Strategy versus reality

It may sound glib, but when a discount operator like TK Maxx decides that it may be time to pull out of Swansea’s city centre then you do not have to be an ace economist to deduce that prospects are about to go from poor to shit.

Clothing giant similarly Gap voted with their feet a while back. They cited ‘trading difficulties’ at the time with the inference that shopper numbers were down in their location. Now, one reason touted for the possible exit of their former next-door neighbour TK Maxx is the announcement of a council-backed project to build a retail mall at lower Oxford Street in direct competition with stores sited at the Princess Way end. It seems that the geniuses urging the cabinet in a westward direction did not spot the empty shops or pick up on the glaring fact that the newly completed Thurleigh retail complex is still unable to fill its vacant units.

Just a brief glimpse of the boarded up shop-fronts in a chaotic Kingsway which has haemorrhaged investment in the last two years is enough to confirm to even the most optimistic observer that Swansea is the victim of planners & dipstick politicians who have basically lost the plot or perhaps simply forgotten what it looked like. Having slagged off schemes in Wind Street and Salubrious Place while in opposition, the Lib Dem-run regime has managed to bring commerce to a halt in the city centre. The only reported growth is in non-productive, low-yield residential floor-space. Meanwhile, Cardiff and Llanelli build up their respective retailing centres and the punters keep on coming.
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But what really pisses off a growing number of firms is the realisation that the bunch of jokers running the local BID initiative are squandering hundreds of thousands of pounds raised through a compulsory levy on city centre businesses. Some are calling for an independent audit on how much is being spent on activities which only seem to subsidise the local authority.

Council leader Chris Holley, who used to oil machinery for a living, probably thinks that he can continue to maintain the illusion of progress through a steady drip of grand redevelopment strategies and gimmicks eagerly recycled by a noncritical media. The good news for him and the bad news for Swansea is that he could turn out to be correct in his assessment. For despite the recent admission by loyal stooge Peter Birch that the bendy-bus is neither popular nor even relevant to shoppers & retailers alike, there is also a patent lack of alternatives deas coming out of opposition parties.

This shortcoming is in itself is hardly surprising since the level of development and business acumen on the Labour and Tory benches is only slightly above that of their opponents and thereby negligible in both cases. In any other circumstances, the answer would be to demand that the so-called regeneration plans and their expected outcomes should be given the once-over by professional independent consultants who are unconnected with any existing or potential developers. For as we already know, Holley & Co don't always follow the advice they're given.
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Update (17 Sept): TK Maxx confirm store is closing.