Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
TK Maxx moving in to Royal Mail Arena Premises
Following the success of their Wood Green Branch, TK Maxx are planning to open a new store in Harringay.
With the vacant space created in the Arena Retail by the departure of the Royal Mail, TK Maxx have reached agreement with Arena's owners, Coal Pension Property Ltd, to occupy the former Royal Mail space and to add a mezzanine floor to it. This will create a store of just under 24,000 square feet (2,200 Sq m), which is just under 15% of the total retail space at the Arena shopping Park.
"Big Labels, Small Prices" store TK Maxx opened in 1994 and is part of TJX Companies, which also owns Homesense and Marshalls. In October 2011 it had 261 stores across the UK and Ireland. The company claim that a typical store has 50,000 items in stock and receives about 10,000 new items a week.
In a recent mini poll by The Guardian newspaper, TK Maxx was the overwhelming favourite in in a face-off with bargain basement competitor Matalan. TK Maxx took 68% of the 1,169 votes compared with Matalan's 18%.
One survey respondent commented:
"Had some fantastic bargains in TK Maxx on homewares. Dartington crystal decanters and jugs typically down from £70-£80 to £10-£15. Great for gifts (especially if you "accidentally" leave the original maker's price on). Good deals on Tefal, Le Creuset etc."
I'm not sure TK Maxx would be my first choice as tenant for the premises, but with John Lewis unlikley to move in, I guess I'll have to welcome the opportunity of bagging some bargain basement clothes and Homeware
Good for the Area?
Under the banner LCSP, local resident Ian Sygrave has submitted an objection to the planning application because of the loss of the Royal Mail Sorting office which is part of the whole change.
For my part, I'm hoping that the planning committee will take a very careful look at the impact that a store of this size will have on traffic. Opening a TK Maxx isn't just adding 15% more retail space, it's adding 24,000 square feet of retail space that will likely be very well used.
Have the Council required a transport impact study to be done? Remember how they totally missed this when Sainsbury's expanded? Remember the chaos the ensued?
A travel plan submitted by the former Arena owners in 2007 prior to the opening of Fitness First estimated that retail space generates six times the traffic than that generated by leisure activities such as a gym.
The current planning application from the Arena landlord says:
The application premises are located in a sustainable location with good public transport links located in close proximity to the site. In addition there is a large resident catchment population thereby enabling local residents to either walk or cycle to the application premises.
Really? I wonder what proportion of their customers will live in walking distance and how many will cycle? Has anyone calculated the likely extra number of car trips it will generate on local roads?
So, a cautious welcome to TK Maxx, but I'd like some reassurance that this time round the traffic impact is being properly looked at and the Council aren't sleep walking their way in to this again.
Tags for Forum Posts: arena shopping park, t k maxx
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by JulieB on
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I live just off St Anne's road and if I'm not in my post goes to Broad Lane, which is a tiny post office (I've no idea where they store all the parcels, it's certainly not industrial estate sizing) and a real pain to get to.
I did go once and it was so awful I now always request a redelivery through www.royalmail.com/redelivery and ask for it to be redlivered when I know I'll be in or for a small(ish) fee I could get it delivered to the PO on Green Lanes. I've been using the redelivery service for several years now and it's generally good and much, much less hassle than traipsing over to Broad Lane.
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Permalink Reply by 175uwds8w1y9e on
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...and what changes to the road system are being considered within the planning application to ensure the already pain in the arse junction doesn't get any worse?: NONE... usual Haringey planning: nothing gets done until it costs more to do nothing... there is a traffic assesment in the planning application, just as there was for the Tottenahm Hale retail park and development... and what a pleasure it is to sit in a car in that fiasco: really adds and enhances to that reputable Tottenham atmosphere.
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Permalink Reply by Andy H on
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you know, what we could REALLY do with rather than a TKM is a nice dog stadium or roller derby arena
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Permalink Reply by Hugh on
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That's a brilliant idea! And, hey they could also do circuses and the Horse of the Year Show and classical music concerts and all sorts.
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Permalink Reply by Alison P on
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Just to echo Tunbridge Wells, the new place is a long long way off. In fact it seems particularly hard to reach from the east - you could go via Upper Holloway (so from Harringay Green Lanes BR) but the road the site is on can't actually be accessed directly from Hollway Rd, you have to walk round in a big loop to get to it. Seems a bit short sighted to me, I would almost certainly ask for my parcel to be redelivered (assuming that option is still available in these troubled times).
As for the TK Maxx traffic fantasy .. ahem .. prediction what utter b#€$$€###s. Seriously - they are going to all the trouble of opening a new store and they think all their customers will come from people already visiting the existing shops? Completely mad, I do not believe TX Maxx expect this for one moment. I remember, like lots of people here, the traffic bedlam when the bigger Sainsburies opened - something that's really not that far off being repeated, especially at Xmas. It is so sensitive to the external traffic in the area - one little hitch on Green Lanes can cause complete gridlock. This new shop will just make that even more likely.
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Permalink Reply by Kerry-Ann Goode on
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Are they listed buildings?
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Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton on
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This page on Haringey's website gives detailed information about nationally and locally listed buildings in Haringey. It was last updated in May 2012.
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I'm not completely sure what buildings you're referring to, Kerry. If you mean the Arena Shopping Park buildings, no they're certainly not listed.
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Permalink Reply by Clive Carter on
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I believe the building in question existed before the Arena shopping centre was built.
It's probably the vestige of an industrial estate with some light industrial zoning (?). If you've ever visited the parcel collection office, you'll know that the emphasis is on functionality.
The Arena buildings that surround the sorting and Parcel Office are a much more modern addition. That construction are large warehouse-like buildings with a mediocre veneer and surrounded by a sea of parking spaces visible from the main road. I'm not sure why a building of such quality, on a high-profile prominent site, obtained planning permission from the local council.
There's no historical or architectural heritage aspect to either building. However, for the residents of N4 who collect their parcels from the office, the absence of such merit is much out weighed by the convenience of the location.
If a parcels office on this site has to close, Royal Mail should offer a replacement within N4 - probably on another industrial estate, for space reasons.
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I don't know the N4 depot but the one in Hornsey was mentioned and that looks like it could be listed.
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My impression is that the end of the Royal Mail lease (at the back of the Arena buildings) is being used as an excuse/reason to 'rationalise' the N8 parcels collection office as well.
And the proposed changes probably are rational from the point of view of a Royal Mail accountant. But they're not rational from the point of view of the public.
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The Hornsey one is a nice old building, Kerry-Ann. But a quick look at the listings Alan links to suggests that it's not listed.
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