Boots relocating in Kidderminster

8:20am Wednesday 13th June 2012 in Local Photograph of the Author By Cadisha Brown

Relocating: Boots in kidderminster. Buy this photo » Relocating: Boots in kidderminster.

BOOTS in Kidderminster will be moving to another location in the town centre.

The health and beauty retailer will be relocating from the Swan Centre to Weavers Wharf.

Bosses are remaining tight-lipped on exactly where in Weavers Wharf the store will be but the news comes as shoe shop Brantano is closing down.

A Boots spokesman said: "As the UK's leading pharmacy-led health and beauty retailer we want to ensure our stores are conveniently located to allow easy access to our products and services.

"As our current lease for the store located in Swan Centre is coming to an end, the Weavers Wharf development is an exciting opportunity for us to relocate our store to a preferred location for customers. Our colleagues are excited about the move and looking forward to welcoming customers to the new store later this year."

Comments(20)

davewal says...
10:16am Wed 13 Jun 12

I hope the town centre/ weavers wharf manager had nothing to do with this as it is the nail in the coffin for the rest of town. Such a shame.

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FranOb says...
3:19pm Wed 13 Jun 12

Totally agree an awful move.

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neilhar says...
6:53pm Wed 13 Jun 12

The problem with Weavers Wharf is the car park. It never should have been a car park at all. This needs to be our town square. For markets, events, christmas and other community and town centre growth. Make them all walk through town from the now mainly empty car parks in Bromsgrove st.

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kidderlord says...
9:46pm Wed 13 Jun 12

Perhaps if the swan centre management had not turned the centre into a street market, with two of the three exits from Boots being surrounded by chesap stalls, Boots may have stayed where they were.

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kidderman says...
10:21pm Wed 13 Jun 12

@ Kidderlord What are chesap stalls?

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Cynical Sid says...
11:49pm Wed 13 Jun 12

FranOb wrote:
Totally agree an awful move.
Err …wake up! It makes commercial sense to move from somewhere that is surrounded by chip shops, betting shops, cheap tacky shops and general ugly surroundings to some place that is a bit more ‘pleasing on the eye’ . The town centre is dead and whoever is responsible for looking after it should be sacked.

Neilhar …. Im most shocked that I actually agree with you! Weavers Warf should be the next German Market. Imagine that!

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kidderlord says...
12:55am Thu 14 Jun 12

i meant cheap as in tacky and like a market

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HowardM says...
12:23pm Thu 14 Jun 12

Downsizing then? Less goods on offer, lower rent and overheads, another reduction in what is on offer in Kidderminster Town Centre. More reson to shop elsewhere and the downward spiral continues!

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davewal says...
6:26pm Thu 14 Jun 12

The person responsible for the town centre is the weavers wharf manager. Call me cynical but they seem to be doing OK down there! he market stalls bring revenue and more trade into the swan centre. They are usually busier than some of the shops. The problem is there are no national stalls at the top of town. Woolworth's and littlewoods demise unfortunately started the decline of town.

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emjaypee says...
8:58pm Thu 14 Jun 12

Planners should never have allowed the wharf development which has resulted in a two tier town centre. Needs a bold strategy to include demolishing the lower side of Vicar street then re-connecting the wharf to the original town centre all as one.

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wyre forest iritation says...
2:31pm Fri 15 Jun 12

This is yet another kick in the teeth for the town centre. Can anyone blame Boots - no they cannot - what we do though is have an area people will want to shopping to - Weavers Wharf and the cut through to the town centre. The top part of town where Boots currently are and where Woolworths etc were are just decimated further becoming the land of the charity shop. If the person is the same for both areas they should be fighting for the top of town rent free periods the council offering no rates for 12 months - get shops in and build up the area again.
I like the German Market idea though ;-)

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sarah r says...
11:40pm Fri 15 Jun 12

"Cynical Sid says...
11:49pm Wed 13 Jun 12

Err …wake up! It makes commercial sense to move from somewhere that is surrounded by chip shops, betting shops, cheap tacky shops and general ugly surroundings to some place that is a bit more ‘pleasing on the eye’ . The town centre is dead and whoever is responsible for looking after it should be sacked. "
Well said !!!!
I agree whoever is responsible for looking after the town centre should be sacked you cant blame boots for jumping ship blame the council who haven't done a didgeridoo about the empty shops, its disgraceful ,too late to act when all the good shops have lets try acting now less talking and blaming one another for all the things that are rubbish in Kidderminster town centre from you Councillors (on which ever panel it is you made up for looking after the town) more doing

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pottery1 says...
11:53am Sat 16 Jun 12

Perhaps Sarah R would like to tell me how we can solve the problems in Kidderminster Town Centre bearing in mind that this isnt just a Kidderminster problem but a national one too. Working in the Town Centre for nearly 40 years I hate seeing it the way it is now too and the more good, workable suggestions from local people the better. Please bear in mind though that we cannot MAKE shops, bowling alleys, cinemas etc come to Kidderminster if they don't want to

Councillor Helen Dyke

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sarah r says...
12:36pm Sat 16 Jun 12

Mrs Dyke
Give shop owners an incentive!! stop giving into big superstores and help small businesses, try cutting the rates free parking on set days , free refuse collections improving the bus services into town ie Blackwell street, look at whatever weavers wharf are doing and copy it , it may be a national problem but not every town centre in England is like Kidderminster , stop burring your head in the sand blaming a national problem and make Kidderminster be a leader that other towns could copy ,take a look at a solution don't focus on the problem :)

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emjaypee says...
12:42pm Sat 16 Jun 12

surely the greedy landlords could also reduce their rent..... better to have a little of something than a lot of nothing

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HowardM says...
1:35pm Sat 16 Jun 12

I repeat - Boots are reducing their shopfloor space by about 50% - that is the reason - it is about their overheads and running costs. They will have done their homework and decided they can reduce their "offer" to remain viable in Kidderminster. They are a national business who need to be profitable - if the move to Weavers Wharf fails, next stage closure! Its a fact of retail and economic life at the moment - it isnt the fault of Weavers Wharf or the Swan Centre or the Council - its happening all over the country and, generally, we have got off lightly so far - maybe we are just starting to catch up. Just be grateful Boots see enough potential not to quit the town altogether and have decided to give it a second chance!

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pottery1 says...
3:13pm Sat 16 Jun 12

There are already incentives for people wanting to start up trading as smaller independent shops and we advise people of this in whichever way we can. I am not sure how big a help free refuse collections would be as that has never been raised by any of the businesses we have spoken to that I am aware of. You can ask any Councillor of any political party and they will tell you that we all want a much improved bus service for the whole of Wyre Forest and it has been raised at every forum possible but bus companies are a business and will not run services that are not financial viable. Unfortunately the days have gone when the County Council had the extra funds to subsidise any extra bus services.
The larger empty shop units in the town have been caused by chains of shops closing across the country e.g. T J Hughes and Woolworths thats fact, not me being negative.
I work in the Town Centre every day so can hardly bury my head in the sand can I and can assure you that I don't.
One of the main things contributing to high street retail decline is on line shopping as has been discussed before. It might be that Town Centres will have to change to consist of less retail and more other types of usage for them to survive thats whats being worked on at the moment. We are looking for solutions not problems but there are no 5 minute solutions, this will be a long term project which we have all signed up to.

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pottery1 says...
3:26pm Sat 16 Jun 12

Sorry the above post was from Councillor Helen Dyke

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S.Oxford says...
6:35pm Sat 16 Jun 12

Brantano is closing?! Oh no,that's one of the very few shops I always like to visit,shoe shops are hard to come by in some places! So annoying,I won't bother with Kidd Centre at all at this rate.

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oldmanbewdley says...
7:00pm Sun 17 Jun 12

R.I.P Kidderminster town.

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