SLUMP? WHERE WAS THE BOOM?

22-01-2008

Fearing an economic slump amid tales of falling global share prices? Take a trip to Walsall’s main shopping arcade and you’ll see that the chill wind of recession already seems to be blowing through parts of the West Midlands.

Walking around the Saddlers Centre yesterday, it was noticeable that the top floor already has several empty shop units and a large catering franchise which is currently unlet.

One clothing store has posters advertising its opening in December 2007 but already seems to have closed down. This is a busy thoroughfare, too, with an entrance to the railway station – no footfall problems here.

You can’t draw too many conclusions from a few “To Let” signs in a single shopping centre of course, but just a couple of hours in Walsall – a town I’ve spent plenty of time in lately – feels very different to strolling around the centre of Brum.

There are many fewer suits, less designer labels, and an altogether shabbier feel. If the last decade has been “the good times”, there’s precious little evidence that this place has seen much of the benefit.

At least one café in town still sells Big Breakfasts for £2.50 (including tea) and as you tuck into a piled plate, you wonder how it can survive.

Don’t get me wrong. Walsall is a perfectly pleasant place to stroll around, and it is mostly open for business.

It’s no better or worse than most of the suburban shopping centres of the West Midlands. Things are certainly better here than they were in the dark and dismal early '80s.

The Crossing at St Paul’s Church in Darwall Street near the space-age bus station has a smart boutiquey feel, and there’s no shortage of bustle.

But it’s still a long way from the shimmery discs of Selfridges and those city centre apartments that bulk out Birmingham’s lifestyle supplements.

If there is a slump, you know that in Walsall it won’t just be buy-to-let landlords who are feeling the pinch.