Two more big names to close in town centre mall (From The Bolton News)

What a wonderful thriving town Bolton is, it seems to me that these businesses are fleeing Bolton and relocating where they can actually make a profit. I hope all the people that have been putting their ticks in labours & Clifford's box are happy to see what they have done for you and in particular Bolton? This self serving rabble need voting out, sooner rather than later!

And still Keith Davies has a job....he has presided over the decline of the Town Centre, and still remains employed. As a Director he'll be being paid about £120k a year ... I would love to see Sean's apprasial when it's done, what exactly has he achieved? how many of last year's objectives have been met?? Maybe his objective was to bring more pound shops and pawnbrokers to Bolton? It can't have been to bring any investment is, and this is something he's not managed to do for many years.

The mall’s former Topshop branch was closed last year,

Very American !
Don't try to be something your not.
The market hall should be looking at its traditional roots and doing what it did well - being a market.
I seldom go in there at all, what; with the with the replica shops and plastic smiles you get every where, whats the point ?
Send the powers that be on a fact finding mission (funded by councillor morris) to Budapest central market to see how a market should be run.
Food outlets selling traditional foods, farmers selling produce and most importantly small business's being there and not multinational companies who don't give a hoot about the town.
bring it on !

My predictions on the next closures:
1. Republic
2. Beales
3. Wilkinsons
(By the end of 2014)

Bolton town centre - a shadow of its former self and a victim of the Councils globalisation policy.

Encouragement needed for small businesses.

questionairre wrote:
The mall’s former Topshop branch was closed last year,

Very American !
Don't try to be something your not.
The market hall should be looking at its traditional roots and doing what it did well - being a market.
I seldom go in there at all, what; with the with the replica shops and plastic smiles you get every where, whats the point ?
Send the powers that be on a fact finding mission (funded by councillor morris) to Budapest central market to see how a market should be run.
Food outlets selling traditional foods, farmers selling produce and most importantly small business's being there and not multinational companies who don't give a hoot about the town.
bring it on !

absolutely agree - Bolton should build on whatever strengths it has rather than trying to be what it is not ...

This is going to be going round and round ie the fewer better shops means fewer customers going into Bolton which means - guess what!

The "THEN Bolton Council should have listened to the "THEN PETITIONERS" Who voted to keep the MARKET HALL THE WAY IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN KEPT, With all the stalls intact, that way Bolton Market Hall would have survived. Did they listen, Did they heck now here's the result... Happy Now are you.... :-((((((

steveG wrote:
Bolton town centre - a shadow of its former self and a victim of the Councils globalisation policy.

Encouragement needed for small businesses.

I tried to set up a small business and wanted to lease one of the small pod shops at the octagon car park and the guy at the council said they were all let even though 4 were empty (2 years ago) and they are mostly still empty now and I get the same answer each time I ask.

Definitely Encouragement needed for small businesses.

Now if only Tonka Morris would resign.......

Well it is cheaper and sometime quicker to drive to the Trafford centre to do my shopping, than pay a king’s ransom to park in Bolton, after waiting in a traffic jam for an age just to get in to town. If shopping out of town is killing Bolton town centre then I am “guilty”. However the politicians there consultants and there advisers WHO WE THE TAX PAYER ARE FUNDING OUT OF OUR MONEY) at local and nationwide level need to take a good look at themselves. WE NEED IN THIS TOWN CENTER 4000 MORE FREE PARKING SPACES. WE NEED THE A666 BLACKBURN/ TONG MORE ROAD BYPASS TO BE BUILT ASAP, WE NEED TO SCRAP THE DEAN ROAD AND DERBY STREET BUS LANES AND THE PARKING BAYS AND PUT IN MORE LANES FOR PEOPLE TO DRIVE IN! ASLO GETTING RID OF THE OVER OFFICAS PARKING ATENDANTS MIGHT MAKE THE TOWN CENTER MORE ATTRACTIVE TO SHOPERS.

Morris is doing what the Third Reich failed to do in WW11.He's laying waste to Bolton,demoralizing the people and totaly destroying a once proud heritage.I don't know who once quoted about words falling on deaf ears(Churchhill,Caes
ar) or some one like that but they probably had scumone like Morris in mind.Shame on you.

We all - the people of Bolton - said this would be a white elephant; it has turned out to be so.

Shame on Bolton Council, who ignored the wishes of the people so blatantly. How very socialist, in the most traditional, Soviet-bloc sense.

Adam's, La Senza, MK1, Body Shop and Top Man to name but a few, are there any units currently in use in the Market Hall?

It's gonna be pretty crappy shopping in Bolton soon!

The unit formerly occupied by Jane Norman is still empty. Still miss looking at furniture and paintings at 'Sumners', how handy it was to nip to Oxendales to get a key cut, 'Breightmet Electrics' to grab a lightbulb, Scowcrofts with all the beautiful baby clothes displayed and the unit that sold luggage and bags, finishing with a cuppa and a sandwich at 'Cafe Boulevard'.

Departures in the last 12 - 24 months - 'Early Learning Centre' 'Sweetens' bookshop, the little trinket shop next door to the Man and Scythe - all gone.

For a nostalgia trip take a peek on 'Youtube - Bolton Town Centre 1992 - how much nicer and cleaner Bolton looked back then.

Look at the long gone shops - Richards, Etam, Tammy Girl, Paris Touch, Hanburys, Serendipitys, Kew House etc., also , Hick Hargreaves & Co., The Water Place, how different the town looks now, especially Newport Street which always looks grubby apart from the 'Olympus' which is a credit to the area.

Maybe Bolton should have had an elected Mayor - not one from a political party but someone with excellent business acumen and a strong commitment to turn around this now woeful town centre, I think the gentleman from the Olympus chip shop would have been an ideal choice.

I hardly shop in Bolton now, and no wonder. In my 20s and I myself miss the old market place. There is hardly anything left in the town now. I mostly go to Trafford Centre, only about 25 minutes if that in the car with free parking or just get a train or drive to Manchester. I went in Bolton a few weeks ago and left within 45 minutes, there is just nothing much apart from pound shops and cheap tacky shops. Sorry Bolton my shopping and credit card goes elsewhere.

AdeleTeresa wrote:
It's gonna be pretty crappy shopping in Bolton soon!

crappy shopping in Bolton soon you say! where have you been hibernating these past few years? shopping in Bolton has been crap since they shut down .the market hall and revamped the out door market..I am Bolton born and bred.love the area around my home town . Unfortunately the town center is an embarrassing eyesore ,stinking of fast food stalls ,litter along with gum stains dotted all over the precinct .

Did the Bolton News ask the powers that be in City Hall for a quote on the latest closers ? Their silence is deafening.

It isn't all the Councils fault, we are as much to blame as we are the ones shopping on the internet. Granted, the parking Police have a lot to answer for and driven (ha!) many a shopper away to where it's free to park.
Manchester used to have free parking on Sundays which was great but not any more, the City is a ghost town Sundays but will any of them learn?
NCP has built a staggering amount of parking places in Bolton since the introduction of the parking Police, it makes you wonder, have we been slowly herded like sheep?

I'm going to be a little controversial and suggest that once people have had to made further cutbacks, to include cars and petrol use that the inaccessible Trafford Centre will start to see decline in use from those who can more easily get a 'lift' to town.
Internet shopping is definitely here to stay, but as crime rises on deliveries, we will probably see increased costs in deliveries to guarantee goods arriving to cover insurance, and it will become 'cheaper' to click and collect locally.
So, contrary to those who think the town centre is dead, I am expecting to see a lot more activity.
I also regret the demise of the old market hall, and miss some of the stalls that left Bolton.
If landlords invest in start ups we may start to see a more interesting high street than the homogeonised non-boutique, "same old same old" Trafford Centre.
I wonder if Mary Portas would be interested?

It is still not to late for a criminal enquirey into the demise of the icon, the Bolton market hall,someone over stepped their authority and should be investigated .

Signs should be put up on all the roads leading into Bolton "CLOSED FOR BUSINESS UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE"

It would save people from afar driving into the town only to find half of the shops empty and traffic wardens waiting to jump out of doorways to put tickets on cars two minutes over the meter time.
Its about time someone in the council done something about the situation and started earning their salary, instead of just putting in the hours waiting for their big pension date.

dougie kay wrote:

AdeleTeresa wrote:
It's gonna be pretty crappy shopping in Bolton soon!

crappy shopping in Bolton soon you say! where have you been hibernating these past few years? shopping in Bolton has been crap since they shut down .the market hall and revamped the out door market..I am Bolton born and bred.love the area around my home town . Unfortunately the town center is an embarrassing eyesore ,stinking of fast food stalls ,litter along with gum stains dotted all over the precinct .

OK crappy-er then LOL I still like our market though =)

Can you read Cliff? What does it take.

I rent an office which is a stone's throw from the market place, and a few days ago my landlord told me how much he has to pay more money for the rates on the small building (on a street where half of the business property is empty). I was GOBSMACKED how much the rates were. I had a guess, and I was out by over 400%!!! How are businesses supposed to thrive in this environment?

Business Rates on all properties are NOT set by Bolton council but by Central government - only Bolton council collects the rates and then sends them on to London to be redistributed - very akin to the EU project! Then, of course, there is building rents which are set by the various private Landlords who are there to make profit at any cost!!!

But since I last visted the town centre - over 6 years ago, I noticed that Dixons has also gone, as well as the well advertised retreat of various national chain-stores. The town centre is a complete mess, an eye-sore and very unwelcomining.

But let us not worry about it as its all under control and our privilieged know best and are doing their best for the town and probably have something to surprise us with (excluding the new Bus Station and the Market redevelopment). As Cllr Morris says the town centre is a thriving cognate of the borough - one thing I do need to ask, though, where can I buy the same sand and hard drugs that Cllr Morris uses everyday to escape the reality of the dying town???

BWFC71 wrote:
Business Rates on all properties are NOT set by Bolton council but by Central government - only Bolton council collects the rates and then sends them on to London to be redistributed - very akin to the EU project! Then, of course, there is building rents which are set by the various private Landlords who are there to make profit at any cost!!!

But since I last visted the town centre - over 6 years ago, I noticed that Dixons has also gone, as well as the well advertised retreat of various national chain-stores. The town centre is a complete mess, an eye-sore and very unwelcomining.

But let us not worry about it as its all under control and our privilieged know best and are doing their best for the town and probably have something to surprise us with (excluding the new Bus Station and the Market redevelopment). As Cllr Morris says the town centre is a thriving cognate of the borough - one thing I do need to ask, though, where can I buy the same sand and hard drugs that Cllr Morris uses everyday to escape the reality of the dying town???

They put something in the tea at the town hall.

Everybody on here knows that the council are killing Bolton, yet they still keep getting voted into power when the local elections come around. Go figure.

Anne says,

Why don't the powers that be go on a fact finding mission to Bury and Wigan
What are they doing that Bolton is not
We cannot sit back in apathy and watch our town centre destroyed
As is the case of Smithills Coaching House
Come on people of Bolton,instead of individual moans, lets be of one voice

I was waiting for a friend in Bolton Town centre last November, I sat and watched Councillor Cliff Morris walking round looking at the shop fronts with a plainly bored look on his face before waddling off back to the sanctuary of the Town Hall. Just as he went Hmv was robbed by a couple of hoodies, nobody even bothered to chase the culprits. We have all failed our town centre from the very top people to the bottom of the pile who hang about on the Town Hall steps, smoking, swearing and spitting. Where has the pride gone?

It's obvious our concillors walk around this town with their eyes closed parts of Bradshawgate is an embarrasment with boarded up shops, graffiti and broken pavements.

Albinosupport I welcome your comments about the Town Hall area (Victoria Square) I was the victim of being hit in the face by a ball by IDIOTS playing football in a Civic square. Let alone all the skateboarders who have their own place to demonstrate their moranic behaviour It seems they want to impose it on everyone else.
Lets put it this way Bolton is SH*T.

When the councillors come out of the ivory tower and stop behaving like idiots. The Rock in Bury is a true testament to how things should be done.

Bolton wants city status? Bolton has a long long way to go.

sunfun wrote:
Well it is cheaper and sometime quicker to drive to the Trafford centre to do my shopping, than pay a king’s ransom to park in Bolton, after waiting in a traffic jam for an age just to get in to town. If shopping out of town is killing Bolton town centre then I am “guilty”. However the politicians there consultants and there advisers WHO WE THE TAX PAYER ARE FUNDING OUT OF OUR MONEY) at local and nationwide level need to take a good look at themselves. WE NEED IN THIS TOWN CENTER 4000 MORE FREE PARKING SPACES. WE NEED THE A666 BLACKBURN/ TONG MORE ROAD BYPASS TO BE BUILT ASAP, WE NEED TO SCRAP THE DEAN ROAD AND DERBY STREET BUS LANES AND THE PARKING BAYS AND PUT IN MORE LANES FOR PEOPLE TO DRIVE IN! ASLO GETTING RID OF THE OVER OFFICAS PARKING ATENDANTS MIGHT MAKE THE TOWN CENTER MORE ATTRACTIVE TO SHOPERS.

Totally agree with these comments. Parking charges are just adding to the sorry mess Bolton is in now.Why bother to drive in on congested, potholed roads, just to park expensively to wander around the town, which just depresses me really; most of the decent shops gone, filthy streets full of rubbish, third rate shops and lets not get onto the people. Most days it seems to resemble some run down1950's Eastern European town. I am old enough to remember when Bolton was a great Northern town, full of atmosphere and life, thronging crowds, great shopping opportunities. ( and that not too long ago either!) Mostly you just didn't need to go to Manchester to get what you needed. Strong competition kept up quality and kept down prices. Our politicians of whatever political cast just seem so inept and incapable of summoning up the energy and ideas to get us out of this horrible rut. I have lived in Egerton for over 25 years and have yet to clap eyes on any of my local councilors, who however always seem to be returned with a healthy majority every few years. . Pigs and blue rosettes spring to mind in our so called semi rural 'suburbs'.Tory cuts haven't helped certainly, but there's something rotten and defeated about the place these last few years. Sadly, Bolton seems to be dying.

The plan for Nelson Square was to pedestrianise it and make it more of a European style square with tables and being able to sit eat and drink when warm (I know very rarely) - so what happened to that idea?

The plan was to create a Trafford Centre style shopping centre (long before The Trafford Centre) behind Victoria Hall and have a cultural part leading on to it - whatever happened to than plan?

There was plan for an entertainment zone with cinemas, swimming pool (Water Place style), skating, lazer quest etc - whatever happened to that idea?

There was a plan to rejuenate Church Wharf and Churchgate into a "Castlefield" tyoe area with accomodation and stylish bars (not the more recent idea of retail untes, shops and apartments but one dating back 20-25 years) what happened to that idea.

If all of teh above had taken place then all areas off the town would have been rejuventaed and the demise would probably be nowhere near as bad as it currently is - there is a demise of the high street in the whole of the UK but some towns are being clever in what they do, whereas Bolton are doing sweet FA and have no back-up plan!

Bolron just seem to bulldoze history, sell off its assets that attract people and cancel practices such as The Bolton Show.

questionairre wrote:
The mall’s former Topshop branch was closed last year,

Very American !
Don't try to be something your not.
The market hall should be looking at its traditional roots and doing what it did well - being a market.
I seldom go in there at all, what; with the with the replica shops and plastic smiles you get every where, whats the point ?
Send the powers that be on a fact finding mission (funded by councillor morris) to Budapest central market to see how a market should be run.
Food outlets selling traditional foods, farmers selling produce and most importantly small business's being there and not multinational companies who don't give a hoot about the town.
bring it on !

They took the heart out of bolton when they redeveloped the market hall.Why when something isnt broken do these idiots come along and attempt to mend it Give the people what they want not what some overpaid not got a clue council think they should have

More and more boarded up shops in the Town centre and the council don't seem to be interested in trying to attract investment. Or have they given up? The more shops that shut means fewer people will be going into the centre, which means more shops will shut. What is needed is a viable long term strategy to turn this mess around, but I can't see it coming from this lot in power. Who voted this lot in? Lets get rid of them ASAP and vote for people with drive and integrity, who will do their best!!

Additional. If there was a regeneration plan, wouldn't it help the local economy and create jobs??

peggy08 wrote:

questionairre wrote:
The mall’s former Topshop branch was closed last year,

Very American !
Don't try to be something your not.
The market hall should be looking at its traditional roots and doing what it did well - being a market.
I seldom go in there at all, what; with the with the replica shops and plastic smiles you get every where, whats the point ?
Send the powers that be on a fact finding mission (funded by councillor morris) to Budapest central market to see how a market should be run.
Food outlets selling traditional foods, farmers selling produce and most importantly small business's being there and not multinational companies who don't give a hoot about the town.
bring it on !

They took the heart out of bolton when they redeveloped the market hall.Why when something isnt broken do these idiots come along and attempt to mend it Give the people what they want not what some overpaid not got a clue council think they should have

The Council sold the market Hall for a one-off lump sum. They actually sold the Freehold to the land as well!!!!

The Market Hall was a steady, if not much, income and was viable as the building had only just been done up within teh 10 years previous and would have lasted for a few more decades before any other major investment to the building.

And to sell the freehold, instead of creating a Leasehold and gaining an income that way - that was complete stupidity on behalf of the council!


This is coming from the Labour run council who re-introduced weekly bin collections to get the vote to stay in and then froze the Council Tax for a year, again to gain teh vote - whats happened since rises in teh council tax and the impending removal of the weekly bin collections. The council leaders are shysters and ought to be removed as soon as possible.

Bring on the revolution!!!

sunfun wrote:
Well it is cheaper and sometime quicker to drive to the Trafford centre to do my shopping, than pay a king’s ransom to park in Bolton, after waiting in a traffic jam for an age just to get in to town. If shopping out of town is killing Bolton town centre then I am “guilty”. However the politicians there consultants and there advisers WHO WE THE TAX PAYER ARE FUNDING OUT OF OUR MONEY) at local and nationwide level need to take a good look at themselves. WE NEED IN THIS TOWN CENTER 4000 MORE FREE PARKING SPACES. WE NEED THE A666 BLACKBURN/ TONG MORE ROAD BYPASS TO BE BUILT ASAP, WE NEED TO SCRAP THE DEAN ROAD AND DERBY STREET BUS LANES AND THE PARKING BAYS AND PUT IN MORE LANES FOR PEOPLE TO DRIVE IN! ASLO GETTING RID OF THE OVER OFFICAS PARKING ATENDANTS MIGHT MAKE THE TOWN CENTER MORE ATTRACTIVE TO SHOPERS.

How can it be "cheaper and quicker" .. I don't know which part of Bolton you live in that will get you in a longer waiting traffic Jam to the Town Centre compared to a busy motorway for one ..Two you are spending more on petrol and three, every time I go to the trafford Centre it's packed out!, Face it..The economy is not due to it being "Bolton" it's due to the fact that we are a small Town and not a City like Manchester/Preston London etc ..who can keep businesses thriving for longer due to having more people living there, it's down to circumstances like people preferring to buy online or going onto ebay, I've more than once bought something from a top high street store for way more than half it's price, so why go buy for top whack in Town? also prices everywhere have gone up (rent etc) and we don't have dole dossers spending anymore cos there payments have gone down for housing benefit n tax

btw ...Does anyone know how much rent The Market Place charges for it's unit's :o...no wonder many businesses are failing here ..it's astronomical

BWFC71 wrote:
The plan for Nelson Square was to pedestrianise it and make it more of a European style square with tables and being able to sit eat and drink when warm (I know very rarely) - so what happened to that idea?

The plan was to create a Trafford Centre style shopping centre (long before The Trafford Centre) behind Victoria Hall and have a cultural part leading on to it - whatever happened to than plan?

There was plan for an entertainment zone with cinemas, swimming pool (Water Place style), skating, lazer quest etc - whatever happened to that idea?

There was a plan to rejuenate Church Wharf and Churchgate into a "Castlefield" tyoe area with accomodation and stylish bars (not the more recent idea of retail untes, shops and apartments but one dating back 20-25 years) what happened to that idea.

If all of teh above had taken place then all areas off the town would have been rejuventaed and the demise would probably be nowhere near as bad as it currently is - there is a demise of the high street in the whole of the UK but some towns are being clever in what they do, whereas Bolton are doing sweet FA and have no back-up plan!

Bolron just seem to bulldoze history, sell off its assets that attract people and cancel practices such as The Bolton Show.

I'll tell you what happened to those plans.. MONEY! They spent WAY over budget on everything that didn't need to be changed! .. The original old style market made the Town unique, with tons of good stores that where purse friendly, we're not a City like Manchester and can't afford the up-market stores that they introduced, so many don't even venture into them! We are still very much set in our old ways and there is nothing wrong with that!..The Arch thing near the Train Station...WTH is that!? .. Why is it needed and why the hell was so much money wasted on it?! .,. it's ridiculous and does nothing for the Town whatsoever. they could of spent the money wisely on so many things but alas they wasted it.. There is nothing in the Town Centre entertainment wise anymore, the Cinemas has moved to either The Valley (which is so out of the way for many and in an area which feels dangerous to go to at night) ..laser quest went the Swimming Baths went .. all we have now is over priced trash and way too many cafes!, which probably hands down make more money than all the shops combined.

The heart of Bolton town centre has not been the same since the Market Hall was changed......who actually uses it? it used to be the place you get anything and enjoy walking around , now it is used as a cut through to go else where, it is a pity,if the people of Bolton had been listened to and the choice had been from them we would have a good Market Hall now. It is sad to say but Bury seems to have got the mix right of old and new and kept the heart of the town.

Leon.Riley wrote:
btw ...Does anyone know how much rent The Market Place charges for it's unit's :o...no wonder many businesses are failing here ..it's astronomical

Best asking Grosvenor Estates as its them Bolton sold its town centre heart to.

flatten the Whole cr@p hole.... writing was on the wall after Talibs and stolen from Ivor went....

dougie kay wrote:

AdeleTeresa wrote:
It's gonna be pretty crappy shopping in Bolton soon!

crappy shopping in Bolton soon you say! where have you been hibernating these past few years? shopping in Bolton has been crap since they shut down .the market hall and revamped the out door market..I am Bolton born and bred.love the area around my home town . Unfortunately the town center is an embarrassing eyesore ,stinking of fast food stalls ,litter along with gum stains dotted all over the precinct .

I couldn't agree more. When they changed the market hall and outdoor market they ripped out the soul of Bolton. Not shopped here in years and won't do again while there are much more interesting towns like chorley, Bury and Preston to go to.