Karlos- Location: Dover
- Registered: 1 Oct 2012
- Posts: 2,599
#1
Shocking news for the town centre.
http://www.kentonline.co.uk/east_kent_mercury/news/ms-will-replace-eyesore-10016/
Dover High Street will lose retail giants Marks and Spencer, as the food and clothes chain it is set to replace Burlington House.
The retailer has signed up to lease a massive 16,000 sq ft Simply Food shop and café in Townwall Street.
The eyesore is set to be demolished in 2015 as part of the Dover Town Investment Zone development of the St James'area.
Dover District Council leader Paul Watkins believes the deal will "open the door to further investment as other retailers follow suit."
An M&S spokesperson said: "As part of the St James's regeneration M&S will be opening a food store.
"It is important for us to remain in Dover so this is a relocation rather than a closure.
"There is still that option to order on the internet and collect it from the store."Guest 715- Registered: 9 Jun 2011
- Posts: 2,438
#2
To lose the versitality of a "proper" M&S for a food only cannot be a good thing for the people of Dover.
Audere est facere.
Guest 641- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 2,335
#3
Shocking news indeed
Are they going to close before the new store opens? The loss of such a prestigious retail outlet as M & S is a terrible blow, it seems that it's not just a move as they are opening a Simply Food outlet.
So the nearest Marks & Spencer store for clothing and household wares will be Canterbury.
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
#4
one of their staff told me that they would stay in their current location until their lease runs out in 2016.
Karlos- Location: Dover
- Registered: 1 Oct 2012
- Posts: 2,599
#5
It says that M&S is replacing Burlington House. Will it be in the same position?
It also says "The eyesore is set to be demolished in 2015" A long time in the future and not very specific.
How does a "massive" 16000sq ft compare to the current shop?
Deal also has an M&S.
Guest 697- Registered: 13 Apr 2010
- Posts: 622
#6
This is a major investment by M&S and more good news for the St James's development. Retail is a dynamic industry and this plan is in line with the current M&S strategy to focus on food. Their current Dover store stays open until their new store opens in 2016.
Guest 697- Registered: 13 Apr 2010
- Posts: 622
#7
Fact - St James's development is in Dover town centre!
Guest 655- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 10,247
#8
Kevin is right.
This has been on the cards for a while - I heard sometime back that they were looking at the DTIZ and if they did not go there we would end up losing them all together.
Personally I am sad that it seems clothing will be lost at M&S but we need to look on the positive side.
Guest 697- Registered: 13 Apr 2010
- Posts: 622
#9
M&S have a loyal following in Dover and they have been in the town for over 100 years. Retail is a dynamic industry and I'm sure they'll listen to customers and develop their offer over time.
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
#10
i must to admit to being surprised when they closed their folkestone store and kept our one open, bit of a bonus as people from folkestone and capel then came in to dover to shop.
i have always thought that they may be the anchor store for the new development if all the right cards were played.
when the amendment to the planning application on the dtiz came through a few months back with a very detailed enlargement of an important section i thought to myself - a big and serious player here.
with regard to clothing they seem to have missed the boat in recent years and look extremely outdated and i have no doubt that a go ahead, cheaper fashion retailer will jump into the empty store when it becomes vacant.
Guest 938- Registered: 13 May 2013
- Posts: 36
#11
So dose this mean that the new development will now be built around M&S In Burlington House and the Bloody eye sore has to stay someone is getting a lot out of this another 20 years to wait, why not turn St James into a container park and use them for Affordable housing cant see it being developed in my life time.
Guest 697- Registered: 13 Apr 2010
- Posts: 622
#12
The plans are based on Burlington House not being there!
Judith Roberts- Registered: 15 May 2012
- Posts: 637
#13
I think a lot of people have been expecting M&S to close for a long time. The clothing offering there is pretty poor. A new M&S food store at the new development might tempt other more contemporary clothing retailers into the St James development. Or am I seeing it through rose coloured spectacles because it might mean BH really is coming down.....
Guest 697- Registered: 13 Apr 2010
- Posts: 622
#14
I think you're spot on, Judith. Although they are having a tough time with their fashion ranges, M&S are still a major draw on the high street and where they develop new stores others will follow. Combined with the 6-screen Cineworld and restaurants, M&S will be key anchor tenants to draw in other big name retailers. All the retail units in the St James's development are bigger than anything we currently have in the town, so I see this as very much complementing the existing high street and drawing in those retailers who want larger units.
Karlos- Location: Dover
- Registered: 1 Oct 2012
- Posts: 2,599
#15
I haven't seen this website mentioned before.
http://www.stjamesdover.co.uk/
Here's a plan of the site.
http://www.stjamesdover.co.uk/#!the-scheme/cb3i
Is M&S unit 1A? Must be because in the brouchure 1A is 16000 sq ft
http://media.wix.com/ugd/a5f1fe_33ccf3d270fc48c698ab87696ceb8c7d.pdf
I suppose 2B & 4B are the food outlets attached to the cinema?
Guest 656- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 2,262
#16
Such a shame to hear this, I love having an M&S here in Dover. Of course their range of clothing is not as bountiful as the one in Canterbury but one can often find some suitable attire there & it's great to be able to pick up online bookings there too.I hope they have a change of heart & open an even bigger store than they have presently in Dover. In my opinion it would make good business sense to do so in a spanking new development such as ours which will be the talk of the town & the wider community
Guest 717- Registered: 16 Jun 2011
- Posts: 468
#17
Karlos: I'm sorry this is off topic but what a pleasure it was to open up a topic and see something that's more than a link!! I don't post on here very often anymore. Mostly because I am so sick of seeing an interesting title and opening it up to find a link. Forum is becoming a research facility more than a discussion board.
On topic: let's hope M&S do re-open as they say. Best food around.
Keeps politics to myself
Guest 697- Registered: 13 Apr 2010
- Posts: 622
#18
To clarify Helen, M&S have announced that their current store will remain open until 2016 when they move to a brand new, 16,000 sq. ft. store in the St James's development.
Guest 715- Registered: 9 Jun 2011
- Posts: 2,438
#19
Helen T wrote:Karlos: I'm sorry this is off topic but what a pleasure it was to open up a topic and see something that's more than a link!! I don't post on here very often anymore. Mostly because I am so sick of seeing an interesting title and opening it up to find a link. Forum is becoming a research facility more than a discussion board.
On topic: let's hope M&S do re-open as they say. Best food around.
Good to see you posting Helen, have to agree the links are becoming tedious to say the least, I view a lot of time using 3G on my phone and do not bother to open many of the links.
Audere est facere.
Guest 698- Registered: 28 May 2010
- Posts: 8,664
#20
Totally agree with Martin and Helen about links in threads. I occasionally open a link to a newspaper website if the topic is of interest, but usually not. Links to youtube files, absolutely not under any circumstances.
We don't buy M&S food, we use Aylesham butcher for meat and Dover market Tues/Sat for fruit & veg, and in an emergency Aldi. Cheese from Gibsons farm shop at Crockshard. Herbs and exotic fruit/veg from Dumbrells in Canterbury.
I'm an optimist. But I'm an optimist who takes my raincoat - Harold Wilson
