Families join fight to save ice cream stall in Potteries Shopping Centre
SHOPPERS have come out in support of an ice cream stall which could be forced to close or move.
Tennessee Secrets has been selling ice creams and frozen yoghurt in the Potteries Shopping Centre, in Hanley, for around two decades.
But it is now under threat from multi-million pound modernisation plans for Debenhams.
It is understood the department store wants the area of the mall approaching its doors, where the ice cream stand is based, kept clear.
Business Cards From Only £10.95 Delivered www.myprint-247.co.uk
View detailsOur heavyweight cards have FREE UV silk coating, FREE next day delivery & VAT included. Choose from 1000's of pre-designed templates or upload your own artwork. Orders dispatched within 24hrs.
Terms: Visit our site for more products: Business Cards, Compliment Slips, Letterheads, Leaflets, Postcards, Posters & much more. All items are free next day delivery. www.myprint-247.co.uk
Contact: 01858 468192
Valid until: Friday, May 31 2013
Staff have been given redundancy notices and have now gathered around 300 signatures on a petition.
A source said: "A lot of people are upset about what is going on.
"The shopping centre has told the stall it has got to move because of work at Debenhams.
"Staff were given their notices but have had them extended for a few weeks because the owner and the shopping centre are still talking things through.
"They have been offered a stall on the footbridge between the car park and shopping centre but that won't be any good.
"The stall has been there for years.
"It deserves a prominent place and that is what customers expect."
Department store Debenhams is undergoing a complete revamp with a new layout.
It is expected to be completed in September with a new brow bar in the beauty section.
Quiz and Lipsy will be added to the womenswear department, the handbag section will be extended and a new Shoe World will be introduced.
The refurbishment will also see a new personal shopping suite created, as well as a web shop and a modernised wedding gift area.
Shopping centre managers and the owner of Tennessee Secrets are still believed to be negotiating what will happen to the stall.
Regular customer Jean Wilson, aged 68, from Basford, said: "I have been having ice creams from tere for years and my grandchildren love it as a treat.
"It is nice to know we have still got some independent retailers who aren't part of big chains.
"I'm sure the regulars will follow them wherever they go but I hope this doesn't put them off trading and they close all together.
"They need a place where people can see them."
Rebecca Scott, aged 27, a customer services adviser from Clayton, said: "It is not fair if the ice cream stall has got to move because of Debenhams, but I suppose we will never get told if that is the real reason.
"Small businesses need all the help they can get.
"I would sign the petition. I like that stall."
The Potteries Shopping Centre and the owner of Tennessee Secrets declined to comment on the situation.
Comments
by deluded366
Sunday, July 15 2012, 10:53AM
“@BucknallMel ... "people on it are either just coming in (therefore not in need of refreshment) or on their way home (and likely to save their money, because they can get refreshments at home"
Haha no, they are saving their money to pay for the extortionate parking charges!...
I hope it stays. Independant retailers in the Potteries is only a good thing. It's nice to see something original rather than the same old shops you see in every other shopping centre. What on earth do Debanhams need the mall leading up to the shop front for anyway? They already occupy 2 floors with entrances on all 3!
I can think of plenty of places they could move to that are only rarely used for promotions. Surely a permenant unit occupying these spaces would be better than having it empty 90% of the time...”
by BucknallMel
Saturday, July 14 2012, 12:18PM
“A web shop is part of the plans? Are Debenhams perhaps not aware that people can access the web from their homes and their phones, and don't need an actual 'shop'? Some 'modernisation'. Makes no difference to me what they put in, I'm boycotting them from now on because of this abysmal treatment of a popular little business. They're right, the footbridge is no kind of location for them - people on it are either just coming in (therefore not in need of refreshment) or on their way home (and likely to save their money, because they can get refreshments at home). Shame on you, Debenhams.”
by promax
Saturday, July 14 2012, 11:49AM
“If you have coffee flavour,you can set up down the COUNCIL OFFICES..There is alot of licking going on down there.”