Fears Cotswold Designer Outlet near M5 will 'suck the lifeblood out of Cheltenham town centre'
There are fears the new Cotswold Designer Outlet being built in Gloucestershire will take a huge amount of trade from Cheltenham town centre shops. The new retail site off junction 9 of the M5 near Tewkesbury, will introduce up to 90 new, high-quality fashion, sports, lifestyle and F&B brands in a 186,000 sq ft Cotswolds-inspired setting.
The designer outlet aims to serve the areas between Bristol and Birmingham as well as tourists visiting the Cotswolds, with the historic town of Tewkesbury on its doorstep. But town centre traders in Cheltenham fear the designer outlet, which is due to open next spring, will seriously impact them.
An audit of the town centre shops jointly commissioned by Cheltenham Business Improvement District and the Borough Council in summer 2022 identified 28 units out of a total of 200 as visibly vacant on the five streets surveyed. This was slightly better than the national average and substantially better than that seen in some other comparable towns.
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But traders are worried what will become of the town if it is not made an attractive place to bring in the right traders and more customers.
Keith Graham, who owns The Famous on The Prom shop, fears the outlet centre could affect Cheltenham town centre in a similar way that Gloucester Quays took trade out of the city centre. “The big elephant in the room is going to be the new outlet centre at Tewkesbury,” he said.
“That is going to take a huge amount of trade away from Cheltenham. I mean a huge amount.
“The car park there is going to have thousands of spaces. I also think it’s wrong that they are calling it Cotswold.
"It’s not bloody Cotswolds and never has been, it’s Tewkesbury.
“But it could have a very serious effect on us in the town in a similar way as the outlet centre in the Quays did to the city of Gloucester. It sucked all the lifeblood out of the centre of the town.
“As you see in Cheltenham now the high street is shrinking very rapidly.
"Cheltenham town centre retail now is really only two streets the top end of the High Street from Boots Corner to John Lewis that section is quite busy for retail.
“Then you’ve got The Promenade but look at how many empty shops there are at the moment and there are going to be a lot more shortly. You’ve got to make Cheltenham attractive to get the right traders.”
A spokesperson for Cotswolds Designer Outlet said they anticipate they will draw in visitors from Gloucestershire and from further afield.
“The outlet model’s discount to full price retail is a key point of differentiation from town centre shopping, and this attracts a far-reaching regional customer base,” they said.
“We anticipate Cotswolds Designer Outlet will draw visitors from across the region as well as tourists, and become part of the well-rounded offer in the Cotswolds. ”
Cheltenham Business Improvement District declined to comment.