An empty retail unit in Lichfield city centre could be given a new lease of life as a Tesco store.

The former Marks and Spencer store in Lichfield

The national retailer has applied for a premises licence for the former Marks and Spencers site in the Three Spires Shopping Centre.

An application to Lichfield District Council reveals it hopes to sell alcohol from 6am until midnight every day.

People can give their views on the alcohol licensing application by writing to the Licensing Officer at Lichfield District Council, Frog Lane, Lichfield, WS13 6YU before 26th January.

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It’s a start
2 years ago

While not ideal it is at least a start. As much as large corporations like Tesco already dominate our retail industry-it surely is better to have them take on this space rather than seeing a prime city centre unit empty for years and years. Hopefully footfall attracted in to the city will help support the other businesses in the area that need plenty of customers to survive. This part of Lichfield has suffered particularly badly with closed businesses and at least this isn’t another mobile phone or charity shop.

Edith
2 years ago

Lichfield city centre is a sinking ship. It used to be lovely, not anymore. I don’t even use it for shopping anymore. Traffic is too bad, and parking is always an issue. I go to Ventura Park now. Such a shame.

Simon
2 years ago

I agree. Tesco is better than nothing and it beats mobile phone/vaping/betting/charity shops. Let’s see this unit occupied.

Dylan
2 years ago

Better than an empty space I suppose. But a little Sainsbury’s selling Sainsbury’s specific things you can’t get in Tesco, with an Argos order collection facility would be better. Would make up for having lost our Argos store. (Yet Tamworth still has its Argos right next to a big Sainsbury’s.)

Flossy
2 years ago

Strange M & S could not make that site work – but Tesco now think they can. One wonders what has changed? Is the rent down? Are Tesco getting a rates relief deal etc. The only good news is this prime site has been empty for some years – some will hopefully benefit from occupancy

Dickyboy
2 years ago

With all due respect to everyone, the reason that the shops in town centre are dying is because everyone chooses to go elswhere. When these out of town centres, supermarkets etc first came on the scene, we should have boycotted them, not the town centre. As ever cheap food is the bait. Use it or lose it. We didnt use it, so now we have lost it.

Philip
2 years ago

You wonder what the saturation point for supermarkets is in Lichfield. Tesco, Waitrose, Morrisons, Lidl, Aldi, Iceland, Co-op, B&M and smaller outlets. There is nearly one for every retirement home! We just need Sainsbury, Asda and M&S to complete the set.

Jules
2 years ago

I don’t use the town as much anymore due to its lack of disabled parking, it is no longer disabled friendly as the new spaces supplied are either too far away or unsuitable for wheelchair access etc

Lichvegas
2 years ago

This seems an odd choice for Tesco and somewhat reminiscent of their days of over-expansion before they got into financial difficulties in the late noughties, considering that they have a massive store 5 minutes’ walk from this site. I don’t think Tesco will benefit as much from homecoming commuters in the evenings as M&S used to do, since I don’t believe we’ll all be obediently trooping back onto the (hopeless) Cross City Line and into our offices 5 days per week like before.

Still, having any kind of shop open past 5pm will bring some much-needed life to this area, so that’s something good.

CB
2 years ago

Think these premises far too small.
Unless as quoted it is going to be an Off License ? open 6.00 am until, Midnight selling Alcohol and Snack food.? Take away… In that format I say NO, but if it is a Convenience store for essentials then YES. Also centrally located for those Elderly living in the Intense Housing Retirement Complexes…

Dorothy Ives
2 years ago

I welcome a general food store in the town centre. It will be very useful and convenient for those living in the centre. It is certainly better than empty units.

Burntwood Grumper
2 years ago

@DickyBoy
Do you not think that high rents charged by greedy landlords might have something to do with all the empty units ?

Just sayin’…..

Richard
2 years ago

@Dickyboysays, There’s many reasons why people go elsewhere. I can name a few – Poor amount of parking and overzealous parking attendants. It’s free to park at a retail park – its expensive to park in town. Quality of shops – people want quality retail, they don’t want half a dozen cafes, half a dozen phone shops, half a dozen charity shops – to name a few. Put simply, the shops in the centre appeal to a small demographic, primarily the elderly. They’re the only ones keeping the centre alive. Another is entertainment – Tamworth has a cinema, bowling alley, snow dome, pleasure ground. So shoppers go shopping then they go enjoy some entertainment and then something to eat. You simply can’t do any of that in Lichfield as rhe council refuse anything progressive. Until the dinosaur councillors finally croak it and we get a new leadership team with more vision than that of when there next horlicks is coming and only know how to sign deceloper applications for more housing them nothing will ever change in Lichfield. It will die a slow, painful death.

Ann
2 years ago

Well I will not support another Tesco selling alcohol at 6am if you need alcohol at that time of day you need help and will be writing to the council direct not that they will listen

D Keane
2 years ago

What do the council feel lichfield needs more drinkers.? Why not try and bring someone back into the city eg pound land or tj Hughes shops which can be used by all. Tesco is greedy they have started Charging for car Parking which I believe was in the building rites that the public should not be charged.

karen taylor
2 years ago

I think a small local Tesco will do really well here. I dpn’t live in Lichfield but I love it and visit often. I agree that Lichfield has become a little down in the dumps and this kind of move is o0ne step to rectifying that. Now they need to bring the old Debenhams to life.

Jimbo
2 years ago

Lichfield town is dead and buried. So much potential, so many units and in a nice setting but there is nothing of any use. I’m surprised it’s not a fourth Costa to be honest. No real clothing stores, no big name store like a next, no sports shop not even an Argos anymore!!!

Gary
2 years ago

Guys, if you don’t use it you lose it. I hear so many people say they go elsewhere for their shopping. But often, when they shop elsewhere, they buy in places like Wilko, Boots, Superdrug, Fatface, White Stuff, Roman, Peacocks, Ministry, Young Ideas, Seasalt etc. All shops that we have in Lichfield. Lichfield also has many lovely cafes, lovely parks and other things to see, i.e. Samuel Johnson’s house, Cathedral etc. So I say, if you need to buy something and can get it from Lichfield, go to Lichfield. Don’t go elsewhere and buy from a shop which also exists in Lichfield. If you do, you can hardly whinge about the town centre dying as you’re part of the problem, it is only through people using the centre as much as possible that it can be revitalised again.

As to parking, it’s a couple of pounds at most. You’ll spend more in petrol driving to a retail park. That’s a very poor excuse.

Gary
2 years ago

Oh not to mention JD Sports. I’m aware of people going to Birmingham for JD Sports. We have one in Lichfield! Ok not as big but at least try your local one first!

We also have lots of lovely independent shops.

Sharon bywater
2 years ago

I totally agree with some of the comments totally disgusting wanting more drinkers in the town especially if women walk through the town are they going to be safe ? Surely families won’t want to see things like that

Ray
2 years ago

I agree to have a tesco express there as it will be open until 12 midnight however we are encouraged to use small businesses and a tescos will shut the two news agents doors that are very close by.

PO
2 years ago

@D Keane : We had a pound shop and a TJ Hughes in Lichfield but both were closed as not profitable. I doubt they will be rushing back as the demographic and footfall has not changed, possibly worsened with out of town retail. I’m with Gary that for the town centre we either ‘Use it or loose it’.

I know with my shopping pattern that I won’t ever have the need to use a central Tesco shop but, as already said, its better than an empty building.

I’m not sure I understand the Three Spires mindset that they prefer empty shops rather than adjusting the rent to reasonable levels. Maybe they fear the current businesses will want this new lower rent level.

Rt. Hon Tarquin Farquhar Smith.
2 years ago

Why can’t it be a Tiffany’s or Fortnum and Masons etc.

Christopher
2 years ago

Well said Gary. How good to hear from someone with positive views.

Pedalling Dandy
2 years ago

From my point of view there are three gaps in the centre. No significant electrical or computer shop, no bike store and no clothing for the under 40s man. I needed a laptop recently and had to travel to Solihull to get one from John Lewis. Wilko sell only the most basic bike bits and all the menswear shops cater to the Alan Partridge market.

Dawn
2 years ago

To Ann.
Well said.

Gary
2 years ago

Pedalling Dandy – Ministry, Fatface and Sports Direct all cater for men under 40, that’s just 3 I can think of immediately off the top of my head.

Karen P
2 years ago

I would love to shop more in Lichfield I live 4 miles away in Bromley Hayes. My nearest bus stop is a 45 minute walk away up a busy A road so it’s almost a three hour road trip or £24 in taxi fares. No wonder I do my shopping on line.

PO
2 years ago

@Gary : Peacocks also have a limited mens section.

Gary
2 years ago

Thanks PO. So does Young Ideas. Good men’s section upstairs, not to mention places like Moutain Warehouse and Trespass (which admittedly are outdoor shops).

P
2 years ago

I think part of the reason footfall is so low is because the shops are terrible. The names mentioned really aren’t going to pull some people in. It’s crying out for things more high end. Yes, ‘use it or loose it’ if you want to be Alan partridge.

J
2 years ago

I would love Lichfield to be more like Tamworth. I only want to.shop locally and never go to Birmingham . It would be great if we could have a large Marks and Spencer in Lichfield however it will only happen if the store is supported we can only blame Lichfield becoming a ghost town on the fact that the footfall doesn’t support it

Pedalling Dandy
2 years ago

I don’t think many of the 18-30 age range would find much for them to wear in any of those shops. Nevertheless the point stands about a central bike shop and electrical store – we’ve got neither.

Saucy HP
2 years ago

Pedalling Dandy – I think you could buy a bike/ bike accessories from Freedom Cycles, Cycling 2000 or Halfords – while none are right in the City centre they are all pretty close (certainly within cycling distance).

P – interested to know what “high end” shops you would like to see.

My view is that the retail offering in Lichfield is pretty decent for the size of the city and compares favourably with other nearby towns. Always room for improvement but pleased Tesco is willing to take one of the empty units. Fully agree with Gary’s assessment above and try and shop in the city where possible.

Mr Halfords
2 years ago

We need a place selling motoring parts and goods in the City Centre and which offers basic car maintenance services too.

You need to encourage more cars to Lichfield, that is the only way you will get people here.

So allow cars to drive past the Garrick through the little covered arcade bit to access the old M&S and then down towards the market square in a one way direction. You’ll get more through traffic and the motoring shop will be a big attraction.

But don’t allow disabled access or parking as part of the plan obviously as that will ruin it for everyone else.

Philip
2 years ago

I travel around many towns and cities and the vibrancy of the local markets (I try to go on market days) is usually a barometer of the health of their commerce.
Both locals and visitors come in for the markets, more so than the usual attractions. While this is not the whole picture it is another reason for the poor trade experienced in our central shops and services.

Sahure
2 years ago

@Pedalling Dandy… I give you your local Lichfield town centre computer shop: https://lichfieldpc.co.uk/

Their in-store stock of new computers is limited, but if you know what you want they can order any computer you might be interested in, and provide an excellent service in making sure that it’s handed over junk-free, with no unnecessary software. If you tell them what you’re interested in more generally, they can also offer advice on which options would suit your needs. The excellent laptop I’m typing this on was ordered from them (I knew exactly what I wanted), and my wife also bought her laptop from them (after giving them more general parameters). They also sell refurbished computers and offer an excellent, friendly, and efficient repair service. There’s really no need to go to Solihull.

Bike shops in the centre have been a little bit trickier since Freedom Cycles moved from next to the bus station, but their new location down near Trent Valley station isn’t _that_ far away.

Decent menswear, however, I’ll concede.

Raymond
2 years ago

Can’t blame all the empty units on lack of footfall in Lichfield city centre. Some of it is nationwide trend. Debenhams closed because the entire company went bankrupt. Sainsbury’s decided to close hundreds of Argos stores.

People commenting as if the licensing application means Tesco and the council want to encourage drinking in the city centre from 6am to midnight need to stop being so hysterical. Tesco aren’t going to open a store selling nothing but alcohol with big songs saying come in and buy alcohol and then drink it on that bench over there. It’ll obviously be a Tesco Express and some of what it sells will be alcohol. Any amount of alcohol requires a license. People who want to buy alcohol at 6am in Lichfield can already do so at the Tesco Express in Netherstowe and other places I expect. The city centre already has lots of places people can buy alcohol and then drink it in the street – they’re called pubs.

People need to stop saying Tesco are charging for parking because it simply is not true. There is no parking tariff. There is no way to pay for parking. They’ve just made it so you have to buy at least £5 of things in the store else you get a big fine. The 3 hour limit has always applied. They had to apply for planning permission to the council to start doing that, it’s not like they just decided to make the change in defiance of the terms they agreed to.

Mark Spencers
2 years ago

Have the people driving to Tamworth to avoid parking charges in Lichfield taken account of the £6-7 at least that the car journey costs? What about the environmental cost? And the idea of driving through and parking at Ventura Park to avoid “traffic” in Lichfield can only be from someone who has never been to either place on a Saturday! Stop pretending you go there because the shops in Lichfield have closed, and admit that your car addiction has taken you there for years, causing the shops in Lichfield to close!
Another way you could help to improve Lichfield might be not re-electing the same clueless anti-commerce council over and over again until the entire town centre is old people’s flats built by their party donors.

Pedalling Dandy
2 years ago

I don’t need a bike or clothes for that matter.. But if I did, I’d have to go elsewhere

A unhappy disabled lady
2 years ago

My problem with Lichfield town centre is the lack of disabled facilities. For example parking,toilets and access to many shops. Recently I came into the city Centre and I was stood outside a shop on a pair of crutches, no disabled access ramp only steps, and I was completely ignored even after asking for help from a member of staff.
I used to come into Lichfield city centre every week but after being told by certain ignorant people I don’t look disabled enough to use a disabled bay and being ignored by shop assistants outside the stores with steps I will unfortunately be shopping outside of Lichfield. This city centre is dying for many reasons…1.huge parking fees. 2. High shop rents. 3.No decently clean accessible toilets. 4. The lack of variety of shops, great if you are stick thin, need a new home to buy, glasses or coffee.

P
2 years ago

Yes it does compare favourably to places like Rugeley, Cannock, Burntwood. But it’s far from decent if you compare it to places further afield. It’s not hard to think of a few high-end shops; take the current offering of iceland, B&M, countless charity shops, wilkos, card factory, greasy cafes, tattoo and vape shops; then have a walk around another cathedral city.

‘I would love Lichfield to be more like Tamworth.’ – no.

Pedalling Dandy
2 years ago

@Sahure…I did go to Lichfield Computers but didn’t really feel my custom was that important. Fair enough, but it didn’t encourage me to spend my £430.00 there.

As for bike shops, Freedom is indeed an excellent store but I still feel a bike shop (maybe with cafe and parking) would be a huge hit especially with the decent number of cyclists in Lichfield. Easier said than done, granted but it would be great to see some creativity in the centre.

Gary
2 years ago

Well guys I’m under 40 and male and happily shop in Ministry, Fatface, Young Ideas, Mountain Warehouse (sometimes Sports Direct for certain things) and others in Lichfield. There’s also some decent independent shops. Parking costs me £2, hardly crippling. And I can walk around a pretty cathedral city while I’m doing it. Beats anything around here of a comparable size. Shop in Lichfield and watch other shops come here too. Shop elsewhere and the best shops will continue to leave/stay away. It’s quite simple. Support your local city.

ML
2 years ago

Sahure for men’s wear there is Michaels

Gary
2 years ago

Oh yes, that’s one I forgot, Michaels is another one that’s ok for menswear.

Carl Sholl
2 years ago

In my experience, cycle shops are usually a bit away from the town centre, wherever I’ve lived, so it’s not bad that Lichfield also has them a very short ride from the centre. No one has mentioned Tesco for clothes! I think any shop opening in the town centre is a good thing, but another Tesco is a bit surprising. It’s also surprising that it’s being allowed to open so late, when the big Tesco is so close anyway. Didn’t our MP promise that we were going to get a new M&S food shop? I can’t imagine a better location than the one they already had (unless they moved into the old Debenhams store and sold clothes too). It always seemed busy when I was in there.

P
2 years ago

Michael’s and Debenhams… If people are happy with these then I give up.

Philip
2 years ago

A lot of simplistic answers but the underlying causes of on line shopping, disposable income, debt, and corporate policy is also relevant. Amazon is huge because of sales and services, take that out of local commerce and there has to be an impact. When high street giants like Lewis’s and Hughes and M & S and Curries decide they can’t profit there is a fundamental problem. This was exemplified by the lack of take up for the Friasgate debacle.
Where in Lichfield can you buy furniture, electrical goods, branded women’s clothing, even a good range of ironmongery? And more!
Things are changing forever. Since the on line revolution nothing will save the high street. Repurposing as leisure and hospitality outlets might prolong its viability but, in reality, future generations will not shop in the same way their parents did.

George
2 years ago

P – have you tried Mankind Menswear? Nobody has mentioned that one. Some good stuff in there. I think people have given several options for decent menswear. Not sure what you’re expecting from a small place in these challenging times.