I DO feel that M&S have missed a trick with their proposal to close their Dolphin Centre, Poole, store in January.
I was in there on Saturday, and it seemed pretty busy to me, especially the excellent food hall which is where I feel the store’s future should lie.
Although not having access to the store’s trading figures, I do question whether the M&S management and the landlords (Legal & General) could have done more to renegotiate the lease with a view to retaining some sort of M&S presence in the town.
Whatever the Dolphin Centre bosses might say, loosing a retailer such as M&S, who have traded in Poole since well before the Dolphin Centre was built, is a HUGE blow to the town.
Surely, they could have found a way of reconfiguring and downsizing the store whereby the successful food hall on the ground floor (with all the things we like to buy) could be retained with entrance via the steps in Falklands Square.
Poole’s own ‘Mrs M&S’ Tricia Hercoe should be applauded for her valiant efforts in organising a petition against the closure and she speaks for many in the town who are dumbfounded by the decision. Sadly, her pleas seem to have fallen on deaf ears.
It appears to me that M&S’s strategy is to locate their food halls in more salubrious areas such as Broadstone, Westbourne, Ferndown and even New Milton.
Poole, it seems, is not considered ‘upmarket’ enough for them, which is a real shame.
Still time, I feel, to review the decision and keep this iconic brand in Poole.
CLIVE YOUNG
Bracken Glen, Poole
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