OT Rotherham town centre "has too many shops"

There has to be a complete rethink about town centres across the country, the problem isn't exclusive to Rotherham.
We have to accept that we're never going to compete with meadowhall, change the way the town centre is used, as said, have a shopping quarter, get a cinema/restaurants in and have an entertainment quarter, fill the 'empty' buildings then with housing/apartments...

just a thought!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by loyalmiller

I noticed the shop that used to be Mallinsons - between Staniforths and the RBS bank - being renovated, anyone know what that's going to be?

---

The building was bought at auction last year. Upper floors are being converted into flats. That's where the money seems to be.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by millmoormagic

There has to be a complete rethink about town centres across the country, the problem isn't exclusive to Rotherham.
We have to accept that we're never going to compete with meadowhall, change the way the town centre is used, as said, have a shopping quarter, get a cinema/restaurants in and have an entertainment quarter, fill the 'empty' buildings then with housing/apartments...

just a thought!

---

Exactly right.

Traditional town centres with lots of small units will always struggle to match either places like Meadowhall (where there's a far wider range and it's rain proof with free parking) or Parkgate (where the units are so much bigger that the individual stores have wider ranges).

For a small town centre to be successful, it needs to move away from being a retail centre and move towards one that's multi-use. Get people in there to go to do other stuff and they'll shop at the same time (even if it's just bits and bobs). Get