Shoppers, not planners, are the key
The new man in charge of the Co-op in the Channel Islands is optimistic that the society should receive planning permission for its ambitious Leale's Yard scheme within the next couple of months.
The new man in charge of the Co-op in the Channel Islands is optimistic that the society should receive planning permission for its ambitious Leale's Yard scheme within the next couple of months.
He is basing that on the work the society and its development partners have put into the scheme, alongside Environment's planners, and the discussions that have so far taken place.
Islanders will hope that he is correct. While care needs to be taken before major increases in the island's retail offering are approved, this has been dragging on for an unacceptably long time.
The Bridge is suffering as a result of leases on existing property not being available for long enough periods to justify investment while landlords – and the Co-op is one – wait to see which way Environment will jump.
But perhaps more fundamentally, no matter how wedded everyone may be to retaining St Peter Port as the island shopping centre, Guernsey customers simply are not prepared to wait.
One of the surprising aspects (to lay readers, at least) of the Roger Tym and Partners Guernsey Retail Study for Commerce and Employment was its insistence on referring to internet and catalogue shopping as 'leakage' and categorising it as an SFT, or special form of trading.
That looked naive when reported 12 months ago. Now, after the biggest-ever Christmas spree online, it looks positively misguided. Internet shopping for islanders is as normal as strolling into a shop, as the logistics companies know to their profit. There is nothing special about it.
And as Creasey's will understand from the online reaction to mystery shopper Mary Portas's critical comments, islanders know what they want and how much they are prepared to pay for it.
Whatever the consequences for the economy, Town or the retail sector generally, growing numbers of people turn instinctively to the internet if they cannot get what they want locally or if retailers here have not sufficiently persuaded them that they provide good value and service.
Unless the planning process recognises that and responds to consumer demands, millions of pounds of spend will be lost to the local economy.
