LET'S be honest, the whole 'death of King Street' doom and gloom thing was becoming tiresome.
Let's just be chuffed that the first King Street news of 2015 is one of optimism. There's nowt as dismal as 'death', 'decay' and four hundred 'To Let' signs.
'Bond Street of the North'? Give over. The three big 'R's: recession, rents and rates, had seen to that. So how do you solve a problem like King Street? Well, increase city centre parking costs of course. Footfall fell, spending habits changed, 'savvy' Aldi shopping suddenly became trendy. Fancy that.
By 2014 and they were still dropping off: Monsoon, Timberland, Aubin & Wills, Duo... A few of the street's luxury old guard stood true, Hermes, Watches of Switzerland, but then it's much easier to meet rent when you only need one person to drop £5,000 on a Birkin bag or Rolex GMT.
Something had to change. As far back as 2009, in an article gravely titled, The Death Of King Street, the editor argued that a few spots to eat and drink (and some traffic?) might pick things up a tad.
Come 2015 and talk has turned again to food and drink. It is hoped that a sprinkle of bars/restaurants/cafes added into the mix (alongside new and well-performing retailers like Bravissimo) will return confidence and feet to the street.
King Street with the potential new Quill unit (first on the right)
It's an obvious move. With a swelling city centre population and tourism numbers soaring (Manchester is fast-catching Edinburgh as the UK's second most visited city) the competition for city centre bar and restaurant units is fierce.
New-to-Manchester operators (Hawksmoor, Iberica, El Gato Negro, Wahaca, Burger & Lobster, the list goes on...) are scrambling for space, and you need only look a short way up Deansgate to The Avenue in Spinningfields (dubbed a 'retail graveyard' in early-2014) to see the impact change of use from high-end retail to drinking and dining can have. New restaurants Thaikhun and Fazenda - formerly LK Bennett and Ted Baker - are rammed.
Good news then that King Street's first licence application of 2015 has landed on Council desks.
Quill Restaurant - from the team behind Didsbury's Chalk Bar and Grill - is set to open in the former-Duo unit at 20-22 King Street (between The Body Shop and White Stuff) if approved by the licensing committee.
Chalk Bar and Grill, an independent venture by Didsbury businessman Chris Longmate and Dominic Gottelier, the former general manager of Alderley Edge's long-standing Wizard gastropub (reviewed here), opened on Wilmslow Road in Summer 2014 to decent reviews - read ours from October 2014 here.
Quill will be their second operation.
Quill is from the team behind Didsbury's Chalk Bar & Grill
Confidential has been in touch about the slant of the new restaurant but the guys are giving very little away at present, as is often the way when licence applications are still under review (Hospitality 101: Never ever mug off licensing).
We're told more details about Quill will be released in the next few weeks. We'll be sure to let you know as soon as we get them.
But for now, let's just be chuffed that the first King Street news of 2015 is one of optimism. There's nowt as dismal as 'death', 'decay' and four hundred 'To Let' signs. Now, let's get that empty Monsoon store sorted shall we...
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