New Wick Retail Park

[ploo251]

Everything seems to have gone quiet with the new retail park next to Tesco in Wick. I know their planning permission was approved a few months back but I have not noticed any building starting yet. Has anyone heard any of the retailers who are going to be opening stores there?

[Sapphire2803]

I'm not sure that anyone actuallyknows anything about this. I've heard all sorts of rumours about B&Q, Matalan, Next, KFC and more that I can't remember. But I think they are just that... rumours and conjecture.
We'll have to wait and see :(

[STUDMUFFIN]

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm kfc.

[riggerboy]

asda asda asda comin til week yipee, forget the west side lol

[northener]

Alas, Riggerboy, I'm pretty certain the development at Wick categorically excludes any more Supermarkets.

[JAWS]

Hopefully the McDonalds are coming!

[Highland Laddie]

Hopefully the McDonalds are coming!

Would that be the Mcdonalds fast food outlet
or the Mcdonalds the singing brothers.:)

[plank]

asda asda asda comin til week yipee, forget the west side lol


I beleive the ASDA boss's flew in the other week in their private jet, were they measuring up I wonder!

More traffic on the roads though when it does open, bad enough now trying to get out of Tescos sometimes.

--
Plank

[Macwull]

It stated in the planning permission there would be no food outlets, must be to try and get it granted as they would not be stealing custom away from the town centre and people visiting these stores MAY? go into the town for food, where in reality most prob go home!! !!

So sorry i doubt there'l b a McDonalds,KFC,BK,Subway,Pizza Hut etc...

[rfr10]

Apparently they are now putting the water mains in for the new retail complex in Wick so it can't be long before they start. Hopefully.

Anyone actually know which retailers are going into the units . Last I heard was in the papers saying that they would not be announced yet.

More shops for Wick? Are you one of those people against it or do you think it's another great step forward in attracting people to Wick?

[Coggy]

Best of luck with a new retail complex, this will mean all the shops in Wick that provided a service for the folks in Wick will close and be replaced with identikit shops that don't give two hoots for the place they are in.

[riggerboy]

It stated in the planning permission there would be no food outlets, must be to try and get it granted as they would not be stealing custom away from the town centre and people visiting these stores MAY? go into the town for food, where in reality most prob go home!! !!

So sorry i doubt there'l b a McDonalds,KFC,BK,Subway,Pizza Hut etc...

yes that is quite correct, however in the local paper it states 4 non food outlets and 1 other, does that mean the 1 other is a food outlet ???

[BIG A]

ASDA are still looking at a few sites in Caithness but all on the Wick side of the county.

[riggerboy]

ASDA are still looking at a few sites in Caithness but all on the Wick side of the county.

alas some else with the correct information

[BRIE]

Hopefully the McDonalds are coming!

wouldnt have put you as a macdonalds fan jaws! prefer burgerking myself but im hoping for a Pizzahut! yummy.

[ashaw1]

MM Miller were at the site a couple of weeks ago. If you look at the plans for the development it's 1 large shop with garden centre joined on which looks remarkably like a B&Q the 3 other shops are all very much smaller. I know B&Q Warehouses(larger retail shops) are springing up everywhere right now so it wouldn't surprise me!

[Hibeechick]

Best of luck with a new retail complex, this will mean all the shops in Wick that provided a service for the folks in Wick will close and be replaced with identikit shops that don't give two hoots for the place they are in.

Im not certainly not closing because of it.

[riggerboy]

MM Miller were at the site a couple of weeks ago. If you look at the plans for the development it's 1 large shop with garden centre joined on which looks remarkably like a B&Q the 3 other shops are all very much smaller. I know B&Q Warehouses(larger retail shops) are springing up everywhere right now so it wouldn't surprise me!

dobies garden center (owned by tesco) is 1

[bekisman]

For those who are outwith the area of the JOG journal, further info was in the 21st March edition, it mentions non-food outlets so bang goes some folks hopes!...
National stores coming to Wick
By Noel Donaldson
Published: 21 March, 2008
FIVE big-name national stores are to set up shop in Wick. Eleven firms are currently bidding for the four units on offer from Scapa Properties Ltd, the Black Isle-based developers who were given planning permission last year to develop a site next to the Tesco store on the northern outskirts of the town. Scapa co-partner Robert More revealed yesterday that there have been 11 "expressions of interest" in the leases on offer but declined to identify the firms as negotiations have yet to be finalised. He did say, however: "They are all household names."

Mr More, a former Wick businessman now based in Inverness, said that leases would be awarded to five out of the 11 interested companies. Scapa Properties will develop the site at a cost of between £5 million and £6m. Work is expected to start in the autumn, a few months later than previously envisaged. The complex will comprise four non-food units – a 25,000 sq ft building with an additional 10,000 sq ft garden centre, and three further units, each of 10,000 sq ft – along with car-parking, landscaping and access roads.
Planning permission for the development was approved last November when mixed views were expressed about its impact on the town. Landward councillor Willie Mackay warned that Wick would lose its heart and character if the complex got the go-ahead. Objector Mike Horsfield, property surveyor for Mackay's Stores Ltd, which has a town-centre branch in Wick, predicted that Wick would become "a ghost town" if Scapa got the go-ahead.
However, members of the Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross Planning Applications and Review Committee backed the application.

[ashaw1]

dobies garden center (owned by tesco) is 1
This one has been rumoured for a while but can't see it especially now Tesco are building another large shop in Thurso.

[riggerboy]

This one has been rumoured for a while but can't see it especially now Tesco are building another large shop in Thurso.

i dont think tesco have any intention of building in thurso, yes i know it has been mentioned that an e-mail was sent to someone and i believe them,
but then it would not be good business for tesco to say " yes we bought the site but have no intention of building, just bought it to keep asda out"

so in turn they say yes we have bought the site, and are looking to develop it in the near future,

it doesnt make economical sense to build in thurso, they have a small store there and a big store 20 miles away, with no one else to compete against them,

[bekisman]

The words were: "We are actively pursuing a development on the site"
Send me a pm with an email address and I'll forward the email to you.. I did stress in my conversation with the Tesco boss that there was an intimation that they would simply sit on the site to preclude Asda, this was refuted entirely..

[cemmts]

It's good to see police doing speed checks near tesco's "Wick" as most of the traffic problems are drivers at 60mph + In and out from the old hospital corner. But you do find people don’t reach 30mph till about the Parish church "Kirk hill" junction..

[riggerboy]

The words were: "We are actively pursuing a development on the site"
Send me a pm with an email address and I'll forward the email to you.. I did stress in my conversation with the Tesco boss that there was an intimation that they would simply sit on the site to preclude Asda, this was refuted entirely..

well they will say that as i have said it wouldnt make for good business to say otherwise

[bekisman]

So you do not believe the word of Douglas Wilson who is the Corporate Affairs Manager, Scotland and Northern Ireland?

[ashaw1]

It makes total sense for Tesco to build a larger store in Thurso. Tesco have been on the look out for a while now for a site where they can also have a petrol station and these rumours have been discussed before. It's no problem for Tesco to sell on the smaller store.

[riggerboy]

So you do not believe the word of Douglas Wilson who is the Corporate Affairs Manager, Scotland and Northern Ireland?

no i do NOT believe a word of it, as i have said it will be bad for business to say otherwise (wake up man)

[bekisman]

Riggerboy: "no i do NOT believe a word of it, as i have said it will be bad for business to say otherwise (wake up man)"

Oh dear have I upset your sensitivities? 'wake up man' you say, hmm.. I won't go down the road of telling you what to do but at least I got off me bum and tried to find out what was actually going on before spouting..

I'm a wee bit confused as back on the 4th February 2006 you said you supported an Asda store in Caithness *1 then two years later you do a complete U-turn and say "we don't need another superstore" *2

Anyway, when Tesco (Thurso) is in operation I presume you won't be going there as it won't exist - will it?

*1 Do you support an ASDA store in Caithness 04-Feb-06, 14:46 yes as long as it comes with all the bolt on extras that they seem to produce south, do we as a county really care if it hurts the small shops that are over priced and never have what you want, nothing can be more annoying than walking down the town to get something that should be an off the shelf item to be told that " we have to order that in ", how many of us now buy online, i know i do as its quicker and cheaper than the local shops.

*2 ASDA, getting it or not? 28-Mar-08, 15:43 well im from wick, and i dont think caithness needs another superstore, a few more units up by homebase or tesco would be fine but def not any more superstores.

[riggerboy]

Riggerboy: "no i do NOT believe a word of it, as i have said it will be bad for business to say otherwise (wake up man)"

Oh dear have I upset your sensitivities? 'wake up man' you say, hmm.. I won't go down the road of telling you what to do but at least I got off me bum and tried to find out what was actually going on before spouting..

I'm a wee bit confused as back on the 4th February 2006 you said you supported an Asda store in Caithness *1 then two years later you do a complete U-turn and say "we don't need another superstore" *2

Anyway, when Tesco (Thurso) is in operation I presume you won't be going there as it won't exist - will it?

*1 Do you support an ASDA store in Caithness 04-Feb-06, 14:46 yes as long as it comes with all the bolt on extras that they seem to produce south, do we as a county really care if it hurts the small shops that are over priced and never have what you want, nothing can be more annoying than walking down the town to get something that should be an off the shelf item to be told that " we have to order that in ", how many of us now buy online, i know i do as its quicker and cheaper than the local shops.

*2 ASDA, getting it or not? 28-Mar-08, 15:43 well im from wick, and i dont think caithness needs another superstore, a few more units up by homebase or tesco would be fine but def not any more superstores.

yes quite right i have done a u-turn as you call it, then again the petrol was going to be cheaper ( that became lie) the money saved would be of vast amounts ( again lie )

Oh dear have I upset your sensitivities ( not at all my friend, but i think you should take a look at the bigger picture )

but at least I got off me bum and tried to find out what was actually going on before spouting,(yes you did didnt you, but can you tell me i didnt or are you just assumming that i never,)

[Highland Laddie]

dobies garden center (owned by tesco) is 1


Tesco don't own Dobbies, they are only the major shareholder.

[TBH]

Tesco don't own Dobbies, they are only the major shareholder.They are a majority owner and that gives them an immense amount of control over the business and with tesco aiming to double the amount of shares, it is apparently going to cost Tom Hunter £44 just to keep his 30% stake in the company.