by Stephen Brown
Ten years ago the retailing scene in Northern Ireland was arguably at its lowest ebb. As a consequence of the IRA’s commercial bombing campaign of the early to mid-1970s, sizeable tracts of the centres of towns and cities were laid waste. Indeed, this unattractive, bomb-scarred environment, coupled with the necessary but frustrating security measures (such as restrictions on car parking and personal searches on entering stores), made shopping a difficult and singularly uninspiring experience. In these circumstances the major multiple retailers were reluctant to open outlets in Northern Ireland. And mainland property companies and funding institutions were understandably unwilling to invest in such a high-risk area.
The present decade, however, has seen existing multiple retailers (such as Marks & Spencer, Boots and BSC) increasing their representation, others opening for the first time (Dixons, B&Q, Allied Maples), and yet others who are known to be seeking sites (Children’s World, Superdrug, McDonald’s). In fact, such is the demand that rents in Belfast city centre are growing at an estimated 7% pa and, at £120 per sq ft, stand in comparison with other major provincial centres. Similarly, the once-recalcitrant property companies and financial institutions are now vying to invest in the province — and there is no shortage of opportunity. Since 1980, 20 shopping centres, totalling over 2m sq ft of floorspace, have opened and eight others, comprising 1m sq ft gross, are currently under construction.
This dramatic revitalisation of recent years is attributable to: first, the waning of the IRA’s commercial bombing campaign and a progressive reduction in restrictive security measures; second, central government-funded improvements to the environment, transportation infrastructure and inner-city housing, not to mention the availability of Urban Development Grant aid; third, the energetic promotional campaigns of town-centre retailers and local authorities; and, fourth, the rapid growth in consumer expenditure which, until recently, prevailed throughout the UK.(1)
Cross-border trade
Another important influence on the rejuvenation of the retail sector in Northern Ireland was cross-border trade. As a result of extremely high levels of indirect taxation in the Republic of Ireland, most notably VAT and excise duties, and fluctuations in the exchange rate of the Irish pound against sterling, the present decade has been characterised by a growing price discrepancy between North and South. It has been calculated that in 1987 overall prices were 20% lower in Northern Ireland than the Republic, though in certain product categories, alcohol, petrol and electrical goods in particular, the discrepancy was considerably greater.
The upshot of this prolonged price differential was a dramatic growth in cross-border shopping expeditions. What began with a trickle of bargain hunters in 1980, shortly after the break in parity between sterling and the Irish punt, had swollen by 1987 into a veritable shoppers’ “exodus”, worth an estimated £250m pa and involving no less than 12% of all households in the Republic.
The principal beneficiaries of this commercial bonanza were Belfast (as the major shopping concentration in Northern Ireland) and the border towns of Strabane, Derry, Enniskillen and, above all, Newry. Situated on the main A1-N1 route roughly half-way between Belfast and Dublin, Newry was perfectly located for this cross-border largesse. Not only did it provide an attractive shopping destination, thanks to its wide range of retail outlets, but its proximity to the Irish Republic appealed to southern shoppers who were wary of venturing too far into the “troubled” North. Newry thus comprised the perfect combination of choice, competitive prices and closeness to home.
The central area of Newry, however, proved all but incapable of coping with the demand. Such was the pressure at peak times that many local residents were said to be abandoning their own town centre and shopping in less-congested alternatives like Craigavon and Banbridge. Indeed, despite attempts to upgrade the environment, through the pedestrianisation of Hill Street (the town’s premier shopping thoroughfare), and efforts to increase accessibility through the provision of additional parking spaces and general road improvements, pre-Christmas shopping in mid-1980s’ Newry was frequently, and rightly, described as “absolute bedlam”.
The Buttercrane Centre
Given this pressure on the town’s traditional retailing system and in the light of economists’ confident predictions that the cross-border cornucopia was likely to persist, it is not surprising that property developers were quick to seize the opportunity. In mid-1986 Buttercrane Developments announced plans for a £12m edge-of-town-centre shopping complex and two years later, in November 1988, the Buttercrane Centre commenced trading.
Occupying the canal-side site of a former timber yard and historic butter market, approximately 400 yards from the bustling, if somewhat down-at-heel, Hill Street, the Buttercrane Centre is one of the larger shopping centres in Northern Ireland. It totals 200,000 sq ft gross of retailing floorspace, which is occupied by two anchor stores of 50,000 and 30,000 sq ft and 36 unit shops. The latter comprise a well-balanced mix of national retail organisations such as Next, Etam, Dorothy Perkins and Adams Childrenswear plus locally based retailers. In fact, several of the local organisations possess outlets in both the new centre and nearby Hill Street; Dunnes Stores, a prominent Irish discounter, initially turned down the opportunity to acquire a unit but has since taken one of the two anchor units, while maintaining its town-centre stores.
As well as being one of the larger shopping centres in the province, Buttercrane is also one of the more sophisticated. With its cruciform layout, hexagonal atrium, two-storey glazed roof, hand-painted, projecting shop signs, wrought-iron seating, feature lighting, detailed ceramic floor finish and heated, fully ventilated and tree-lined malls, the centre is undoubtedly the highest-specification shopping complex ever constructed in Northern Ireland.
The exterior has been carefully integrated into the existing townscape. The linear street form has been retained, as has the random stonewalling of the old market, while the triple-pitched roof adds character to the entrances yet attempts to maintain the essential urban scale of the development (or so the architects claim). Moreover, the complex is linked to the town centre and an adjacent car park by an arched pedestrian footbridge spanning the historic Newry Canal (the first man-made canal in the British Isles).
Indeed, this historical theme is continued in the centre’s interior by an especially commissioned tableaux, on the ceiling of the atrium, depicting scenes from the town’s past.
The centre’s combination of exceptional design standards, wide choice of wares, 800 ground-level parking spaces, two nights late opening and the management’s scrupulous attention to cleanliness, low-key security, continuous promotional campaigns and community involvement (for example, permitting the congregation of a nearby church to use the car park on Sundays) succeeds in attracting approximately 45,000 shoppers per week.
But for all this the centre has not been universally welcomed. When the shopping complex was first mooted, for instance, it attracted the opprobrium of some town-centre retailers and local councillors. They contended that most shoppers would drive to the proposed centre and then depart, without patronising the shops in Hill Street. The success of the scheme would thus be at the expense of the traditional town centre. Indeed, if it were not for (a) the fact that several out-of-town centres were being touted at around the same time, (b) the prospect of 400 jobs in an unemployment blackspot, (c) the town’s patent inability to cope with the volume of cross-border trade and (d) the local council’s ownership of part of the Buttercrane site it is fair to conclude that the opposition to the edge-of-centre complex would have been much more vociferous.
Since its opening, furthermore, there have been several expressions of concern about Buttercrane’s impact on the local economy and, indeed, the spiritual well-being of Newry residents! The spiritual question arose from the management’s decision to experiment with Sunday opening. On the three Sundays prior to Christmas 1988, the centre opened from 1 pm to 6 pm and, although the anchor stores remained closed, a high level of customer traffic was generated. An attempt to replicate this success in June 1989, however, ended in failure when outraged local churches voiced their indignant disapproval. In fact, it is the manager’s proud boast that his centre remains one of the few issues to unite the religions in Northern Ireland!
The economic concerns stemmed, first, from the growing evidence that even in under-shopped, low-mortgage-burdened Northern Ireland, the consumer spending boom of the 1980s is slowly grinding to a halt; second, from fears that changes in social security legislation would substantially reduce spending power in Newry, a notorious unemployment blackspot; third, from the construction of competing shopping centres in the vicinity, most notably Marks & Spencer’s development at Sprucefield(2); and, fourth, as a result of the dramatic — and totally unexpected — decline in cross-border trade.
In April 1987 the finance minister of the Republic of Ireland, concerned about the serious impact of cross-border shopping on the Irish exchequer, imposed the “48-hour” rule. This stated that the duty free allowance of £252 worth of goods would be available only to persons whose journey outside the Republic lasted at least 48 hours. Albeit contrary to EC law, and subsequently challenged by the British Government in the European Court, this legislation — much to the chagrin of Ulster retailers — effectively ended Irish shoppers’ day trips to the North.
As a child, in effect, of the cross-border shopping bonanza, the Buttercrane Centre thus came on stream when the boom had all but ended. Not unnaturally, therefore, there was considerable discussion about the centre’s relationship with, and possible impact on, the traditional shopping area. Some wondered whether a highly sophisticated shopping complex could prove successful in a town which was not only bereft of cross-border trade but comprised a predominantly low-income clientele.
A series of surveys undertaken by the University of Ulster revealed that the centre was not diverting trade from the existing town centre, but was actually attracting additional shoppers. Indeed, as these individuals tended to belong to the free-spending, higher socio-economic groups, the town appears to have benefited substantially from Buttercrane.
This conclusion is corroborated by the experience of retailers with outlets in both Buttercrane and the traditional shopping area. Without exception they have reported that the new outlets have had no impact whatsoever upon the older stores.
Buttercrane has also stimulated the construction of additional shopping facilities. A major DIY superstore, Texas Homecare, is currently being developed on an adjacent site, between the town centre and Buttercrane.
The initial fears of shopping-centre-induced dereliction thus appear to have been unfounded. Indeed, in light of the recent appreciation of the Irish punt (which is virtually at parity with sterling) and, more important, the European Court’s ruling that the “48-hour” restrictions are illegal, it seems that Newry — thanks in no small measure to Buttercrane — is in an even better position to capitalise on the envisaged cross-border shopping bonanza.
References
(1) Brown, S (1990), “Twenty years of change: Retailing in Belfast 1969-1989”, in P Doherty (ed) Geographical Perspectives on the Belfast Region, pp 54-67.
(2) Brown, S (1987), “Sparks Fly in Belfast”, Estates Gazette, Vol 282, pp 1332-1333.
