing empty. Remarkably, the same survey carried out yesterday revealed exactly the same number of storeswere standing empty now.
Grosvenor Centre manager, Sheridan New, who is also deputy chairman of the Northampton Town Centre Partnership, said the survey proved Northampton was remaining stable through the economic crisis.
He said: "In the jaws of one of the toughest recessionsmany people can remember in their lifetimes, I think Northampton is holding up quite well.
"There has been a shift in the kind of shops there are in the town, because people are taking a much more conservative approach to spending, but Northampton seems to be responding well.
In the Grosvenor Centre itself, a number of high profile shops, such as the Zavvi music shop, which was empty last year, have now been filled and other stores, such as Superdry, have opened.
Mr New said: "In the next six weeks we hope we'll be left with only three empty units, so new businesses are coming into Northampton and that shows what people's perception of the town is."
Although the overall number of empty shops in Northampton has remained the same, the latest survey revealed many changes in the shops which are currently trading in the town.
Among the most successful areas was Gold Street, where only nine per cent of shops are currently empty and the Grosvenor Centre, where the figure was only 11 per cent.
Northampton's main high street, Abington Street, remained the same as last year,with 13 empty shops, as did Bridge Street with only three empty.
But some areas have suffered, including the Drapery, which now has 27 per cent of its shops closed, compared to 15 per cent last year.
Meanwhile, Peacock Place, which is due to under-go a revamp soon, has seen its fortunes improve only slightly, with the number of empty shops dropping to 48 per cent, compared to 50 per cent in 2009.
The Chronicle's shop survey shows exactly how many shops are
currently occupied and how many are empty throughout the town centre.
Abington Street: 81 occupied: 13 empty: 14 per cent empty
Gold Street: 53 occupied: 5 empty: 9 per cent empty
Market Square: 23 occupied: 4 empty: 15 per cent empty
St Giles Street: 45 occupied: 9 empty: 17 per cent empty
Grosvenor Centre: 56 occupied: 7 empty: 11 per cent empty
Peacock Place: 14 occupied: 13 empty: 48 per cent empty
Bridge Street: 36 occupied: 3 empty: 8 per cent empty
All Saints area: 16 occupied: 4 empty: 20 per cent empty
The Drapery: 24 occupied: 9 empty: 27 per cent empty
Fish Street: 13 occupied: 2 empty: 13 per cent empty
Sheep Street: 12 occupied: 4 empty: 25 per cent empty
St Peter's Walk: 14 occupied: 3 empty: 18 per cent empty
TOTALS:
387 shops occupied
76 shops empty
16 per cent of the town's shops are empty
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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