Just read that yet another shop is moving out of the Albert Dock. Moose relocated to Button Street which wasn't so bad, but the Room Store is closing down altogether. Hopefully things will pick up when the PSDA is up and running.
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Just read that yet another shop is moving out of the Albert Dock. Moose relocated to Button Street which wasn't so bad, but the Room Store is closing down altogether. Hopefully things will pick up when the PSDA is up and running.
Yes, the Albert Dock has never been a shopping area to compare with Church Street, many shops have closed and some have opened as little gift shops. This has been mentioned before but the market around there seems to be focussed more at Bars and Restraunts plus the gift shops selling key rings.
The developments have not helped one bit. When PSD opens, it should be more accessable and the visitors to Kings Docks will make it part of their trip.
A 'ghost town' by day... just what has happened to the Albert Dock?
IT was the jewel in the crown of the ‘80s regeneration of Liverpool, but a daytime stroll around Albert Dock now paints a different story. Paddy Shennan asks what the future holds for the city’s premier attraction.
By Paddy Shennan, Liverpool Echo
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IT’S certainly glamorous by night, but parts of it can seem ghostly during the day.
This was no walk on the wild side, this was a walk on the quiet side – a walk around the Albert Dock.
This famous landmark may be a mecca for bar and restaurant-goers by night and a magnet for tourists thanks to attractions such as The Beatles Story, Merseyside Maritime Museum and Tate Liverpool – but what about the shoppers?
I walked around the dock on Monday and Thursday lunchtimes last week and it was generally quiet – very quiet – on both days.
There were little areas of activity and pockets of people, such as along the Colonnades – even on Monday, when the Tate was closed.
But elsewhere, notably on the Britannia Pavilion side of the dock where there is so much empty space, it was deserted.
Which, to be honest, was quite shocking. And sad. And depressing.
As is the list of retail departures from the dock in the last year or so. First it was interiors shop Ocean, which blamed city centre roadworks for a loss of trade, then the Edinburgh Woollen Mills which, after almost two decades, said it was leaving because the dock had moved too far into the leisure market.
Then fashion store Moose relocated to city centre Button Street, while upmarket furniture outlet, The Room Store, closed its dock showroom to concentrate on its website business and developing contract work.
Wandering around the dock, it’s impossible to miss the bars and restaurants. There’s the Pumphouse, Est Est Est, Babycream, Ha! Ha! Bar and Canteen, Spice Lounge and the Pan American Club.
But the Albert Dock Company will point out that the complex is also home to the less sexy-sounding Phoenix Life Group, Telewest Broadband and a host of smaller offices.
And opposite the new Kings Dock arena, the mixed use theme continues with XL Clothing, the Yellow Duckmarine office, the Premier Travel Inn, The Beatles Story and Absolution Gyms.
But there’s also no avoiding the extremely quiet areas of the dock, along the Britannia Pavilion quayside.
There is a large empty space, complete with To Let sign, before you get to the Impressions of Liverpool and the Nauticalia shops.
Then there’s another void and another To Let sign, before you get to the Pan Am – and then yet more empty space.
As I walked along the pavilion yesterday with Ian Brown, director of the Albert Dock Company, he revealed that there was serious interest in the various units – from a restaurant, a speciality bar, a coffee chain and another bar.
Britannia Pavilion, therefore, looks like becoming bar and restaurant central – in contrast to the Colonnades, the home of Tate Liverpool.
The Colonnades are virtually full of shops and cafes, including, among others, the florist’s Tamzyn Angela, Annabel’s Accessories, Lavazza Cafe Bar, the Gift Company, La Crepe Rit cafe – and, of course, Tate Liverpool and the Tate Cafe.
The Colonnades also boast their share of flats and offices – often overlooked, says Ian Brown, because people only tend to see what is at ground level.
Round the corner, and back towards where we started, you’ll see the Merseyside Maritime Museum – another reason why the Albert Dock is the region’s number one tourist attraction, with between 15 and 20 per cent of visitors to Merseyside heading this way.
The Albert Dock is undoubtedly a mixed use complex and it appears that it will remain one.
But while it is unlikely that there will be a mass exodus of retailers – especially those smaller businesses related to leisure and tourism – it also seems certain that more restaurants and bars are heading to the Britannia Pavilion.
And that, stresses Ian Brown, will be due to the demands of the market – not the rental demands. He says: “The rents down here are very, very low compared to – literally – just over the road.
“People cite high rents and car parking charges as reasons for the failure of some retailers. But that comes from members of the public, not the retailers, and it’s a myth.”
WHAT are your views on the Albert Dock – and its future?
'Future is bright for us'
THE Albert Dock is in transition. It’s evolving to meet the changing needs of its customers. And the future couldn’t look much brighter.
That is the basic message from Ian Brown, director of the Albert Dock Company since November 2004, who stresses that of the dock’s 1.25m square feet, only 30,000 square feet (or 2.4%) of space is empty.
Of the retail versus leisure debate, he says: “Latterly, there has been more of a shift towards leisure and tourism but that’s not to say we are going to completely move away from retail.
“The Colonnades will certainly, for the foreseeable future, remain as retail. There is an element of retailing along the Britannia Pavilion but the market place is telling us now there is more of a demand for leisure and tourism.
“We will never please all the people all the time. But the Albert Dock will be at the epicentre of all the developments currently taking place in Liverpool.
“With 2008, the new arena and the Liverpool 1 shopping development all on the horizon, more visitors are likely to visit the dock than ever before.
“Part of our focus is about getting a strong, highly appealing product in place. This includes picking the right tenants and developing entertaining events throughout the year. We're also working with a number of arts organisations, including the Liverpool Biennial, to stage exhibitions in some of the units whilst we’re changing over tenants.
“Historically, the dock has always been a good example of a mixed use regeneration scheme. Souvenir shops sit alongside busy hotels and restaurants.
“Five million people visit the dock every year to see The Beatles Story, Merseyside Maritime Museum and Tate Liverpool and the dock has also become a successful eating and drinking destination.
“The dock will complement surrounding developments by offering a unique, relaxing environment in which to enjoy a host of leisure activities.
“From 2007 onwards, we’ll have a lot to shout about and we'll be shouting very loudly to ensure that the Albert Dock is seen as the well-loved tourist attraction it is.”
source....
You've got a point... imagine that road was taken out, and we had some nice walkways, bridges and waterways(!) inside PSD - I think it would nicely link the town centre to the docks...
Read what was wrote:
The traffic can go around the city centre - not through it.
Obvious.
I suppose they can all go to that traffic jam in the sky - the same one they all went to when Ken Livingstone issued the congestion charge in London.
There was to be chaos in London with traffic jams all over the place. There ended up with no cars and even less traffic outside the centre and not much in the centre either. So where did all the cars go? A big traffic jam in the sky?
All those cars along the Dock Rd will go the same place if the Dock Rd is blocked off.
BTW, I was in the Albert Dock yesterday a.m. and the only people there apart from myself, were a coach load of schoolkids who were visiting The Tate. The shops must make all their money over the weekend.
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It will be buzzing again when the redevelopments end and the visitors flock in. A trip to the Albert dock will be all part of the ride for them. A concert followed by a drink and a meal and a nice walk around. Or the other way around.
I used to go to the Albert Dock nearly every weekend when I was younger. I remember hiring a rowing boat with some friends, and we didnt even get lifejackets!
We could have been killed!
Oh well, I hope it does pick up, it would be sad if we were just left with bars and restaurants down there...
There was a Euro study (in the 90s I think and linked to the objective one status) ) which identified Liverpool as having one of the lowest rates of car ownership anywhere in Europe and compared it with places like the poorer parts of southern Italy. A lecturer in planning/transport at John Moores Uni produced a related study with the dept of Architecture and design concluding that at the time, the starnd could be totally barred to traffic and it would make no long term difference to traffic flow etc. How much it would make now is a different prospect with the rerouting of traffic for the new developments and big dig etc but an opportunity was defo missed I think!
Remember the council knocking back the proposed link bridge acroos the strand from Chavasse park to the Albert dock and using the old Sahnkland plan walkways as an excuse because they all ended up being demolished. The fact that a lot of them went nowhere because the whole plan (awful though most of it was) was never put in place and therefore they were not used was ignoreed.. Walkways/bridges are fine, it is the design that makes the difference. I heard the bridge may have been designed by Santiago Calatrava (sp?) which would have been amazing.
Same as them saying the cost of putting the treaffic below ground for this stretch would be too much - well Grosvenor are building a tunnel there now while traffic still uses the road. We have so suffered from a lack of vision in the past. Sorry for ranting for ages but I get a bit mad about these things.
The benefits to the physical environment would be enormous, especially between Georges dock gate and the Albert dock. The stretch from the Liver buildings to White star offices is such an impressive stretch of road and the equal in scale and width of any major city in the world. Banned to traffic, pedestrianised, the ground floor of the buildings developed and road welll planted and landscaped, this would be one of the nicest open urban spaces in Europe.
AN EIGHT metre-high floating crystal "chandelier" is to herald the renaissance of the Albert Dock as a tourist destination.
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The Fountain of Life sculpture by Chinese artist Ai Weiwei will be lit by 800 lightbulbs powered by a specially-designed underwater plug.
It is being funded by a £3.4m package to boost visitor numbers across Liverpool's waterfront attractions by providing better links between sites like the Pier Head and new Kings Dock stadium.
It includes a new exhibition centre telling the history of the Albert Dock, where the toilets will receive a major upgrade with new showers and baby changing facilities.A 35-metre pedestrian bridge will be built linking the Albert Dock to the new Kings Dock Arena and Convention Centre (ACC).
Stretching across Dukes Dock, the six metre-wide steel structure will lead visitors from the stadium to a modernised gateway at the Albert Dock's Britannia Pavilion.
And a series of signposts will lead tourists around the city's world heritage site and new canal link, encouraging them into surrounding facilities like the new Museum of Liverpool and Pier Head ferry terminal.
The projects all come under the umbrella of the Waterfront Connections scheme, being led by Liverpool Vision.
They will include better disabled access across the World Heritage Site attractions by the end of 2007, and upgrades to street decorations like flower beds.
"This is like the glue which will bind all the attractions together and create one branded Liverpool waterfront destination", said Vision's project manager, Alistair Macdonald. continues...
The numpties at the Echo using metric again.
Sigh!
:disgust:
Spotted this manhole cover at the Albert Dock recently. It was made in MANCHESTER. Oh dear !!
THE new director of Liverpool’s Albert Dock last night pledged to spearhead an “unmissable world class attraction”. more
This is great to hear. The albert dock should be more entertainment and leisure than shopping. It's a place where people go to walk around and relax, not rush about to get the latest offers.
Kev, nice photos. The dock looks quite serene with no people about. Quite an alternative sight to when I was up there last and it was bustling.:)