Retail

Question 0

What are the factors affecting retail change?

Answer 0

Increased mobility - cars and free car parking or local petrol stations
Changing nature of people - weekly shop
Changing expectations of people - a family social event
Changing nature of retail - competition

Question 1

What two factors affect the changing patterns of retail in the UK?

Answer 1

Easy local access to essentials

Willingness to travel out of town

Question 2

What are out of town retailing areas?

Answer 2

Large areas devoted to major retail parks with factors including:
Redevelopment of brownfield sites
Extensive car parks 
Construction links to motorways 
Development of transport routes
Linked entertainment

Question 3

What are the attitudes towards retail development?

Answer 3

Greater opportunity to shop without the need to travel into cities
Creates jobs for the locals (part-time)
Increase in traffic - problems of pollution, parking, noise at night and safety

Question 4

Name two retail centres…

Answer 4

Touchwood - Solihull

Merry Hill - Brierley Hill

Question 5

What are the characteristics of Touchwood in Solihull?

Answer 5

60,000m2 of land covered - 80 stores and 20+ restaurants
6000 car parking spaces off the M42
4 leisure gardens
Built up of 3 arcades

Question 6

When and why was Touchwood built?

Answer 6

5th September 2001
Built on a brownfield site to integrate Solihull history
The largest collection of retail arcades in the UK in 2001

Question 7

What were the effects of Touchwood Retail Park?

Answer 7

Successfully integrated into the town centre
Created 2000 retail jobs
The gardens provide functions such as respite, flowers, a register office and extensive seating

Question 8

What was the recent development of Touchwood?

Answer 8

Nothing yet but in 2014 a major redevelopment would take place increasing floor space to 115,000 sq ft.

Question 9

What are the characteristics of Merry Hill?

Answer 9

A 50ha build on greenfield land
100,000m2 shops
2 supermarkets
185 shops
8,000 car parking spaces 
Transport into Birmingham, West Brom and Dudley

Question 10

When and why was Merry Hill built?

Answer 10

Built between 1984-89

Encompasses a disused steelworks and greenfield site

Question 11

Was there hostility towards the Merry Hill build?

Answer 11

Yes

Building on a greenfield site destroyed a haven for wildlife
The greenfield site was also used regularly by people of the community

Question 12

What were the effects of the Merry Hill build?

Answer 12

Dudley Canal was closed during construction
Shoppers drawn away from local shops
Parking fees enforced on Dudley H.S.
New flats/houses built