Retailers nationwide might be experiencing doom and gloom, but shops in York seem to be bucking that trend as businesses jostle for more space. Kate Liptrot reports.

THE face of shopping in York seems to be changing rapidly.

As more and more retailers are drawn to the area, York has become the setting for a game of musical chairs as major shops vie for space in the city's crowded and narrow streets.

After Debenhams last week confirmed that it will open an additional shop in Monks Cross, PC World announced it was relocating from Monks Cross to a larger 25,000sq ft premises at Clifton Moor.

And although The Press has revealed that Woolworths in Coney Street was set to stop trading after 80 years of business, Boots are already rumoured to be taking over the large vacant store.

Len Cruddas, chief executive of North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce, said: "York's strength is its diversity; we have all the national brands but also strong independents such as Fenwick's. Areas such as Gillygate are looking strong and Micklegate is getting stronger."

"What we do need in the city centre are bigger units. I am sure that a lot of these brands want more space.

"Marks & Spencer is the only bigger unit that I can think of in the city centre. Businesses want to come to York, but they can't get all of their range in the shops."

He said there was a convincing case for the extension of the Coppergate Centre to go ahead, although sympathetic development of the area near Clifford's Tower was essential.

This was an opinion shared by Debenhams, who still hope to move into a new Coppergate II complex. A spokeswoman for the store said: "We have been seeking improved representation in York for a number of years.

"The existing store is significantly smaller than our department stores in competing centres such as Leeds and Doncaster and as a consequence it is unable to display and retail the full range of Debenhams goods. We are still hoping that Coppergate II will happen and allow us to have full representation in the city."

The future of the Coppergate development, which included new shops on the Castle car park site, has been uncertain since a public inquiry was held in 2002.

Protesters said the development would ruin the setting of the historic tower and claimed the car park should be turned into green space instead Meanwhile, retail parks on the outskirts of York have been happily offering the retail space unavailable in the city's centre.

Expansion work at Clifton Moor is expected to be completed in October and, south of the city, York Designer Outlet has let 20,000 sq foot of retail space to stores such as LK Bennett, Jaeger and Hobbs in the past six months and it received record numbers of customers in the week following Christmas.

Monks Cross manager Katherine Sharp said the park would welcome Debenhams.

"Monks Cross is popular because it is a quick and easy shop. You don't have to drive into the city centre and pay to park and we have a good mix of the things that people want."

But business leaders see success in the city's shopping areas overall as complementing one another. Len Cruddas said: "York has got to get a very strong and diverse retail offer. We need to get people to think that York is a good place to shop. The better the overall offer, the more people will come."


Trade is slow

RETAILERS nationally are said to be facing one of their most difficult times in years.

The high street suffered its worst Christmas in three years, according to the British Rail Consortium.

Homeware retailers were among those badly hit as higher interest rates and bills took their toll in households.

Shares in retailer Marks & Spencer plummeted, wiping £1.6 billion off the group's stock market value, after it posted its worst quarterly trading for two years.

Experts say that clothing retailers have been struggling since the summer, when many stores were forced to bring sales forward early to clear stock.