Can Bold Street hold its own now?

Feb 26 2008 Alistair Houghton

IT’S long been known as the Bond Street of the North – but is Liverpool’s Bold Street set to be eclipsed by the flashier new walkways of Liverpool One?

Bold Street’s range of independent shops, smaller chain stores and eateries make it unique in the city centre.

But later this year Grosvenor’s long-awaited £1bn Liverpool One shopping centre will open its doors and is sure to shift Liverpool’s shopping centre of gravity towards Paradise Street.

The development will also bring many more people into Liverpool, which regeneration officials hope will benefit the whole city centre.

With so many shoppers set to head for another part of town altogether, traders in Bold Street have been left fearing what the future holds – but are confident that if they work together to promote the street then it can retain its position as one of the city’s premier shopping streets.

Dick Mawdsley, co-owner of the street’s two Utility home and giftware shops, told the Daily Post last week that he feared his stores could see turnover fall by as much as 20% – but said he believed the street could survive and thrive if businesses there joined forces to encourage visitors.

“If we can brand ourselves as Liverpool’s independent, cool quarter, then it could benefit us all,” he said.

Liverpool’s Business Improvement District has also confirmed it is considering extending its scope to cover Bold Street and plans to meet traders there over coming weeks to discuss what it can offer. Bid representatives will be holding a meeting at Modo in Fleet Street next Monday for Bold Street businesses to discuss the street's future.

News from Nowhere bookshop is one of the independent mainstays of the street – and the co-operative that runs it remains confident that the district can continue to thrive.

Member Mandy Vere said Bold Street’s quirky nature meant it would keep attracting shoppers and visitors.

“I don’t think we’re that worried because Bold Street is such a unique street,” she said. “It’s going to hold its own.

“The nature of this street is completely different from Liverpool One. Bold Street has such a fun vibe because it’s mostly independent and quirky shops – Fair Trade and family businesses, a lot of international stuff. It’s the most interesting street in Liverpool.

“It will be more of a problem for Church Street than Bold Street. It’s got the big department stores and it’s already looking like a ghost town.

“John Lewis is moving and that’s people’s biggest reason for going into town.”

Ms Vere said she wanted to see Liverpool City Council give more support to the street, both by promoting it as a shopping destination and even offering reduced rates to encourage independent businesses.

“It’s an area of cultural significance that attracts tourists,” she said.

“Why are they not labelling Bold Street as a great thing for Liverpool? They talk about the developments on the waterfront – whether you like them or not – but they don’t big up the fact they’ve got this interesting and quirky street.

“Liverpool is about interesting and quirky. That’s why the city got Capital of Culture. But they seem to have forgotten us.”

Bold Street’s Shared Earth fair trade shop is one of a small chain of seven in the UK.

Manager Sophie Shephard said her shop benefited from being on an open street rather than in a shopping centre.

“I think the shops that will see the most change are those in Church Street,” she said.

“Bold Street has got so many interesting shops that people will still come here. If anything, more people will come to Liverpool shopping rather than going to Manchester when Liverpool One opens.”

Last year Rosaria Crolla opened The Italian Club, half-way up Bold Street.

Ms Crolla says she has no regrets about choosing Bold Street as a venture for her thriving business, a cross between a restaurant, café and deli. She is also convinced that Bold Street’s range of independent cafes and shops will still attract customers even when Liverpool One opens its doors.

“Bold Street represents the polar opposite of Liverpool One,” she said.

“Liverpool One will have big restaurant chains, so I don’t see them as competition because we’re more independent and family-run.

“I’ve visited many cities across the UK and I don’t know of anywhere else that has a street like Bold Street in the city centre. You don’t feel you’re in a city centre – it’s got a unique atmosphere.”

Ms Crolla says Bold Street will benefit if Liverpool One brings many more people into the city.

“Liverpool One will, hopefully, bring so many more people to the city that at the moment bypass it because of the lack of good shopping,” she said.

“I come from Glasgow, which has a very similar recent history to Liverpool. We had Capital of Culture in 1990 and the city has transformed itself. Liverpool will develop in the same way. That has to lead to more people being attracted to the city.”

Ms Crolla made a substantial investment in her premises to open the Italian Club – and she believes more businesses and their landlords need to up their game to make the street a still more attractive place to visit.

“We have to be confident about the future but we have to keep up our end of the bargain,” she said. “Bold Street has to attract better operators. People have to continue to invest.

“Bold Street has got to pick up its skirts a wee bit and make sure it continues to provide independent retailers and restaurants of quality.

“Landlords have to make sure that people who come to the street are quality operators.”

Next month MARCH a new gallery devoted to Victorian-era Liverpool artist James William Carling will open above Bold Street’s Maggie May’s Cafe.

The gallery has been created by cafe owner John Lea to honour the itinerant artist, who died a pauper at 29 in 1887.

As a child pavement artist, Carling himself was often chased off Bold Street, which he described as the “promenade of the local aristocracy”.

Writing years later he wrote: “Bold Street! My heart sickens at your name. And well it might, for not only could I not draw in that street, I could not walk on it.”

He would surely be surprised to hear that a gallery of his work could now become a tourist draw on the street his feet feared to tread.

As John Lea’s son Andy says: “It will be another option for people to come up the street.”

But despite the developments at Maggie May’s, Mr Lea admits he is “scared” of the potential impact Liverpool One could have on Bold Street.

“Bold Street has a great range of shops but at the end of the day it’s the consumers who decide,” he said.

“For as much as we’ve got up here, we don’t know what’s going to happen. But Bold Street has got the diversity to keep people up here.

“I’d say 60% to 70% of our customers are regulars – people from neighbouring businesses coming in for lunch, for example. I’m hoping they’ll stick with us. As for Saturday trade, I don’t know.”

Jan Bonello, co-owner of expanding Warrington-based coffee shop business Be Offee, said her company was looking for a base in Liverpool city centre but decided against Bold Street.

She said: “It’s got so many coffee shops – Starbucks, Costa, Caffe Nero and a couple of independents – and I don’t think it’s busy enough to support another coffee shop.”

Bold Street’s traders face a tough challenge from Liverpool One in what is already set to be a tough year for retailers and the wider economy. Now they face an anxious wait to see if the Bond Street of the North can retain its lustre.