Super Saturday? Super quiet
It’s a bumper Olympic Diary this week as it seems all anyone can talk about is the Games. It may have been Super Saturday for British athletics last weekend, but it was anything but for West End retailers. One landlord in the prime tourist hotspot of Leicester Square told EGi that trading was down by 20-30% on Saturday. A drop that will have lost already struggling retailers potentially hundreds of thousands of pounds.
And the gold medal goes to
Diary has heard of plenty of property-related businesses rewarding staff with tickets to the Olympics. Some have held competitions, others have filled hospitality seats with staffers after many corporates were instructed not to accept gift tickets. (Damn you, cursed Bribery Act!) Yet, there is one performance that impressed Diary. For giving all of its 230 London staff a ticket to the Games, the gold medal for outstanding act of Olympic generosity goes to IPD.
Want to make a night of it?
And now, shock horror, for some non-Olympics-related news. Readers who, like Diary, are partial to the odd night out clubbing, might have noticed that Edward Symmons has been instructed to sell stalwart Leeds nightclub Stinky’s Peephouse. For those of you who are not familiar with the establishment, Stinky’s has played host for almost 20 years to the legendary Backtobasics club night, which has attracted DJs such as Felix da Housecat and Ibiza veteran Paul Woolford. More recently, it has been the setting for student night Suck my Disco. So, for investors who are eager to relive their youth, the 2,000 sq ft club could be yours for £200,000. Alternatively, Edward Symmons says it does have potential for a change of use.
Swept away by the Phelps effect
Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps’ waterside Baltimore bachelor pad is up for sale. But on the US real estate website where the news was broken, more explanation was given to the location of the property than the sale itself. And all because most Americans are apparently unable to grasp the concept of living anywhere other than a vast expanse of dry land. The site helpfully explained: “Once you experience the ocean or large bodies of water, and especially if you win 19 Olympic medals in it, you just can’t tear yourself away. After that, being landlocked, even the very thought of it, brings on tinges of claustrophobia.” So now they know.
Cardiff puts in winning performance
The West End and London hotels may be suffering from the Olympic influx that never was, but it’s a different story in, wait for it, Wales. Diary hears that Cardiff is positively booming and is enjoying double the number of daily visitors than is usual for this time of year as spectators flock to watch the Olympic football at the Millennium Stadium. Hotel bookings are understood to be up by more than a third for July, with bookings on kick-off day, 23 July, up by 114%. Maybe we were building all those extra hotel rooms in the wrong city.
