‘Not surprised’ - readers react to news of Barnsley's mini-Meadowhall the Alhambra going bust
Star readers believe the council’s new £210m Glass Works development has something to do with the town's mini-Meadowhall shopping centre being put up for sale.
The Alhambra is on the market for £10.5m after going bust last year. Two large stores in the centre, Next and TK Maxx, were encouraged to move to the Glass Works, a councillor said.
On social media Judith Roberts said: “Not surprised when the council built a new sparkling shopping centre next door and offered incentives to move in.”
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Daren Gray said it was ‘common sense’.
He said: “The Alhambra used to be good until Barnsley Council went and built the Glass Works directly next door. Common sense went out of the window on this one.”
Marks & Spencer recently announced it was closing its long-standing store in the town centre.
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Richard Jacques said: “Once M&S has closed, get all that side of the precinct flattened, and get all the remaining tenants into the Alhambra or Glass Works.
Brenda Titterton was dismayed.
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She said: “Sad to see this as we go to Barnsley quite often and always go in there. Always clean and pleasant for shopping.”
Receivers say it is ‘almost all fully occupied’ and the 'principal retail centre for the borough of Barnsley’. Shops include Wilko, Primark, The Entertainer, EE and Iceland.
In November, Coun Hannah Kitching, the leader of Liberal Democrats in Barnsley, asked whether the town could support both shopping centres.
She said “High Street retail was already on the downturn before the pandemic.”