Waitrose has recently opened stores in Helensburgh and Stirling
The Waitrose – or ‘posh’ – effect has attracted more than a few column inches in the press in recent weeks, as new Waitrose stores have opened in Helensburgh, and in Stirling city centre. What is the ‘Waitrose effect’? Well, estate agents UK-wide have observed that house prices in the vicinity of Waitrose stores can rise by around 25 percent, with some claiming that house values in certain areas are boosted by as much as twice that. It seems that local business reaps benefits too, with evidence to suggest that small businesses like delis, restaurants and cafes are more likely to invest in an area when they discover that a Waitrose is planned for the neighbourhood. With frequent sightings of Kate Middleton, Duchess of Cambridge, skipping happily across Anglesey’s Waitrose car park, scooting her trolley between admiring onlookers, it’s pretty clear that Waitrose meets with royal approval too.
So, specifically, what does the Waitrose opening in January mean for Stirling? We’ve yet to see what effect the presence of the new Waitrose store in the Burghmuir area of Stirling will do to house prices, but what is clear is that the arrival of Waitrose proves that yet another trusted brand classes Stirling as a great place to put down some roots. While some commentators view this Waitrose ‘seal of approval’ as snobbery, you have to admit that having big, trusted names nearby can give a city and its inhabitants confidence: confidence to stay, confidence to raise their children there, and confidence to invest in a city they’re proud of.
Whatever the prevailing views are on the Waitrose effect, there’s no denying that the store’s arrival has brought welcome focus to a previously under-utilised area of the city of Stirling, heading up the main route out to Bannockburn. And on that count, the timing couldn’t be better. With high-profile preparations under way for the 700th anniversary of the Battle of Bannockburn in 2014, this part of Stirling will be increasingly under the tourism spotlight. A re-enactment of the famous battle of Bannockburn, so integral to the Scottish psyche, will be central in Scotland’s ‘Year of Homecoming’ events calendar in 2014, itself expected to attract thousands of visitors from across the world.
So, while no sane person would choose to holiday in a city just because it boasts a Waitrose, it’s probable that the store’s presence will have positive and long-lasting effects on tourism. The Waitrose name joins an already impressive list of vendors in the city centre that offer shopping choices that range from big brands in the city’s pedestrian precinct and Thistles Arcade to locally grown produce in Port Street farmers’ markets. The city is increasingly becoming not only a destination for history, culture and the arts, but an ever more desirable place to spend an afternoon shopping, whether that be behind a trolley in the sparkly new Waitrose, or wending cobbled streets to buy straight from the farmer across a gingham-covered market stall.
Photograph courtesy of Waitrose Media Centre.