THE town centre management are crying about Asda wanting to open at the B&Q site yet have only themselves to blame.
When I moved to Redditch, Tesco, Sainsburys and a thriving market all existed in the centre.
The then centre owners thought they had them over barrel and kept putting up the prices until it was not worth having a shop in the centre at all.
The two major stores moved out and the smaller places went to the wall. Asda wants to provide good prices and jobs. I suspect it does not want to provide the centre owners with a load more rent, fair enough.
If (and I doubt it is so) the town centre owners really want to get shops back into the centre, then it’s simple – drop the rents and make it worthwhile to open a store there. Do not try to use Government tools to protect your profits or cry about the centre dying.
The centre is a shadow of its once thriving self, a hub of the community and a place of variety.
Redditch needs good prices and employment so I say, let’s all back Asda and the town centre can keep its overpriced space.
Yvonne Rhodes Redditch
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