Monday 24 August 2009

Grosvenor-pool the new name for Liverpool.

Are Grosvenor now running the City Centre.
It is now stated that Grosvenor have bought the old Rapid Hardware and Rapid have now moved to the old John Lewis store as part of a deal. Rapid used to be claiming the biggest shopfront in the city, this will now be broken up. (Incidentally Larry Neild used to be Rapids publicist I was informed with a direct route into the local papers).
http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-news/regional-news/2009/08/20/liverpool-one-developer-grosvenor-buys-old-rapid-hardware-site-100252-24490295/
I see no evidence presented with this article as to price or land registry details of completion so there is a chance that the kid who wrote it just packaged a bundle up for a Grosvenor PR company or the council. Alistair Houghton wrote; Grosvenor’s projects director Guy Butler said Grosvenor had no firm plans for the site itself but was talking to two interested parties about their "exciting plans" for it. What did they buy it for then???????????
Time will tell what they are talking about. But will they let another big retail centre happen?
WILL IT BE A TESCO? Was there to be a new Central Village planned in this area? So what has happened to that?
What is happening here is with the centre of power changing and a new footfall being found in the city centre, It seems Grosvenor are now able to dictate to the council outside of Grosvenor-pool by owning the land around their existing gifted domain. Are they now taking over the city.
http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-news/regional-news/2008/03/13/180m-liverpool-central-village-scheme-set-to-start-in-autumn-64375-20617750/ Time will tell.
http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-news/regional-news/2007/11/08/lewis-s-store-at-heart-of-30m-liverpool-development-64375-20078760/
Liverpool has seen so many small independent retailers and business's go to the wall.
First we had the city centre dug up for years to facilitate Grosvenor who opened up their new retail empire at the start of the biggest recession since the 30s and it now seems they are able to dictate any new developments that threaten them. What happened to all those fledgling businesses in the old Quiggins.
If you read the local papers with its current attitude everything is rosy but below the surface so many mistakes have been made turning our city into something that resembles any other with its homogenisation of the retail. http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-news/regional-news/2009/08/24/public-supports-liverpool-city-centre-s-new-retail-revolution-92534-24514174/ It is easy to level weighted questions at the public and make headlines. We all know we needed a few shops but what is the need to keep on day after day publicising all the big businesses while small businesses go bust on a daily basis. They dont have PR budgets. http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-news/regional-news/2008/02/22/use-us-or-lose-us-plea-by-lewis-s-bosses-64375-20509063/ It needs something a little more clever than the kids at the local papers who are caught up in the whole retail therapeutic experience and have entered a 'culture' at the local papers where shops are king and shopping is the answer to all our dreams and desires. It really is not.
I run a small business and it has been tough recently, there are others who cant sit out the next few months like Grosvenor, with their huge resources.
But what about the future look of our city. One journalist down at the Oldham Echo recently asked another. "Do you know anything about Architecture and World Heritage"
"No but I will find someone who does"
So she phoned the pathetic world heritage officer John Hinchliffe and wrote an article that was so far unbalanced as to amount to be covering over the mistaken decisions to destroy the Site, that it was an anachronism of the truth..
IN ORDER TO BE REPORTING CULURE IT WOULD HELP TO BE CULTURED. YOU HAVE TO UNDERSTAND IT. IF YOU HAVE TO PHONE A FRIEND IN THE LOCAL PR FIRM..........IT IS NO GOOD PRETENDING. Our future is being put on a PR platter in front of our very eyes and is being lapped up by the public, but hey we can always go shopping.

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