Cabot Crunch

bristol | media and culture | opinion/analysis Friday October 03, 2008 13:01 by Bristol Evening Post Watch http://eveningpostwatch.wordpress.com/

The economic crisis reaches Carboot Circus after just one week.

Just one week after the Post greeted the opening of Carboot Circus with the most ridiculous and uncritical hype they are today reporting the first closure of one of the luxury stores as the economic crisis begins to bite the retail sector.

Just one week after the Post greeted the opening of Carboot Circus with the most ridiculous and uncritical hype they are today reporting the first closure of one of the luxury stores as the economic crisis begins to bite the retail sector.

"A luxury clothes shop which opened its doors at Bristol’s new Cabot Circus shopping centre just a week ago is set to close within days.
Hardy Amies, the upmarket tailor which once made dresses for the Queen, was yesterday appointing administrators to seek a new owner after running into financial difficulties.
It opened a new store – its sixth in the UK – in Quakers Friars last week, which employs six staff. Its ranges for men include ties at £55 each, and jeans which cost £145 a pair.
The company had to suspend trading in its shares a week ago, on the day after its Cabot Circus store opened. In a statement, the company said it had since been approached by various parties interested in helping solve its funding difficulties but had been “unable to finalise an offer that would secure the future of the company.”"

Perhaps the Post will live to regret last week’s moment of madness, devoting so much space to praising the cathedral of consumerism at a time when many Bristolians face serious economic hardship.

Maybe they will come to regret comments like this from September 25th,

"It’s remarkable how a development like Cabot Circus can still provoke the ‘glass half empty’ mentality in some people.
Read discussions on the internet, scan our letters pages, in fact any public forum discussing Bristol issues, and there will be small numbers of very vocal people telling us all why CabotCircus won’t work and why we shouldn’t shop at Harvey Nichols.
There’s a simple answer to these people - don’t go.
For the rest of us, Cabot Circus is a fantastic opportunity, a symbol of economic growth at a time when the country is in financial turmoil.
The people who have a decent employment future and good job prospects will hardly be thinking the new centre is a bad idea. Why put a dent in their aspirations?
Some of the upmarket stores may be beyond the reach of many people, but they bring a glamour which the city has never had. If that fails, just chuckle and accept them - it’s not your money."

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