What to do about Derby

[TomBustler1884]

 

7 hours ago, Anag Ram said:

As someone who is not from Derby I would say the city centre holds little or no appeal. 

Without sounding too much like my profile persona, Derby looks like an industrial city with little money. 

Before you all burn my house down I need to draw the distinction between being poor and being aspirational. 

If you want to attract business and money you need to appeal to a wealthier customer. 

If you provide more exclusive shops, bars and cafés, the people will come. 

Derby is surrounded by some of the most beautiful countryside in the UK yet that isn't properly reflected in its city centre. 

At present, and again I offer only my honest opinion, Derby looks like a city that has settled for what it's got and is not aiming higher. 

Bring in money from outside and it can be a better place for everybody. 

Hope that doesn't offend. 

I've always said this. You would have no idea you are next to the Peak District in Derby. Why is Chatsworth not encouraged to have a shop in the city centre?

And you're right, I think we settle for "it will do" too much.

[TomBustler1884]

6 hours ago, TigerTedd said:

Leicester’s got a way better shopping experience, with a big fancy John Lewis at the heart of it. Always wondered why we don’t have one. 

we always seemed to have the slightly lower rent versions of all the Leicester shops. Like Debenhams was always our big focal point. Or Wilkos or B&M. Not dissing those shops per se, and there’s a place for them, but you don’t want them to be your main focal point, or the first things that people see when they come shopping. 
 

the velodrome is a nice big, eye catching building, but it’s our of the city centre. We need a few more buildings like that. Like the assembly rooms being replaced by a world class venue, with eye catching architecture, bringing in big name acts. That would do wonders for the city centre. 

On the John Lewis conundrum, our location always played against us. Theyre in sheffield, nottingham, leicester, birmingham. Not enough customers to have one in Derby too, they would just cannibalize their own market.

[TomBustler1884]

So sounds like we're settling on the following consensus?

Make the river the centre of everything.

More places to live.

Individual, independent, incentivised shopping.

Diversify Intu into a leisure destination even more.

Cycle infrastructure.

Greening the city with a focus on highlighting the outdoors in our county.

New performance venue.

Imaginative, creative and consistent leadership.

Promote ourselves more loudly.

Give the river gardens to Bustler (thanks @reverendo de duivel!!)

[Pearl Ram]

Yeah but there’s a far better class of clientele who shop in John Lewis. We go to their Welwyn Garden City store because it’s skank free, that’s what people want when they go shopping in town, maybe if Derby gave incentives to high end stores, your Harvey Nicholls  and the like, that might invigorate the City Centre. ?‍♂️

[TomBustler1884]

1 hour ago, Pearl Ram said:

Yeah but there’s a far better class of clientele who shop in John Lewis. We go to their Welwyn Garden City store because it’s skank free, that’s what people want when they go shopping in town, maybe if Derby gave incentives to high end stores, your Harvey Nicholls  and the like, that might invigorate the City Centre. ?‍♂️

Part of my previous job was to proactively go after those sorts of retailers. I worked with Loungers, Cosy Club, Carluccios, Annie's to get them to Derby and it was very hard. Those are the ones who came, I could give you a much longer list of those who didnt. 

We struggle with footfall. If you convinced a Harvey Nicholls property director to visit, he would come up, best case scenario, lunchtime on a Friday. Walk him round Derby, and he wouldnt see anywhere near enough people. Take him to Intu and he would be a bit more interested but not enough.

Intu will be practically giving space away to the likes of Hugo Boss to be there.

We need more people using the city to attract those type of retailers. And even then, my suspicion is, Derby is not big enough to sustain the levels of customers they need.

A focus on quality independent uses on the high street, people who you can see making as well as seeing, is the way to go I think. Make the centre more than a shopping trip, make it an experience.

[Mucker1884]

They could always call the new Wyvern footbridge "The Brian Clough Walkway".  

It may not bring in extra visitors, but at least it'd pi55 off the neighbours!  ??