Britain's first ever American-style shopping centre to be DEMOLISHED in huge overhaul this summer

The Sun

12-05-2025

THE UK's first American-style shopping centre is set to be bulldozed this summer after the council gave the go-ahead for a major revamp.
The Viking Centre, located in Jarrow town centre, will undergo partial demolition following approval from South Tyneside Council's planning department.
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The plans focus on tearing down "a number of units that are largely vacant, including the former Wilko building on the corner of Bede Precinct and Ellison Street".
Several of the neighbouring units have been standing empty, with some last used by charity shops.
The overhaul is aimed at opening up space for future redevelopment.
According to the approved application, the Jarrow Buffs Social Club at 96 Ellison Street is not included in the demolition area and will remain untouched.
The application was submitted earlier this year by Sheet Anchor Investments Limited, the owners of the site, and was approved on April 29, 2025.
No objections were received during the public consultation period.
Planning officers noted that the method of demolition was appropriate for the site and that the restoration plans would leave the area in a 'tidy condition'.
Demolition work is due to start in July and finish by 1 December 2025, reports Chronicle Live.
That means the site could be cleared in time for the busy Christmas season.
The buildings will be knocked down using a top-down method, with the roof removed first, followed by perimeter walls.
Major high street retailer with 17 Scots stores to close 'a THIRD' of UK shops
They will be demolished down to 'slab level'.
Extra safety and environmental measures will be in place, including fencing, dust suppression systems, and a wheel wash system for all site vehicles.
Council officials confirmed the site is not listed, not part of a conservation area, and holds no local or national protected status.
Checks with the council's countryside team found minimal risk to protected species like bats or nesting birds.
However, two informative notes were included as a precaution.
Under planning rules, demolition must begin within five years – but documents confirm that work on the Viking Centre is firmly scheduled to begin this summer.
The Sun has approached South Tyneside Council for comment.
Why are retailers closing shops?
EMPTY shops have become an eyesore on many British high streets and are often symbolic of a town centre's decline
The Sun's business editor Ashley Armstrong explains why so many retailers are shutting their doors.
In many cases, retailers are shutting stores because they are no longer the money-makers they once were because of the rise of online shopping.
Falling store sales and rising staff costs have made it even more expensive for shops to stay open.
The British Retail Consortium has predicted that the Treasury's hike to employer NICs from April 2025, will cost the retail sector £2.3billion.
At the same time, the minimum wage will rise to £12.21 an hour from April, and the minimum wage for people aged 18-20 will rise to £10 an hour, an increase of £1.40.
In some cases, retailers are shutting a store and reopening a new shop at the other end of a high street to reflect how a town has changed.
The problem is that when a big shop closes, footfall falls across the local high street, which puts more shops at risk of closing.
Retail parks are increasingly popular with shoppers, who want to be able to get easy, free parking at a time when local councils have hiked parking charges in towns.
Many retailers including Next and Marks & Spencer have been shutting stores on the high street and taking bigger stores in better-performing retail parks instead.
In some cases, stores have been shut when a retailer goes bust, as in the case of Carpetright, Debenhams, Dorothy Perkins, Paperchase, Ted Baker, The Body Shop, Topshop and Wilko to name a few.
What's increasingly common is when a chain goes bust a rival retailer or private equity firm snaps up the intellectual property rights so they can own the brand and sell it online.
They may go on to open a handful of stores if there is customer demand, but there are rarely ever as many stores or in the same places.
The Centre for Retail Research (CRR) has warned that around 17,350 retail sites are expected to shut down this year
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