The glossy proposal leaflet gives the impression that the council and the supermarket are working to improve our town centre , but it makes no mention of the existing lease. The council rents out the existing site to Sainsburys , originally it was Safeways who got the 175 year lease in 1983 , and then Sainsburys took it on in the 90's.
That lease is under negotiation at present - I would be suprised if the rentalvalue can be continued or increased , the towncentre Sainsburys is (in my opinion) the least attractive site of Eastleigh's 3 supermarkets. Asda is huge and well attended , Tescos has a prime position in the precinct for the quick shop. Sainsburys is zipped up with a bus station, looking miserable, poorley lit - it is not , I imagine , making any money..... I also imagine if Sainsburys quit the council would panic - Have you seen the new store in Portswood >
Of course town centres are dying and supermarkets are largely to blame. A large new development can add footfall to the small retailers - but it can remove it also. Certainly the 18 months of firstly demolition , then construction may well kill the patient - with the loss of a large car park I presume market street will suffer further , are people in Eastleigh really lacking supermarkets or is the council trying to monetize a little slice of the park.
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ReplyDeletedon't think Sainsbury loses money at Eastleigh but I'm sure it is an under-performing site for them. This is because clothing and non food items is the fastest growing part of Sainsbury's business and has the highest margins - but there simply isn't enough floor space in the Eastleigh store.
ReplyDeleteAfter the collapse of Safeway, Morrison’s took it over but looked at the returns and got out quick.
I can't see Sainsbury sharing footfall with the independent retailers.
At the moment they actively discourage this.
Last year my 81 y-old disabled mum made the mistake of parking at Sainsbury’s while doing her shopping there and then going on to visit Costa's and Boots.
When she attempted to leave Sainsbury’s their parking Gestapo tried to bully her into paying £50 for exceeding their 2 hour free parking limit by 11 minutes telling her that she should not use their car park in order to visit other shops.
I'm sure this attitude will prevail and the council are only concerned with the success of their leaseholders the Swan Centre and Sainsbury's. Not only that, but the new Sainsbury’s will have two coffee shops – less reason to sample Eastleigh’s ‘vibrant café culture’ (remember that promise?)
The embarrassing hodgepodge of Charity shops, bookies and kamikaze start-ups that lie between the two sites pay them no rent or rates and can (and will) go to hell in a hand cart as far as the council is concerned.
Sainsbury’s CEO Justin King recently copped flack for suggesting that the 'High St should die' and he also described in the last quarterly report how the chain had been successful in making themselves " the one stop shop for all our customers Christmas needs'” so I don't think local traders can expect too many crumbs from the table.
It's not just small traders that will be threatened but larger town retailers too - ironically including those in the Council's own Swan Centre. Clothing retailers and electrical goods retailers will be vulnerable - I reckon it will be bye-bye Burton and Argos for a start.
It should be noted that the main advantage Asda has over its rivals in Eastleigh is cheap petrol.
Many people fill up while doing the weekly shop – discounted fuel is major draw and loss leader.
Lack of petrol pumps will stymie the potential for the new Town store.
Inclusion of a Petrol Station will kill off one or more of the existing stations on our approach roads.
Finally one last comment on the particularly mendacious and disingenuous propaganda being distributed by the Council, Lib Dems and Sainsbury's. Recent research by the Financial Mail revealed the big supermarkets were very good at promising new jobs while chasing planning permission but not so hot at following through.
According to the Newspaper Sainsbury's promised to create an extra 15,000 jobs between 2008 -2010 but only actually came up with an extra 800.
No mention in all the blurb of the potential job losses either.