MANCHESTER'S iconic shopping emporium Afflecks Palace is facing an uncertain future.
Traders have yet to be told whether the lease on the the independent shopping centre will be renewed by owners Bruntwood when the current contract runs out on June 14.
They fear the building, in the heart of the city's Northern Quarter, could be redeveloped, or if the lease is renewed, they could be forced out of business by rent increases.
In a notice sent to traders, Afflecks Palace bosses warned any hike in rents, coupled with high rates and licence costs, could make life impossible.
The letter said: "We may find ourselves priced out of our own market.
"The rent you pay for your stall would at the very least double, which would make it unviable for most of you to continue and no longer viable for us as operators to continue to run.
"We have to face the fact that property in Manchester is now at a premium, due to development fever."
Bruntwood has so far failed to lay down new conditions, despite there being just four months left before the lease expires. A spokesman for the firm said that Afflecks Palace representatives have refused to discuss the situation.
But Afflecks Palace managers, who rent the stalls out to individual traders, claim Bruntwood has failed to provide written details of its proposals - despite nine months of requests.
Uncertain
The impasse means about 100 traders are uncertain about their future.
One trader, who did not want to be named, said: "Afflecks is the soul of the Northern Quarter - an area being pushed for its bohemian, creative qualities, but it is now under threat.
"It's one of the few places to encourage local entrepreneurs to set up new businesses relatively cheaply.
"If Afflecks goes, so does the Northern Quarter. Everyone is really worried about what is going on. No one can plan ahead and we are all living in limbo."
Afflecks Palace was set up 25 years ago and has become a key part of the city's identity.
The building has become a cultural icon which attracts shoppers from across the north west.
John Chapman, a chartered surveyor representing Afflecks Palace, said: "They are saying they want to meet us. But we want to see this notice first. Once proposals are set out in writing in this way, they will have to stick to them."
A Bruntwood spokesman said: "We are aware the building needs investment and have been trying to arrange a meeting with Afflecks Palace managers to discuss its future. To date that offer has been refused."
A council spokesman said: "Afflecks Palace is a very important part of our history and we cannot allow it to disappear."
What do you think? What are your memories of the famous Manchester landmark? Have your say below.
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Affleck Palace is one of the only unique shopping experiences in manchester helping bring forth new designers and entrepreneurs. i have worked their myself and i have been shopping their for 12 years. It will never be the same if this palace goes......long live afflecks!!!
It would be a real loss to Manchester if this landmark was to disappear - and there is a risk that the whole nature of the Northern Quarter would change as a result. The thing that I love most about Manchester is that it is a city of contrasts - please don't let the demand for new apartments ruin that.
Afflecks Palace is an institution. leave it alone ! I used to buy all my goth clothes from there as a teenager. I'd hate to see it go.
And no doubt the owners will turn it into apartments that will sell like the Hacienda ones because it is a truly iconic place and because of the name. What will happen to all the shops in there? Where are people following alternative lifestyles supposed to shop if and when it closes down? Sounds like the Corn Exchange over again.
If Afflecks Palace goes, then it is just a sign of the further erosion of culture that made that part of town famous. Manchester, like most other towns and cities, is just turning into clonesville, with the same shops as everywhere else. I'll make a trip to Manchester just to go to Afflecks Palace, but I won't go there to go to the same shops I can find everywhere else.
As a new zealander who has lived in greater manchester back in the late 90s I found discovering afflecks palace a place to discover many varied and alternative stalls which i loved to rummage through all the stuff which you dont see in this part of the world in new zealand.a good place for everybody to see and look through, a good tourist drawcard so keep it where it is and one day again when I get back to the u.k I would hope it is still ther for me to see.all the best to all the stallholders.fight for what you have and your livelihoods.
I am dismayed to read that Afflecks is under threat (again). City centres all over the UK have become so homogenised - inaccessible and alienating to those of us who don't sell our artistic souls for the sake of ever-higher earnings and the so-samey veneer of 'success'. Afflecks Palace is a hive of creativity, individuality, talent, enterprise and inspiration: it's unique. It makes me sick to watch how the slick, moneyed, outwardly 'successful' businesses so pervasively push out the smaller and infinitely more interesting, smaller ones. Is there a petition I can sign?
Please tell me this is some joke, Afflecks is one of the jewels of Manchester without question. The building does perhaps need renovation but having said that so does much of that area of the city, the traders within Afflecks are some of the most creative, dynamic and friendly that I have ever met and I shop there regularly. If Afflecks has to close to be made into apartments or more generic retail outlets I'll be devastated, it will be as if part of the city's soul is being taken away. Bruntwood do some excellent work and have played a big part in the redevelopment of Manchester since the IRA bombing, I hope they see sense on this matter and realise that unique places like Afflecks and everything it represents is unique and attracts more customers than shops you can find in every other town and city can. You can't place a monetary value on it. Leave the apartment building and mainstream shopping to the other side of the city where the top London retailers are leaving the capital for the first time to set shops up in Manchester.
Save Afflecks!!!
If the Big-Boy cloned businesses can pay more rent, then the landlords will give the premises to them. Big business doesn't care about small business. City Councils know they get a more regular and safe flow of business rates from these larger concerns. That's why our towns and High Streets are all the same. Joe Public is also to blame by habitually spending their money at these trendy outlets.
Manchester is losing it's soul, how many more homogenized shops does to the council want in the city centre. They will talk of trying to help save Afflecks but not lift a finger to do anything. Bruntwood are only interested in making money. How many iconic businesses can trace their roots to Afflecks, Red or Dead for one. The MEN should take a leading role in a campain to save one of the true landmarks of Manchester. Afflecks is part of every true mancuinan.
Once the money men get involved its doomed ? im afraid manchester is getting just like all other towns and citys in the uk.Money always get the first priority above people,Were loosing our artistic and individual status as a leader.Just look in liverpool (a model of the cavern) now thats a joke what next a model of hacienda .
Agree with most of the comments about the distintiveness of Afflecks and how important it is to Northern Quarter.I will be calling both side to the Town hall next week to to go through the issues .
It would be a disgrace if we let Afflecks go without a fight.
I urge people to e-mail/write to both Bruntwood and the council about this issue.
The reason Manchester has become succesful is that it has more to offer (ie attractions such as Afflecks) than other cities. This has caused property prices to increase, but now the developers want to take away the very things that made Manchester succesfull.
I believe Bruntwood have a social responsibility in Manchester.
At least it sounds like the council are on Affleck's side.
OK, less of the knee jerks people. I have worked with Bruntwood for the past four years and Chris Ogilsby is one of three or four property people who are actually comitted to ensuring that 'ground floor' retailing isn't all about Subway and McDonalds; He, along with Argent have ensured that local entrepreneurs have not been squeezed out. I doubt whether Chris will undo all of Bruntwoods good works for what to them is a minnow.
whens the protests starting?
if enough people care, it will stay open
Ms D, I still do lol! ;o)
The Northern Quarters soul will be destroyed if Afflecks Palace goes, it's a unique side of town that isn't a clone of every other high street and ads an extra dimension to the vibe around there. The reason people have moved into the city centre is because of it's eclectic mix of shops, bars etc. If the Iconic landmarks are closed down & turned into yet more apartments by these developers wanting making a fast buck, there'll be nothing left to live in the city centre for. Afflecks shouldn't be destroyed.
Please not yet more flats, sorry apartments
anyone remeber the corn exchange? This will go the same way.
Manchester was recently voted the 'second city' and that is because we are diverse and afflecks palace is part of that diversity!
The last surviving place where we can buy alternative clothing, and the greedy big wigs are going to take it away from us. You already took the corn exchange and the coluseum, and now this. Nice one - NOT.....
Afflecks Palace is an iconic establishment and is part of the Manchester heritage especially its contribution to the Northern Quarter. It is unique in the fact that it has given entrepreneurs the opportunity to contribute to the individuality of Afflecks. The council and MEN should really support Afflecks in retaining its status as one of the few iconic shopping experiences left in the UK. What about all the small businesses that are currently operating in Afflecks - think about the loss of all the unique shops and also that of the proprietors whom have given everything to start up their businesses. We must not allow greed and money to destroy such an iconic establishment as Afflecks Palace.
dont close Afflecks Palace
its part of manchester that is special
What's the betting Bruntwood know EXACTLY what they are going to do but are hoping that the City Council come up with an offer they cannot refuse. It's called business.
I agree with Ms D and others. Although I don't shop there now (a bit too old for that)I did as a student. I thought it was fantastic. If Afflecks closes....... Oh Manchester so much to answer for !!!!!
I read with dismay about the intended closure of Afflecks Palace , it is one of the best things to have come out of Manchester in the last 25years . It is known not only in Manchester but worldwide and many people travel to Mcr just to pay a visit. What are we going to get instead? More of the same "big name" retailers that already dominate every city and sell the same things. Without Afflecks the Northern Quarter won't survive. Come on Bruntwoods think of peoples livelihoods before your own fat wallets!