The city’s ongoing retail revival received a Good Friday boost, with HALLS of Ripon department store opening its new showcase frontage this morning.
Ripon’s only department store closed for a major reconfiguration in January, but partially reopened on March 13.
This morning store director Mike Cooper told the Stray Ferret:
“We are delighted to be fully reopen for this important Easter trading period.”
The new display counters at Red Buttons Jewellers
He said:
“We had people working here through the night to make sure that our front doors on Fishergate would be open today.
“Now customers will be able to see the full picture of how the refurbishment has enabled us to revamp the layout, while creating space for existing independent traders to expand and for new entrants to set up business here.”
Zoe Wotherspoon, whose Robin Gifts ladies fashion and accessories occupies the prime front of store position, said:
“We were desperate to get open for the busy holiday period and look forward to welcoming existing and new customers to see what we are offering.
“In addition to our spring and summer fashions, we have introduced a new range of Ripon and Yorkshire cushions to add to the home and personal accessories that we sell.”
The reconfiguration has enabled her business to expand by 40 percent, while Linda Liversidge, proprietor of Montpellier Dressers – which, like Robin Gifts was previously located in Harrogate – has also expanded and increased its range of vintage high end fashion and accessories.
Ms Liversidge (pictured above) said:
“I started with one stall here and now have four. It’s such a good location for the type of goods that I sell.”
During the transformative works, entry was via the Marshall Way Car Park entrance and the Hive Cafe – which was able to remain open throughout.”
Hedley Hall’s vast array of vintage models and collectables has a fresh new look
Owned by Ripon-based property investment and development company Sterne Properties Limited, the former Wrens store reopened under its new HALLS of Ripon branding in July 2021.
Main image: Zoe Wotherspoon owner of Robin Gifts, is pictured outside HALLS of Ripon’s now reopened Fishergate entrance with director Mike Cooper.
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Halls of Ripon, the city’s only department store, will re-open with new traders from tomorrow morning (Wednesday, March 13).
The store on Fishergate closed for a major revamp and reconfiguration in January.
Ahead of tomorrow’s reopening, the Stray Ferret was invited for a sneak peek at the new-look layout.
Halls of Ripon director Mike Cooper (pictured above) said:
“For the next few days, entry will be via the Marshall Way Car Park entrance and Hive Cafe – which has remained open throughout the reconfiguration works.”
He added:
“Following discussions with our landlord, we decided that it was safe to allow customers in to the part of the building where the refurbishment has already been completed. The remaining works on the Fishergate frontage is ongoing.”
Hedley Hall’s vintage vehicles and collectables
The reconfiguration has increased floorspace and Mr Cooper added:
“We will be reopening with new entrants including Timeless Treasures (archaeological finds) Dennis Fielding (antiques and collectables) and Signature Baby Boutique.”
Halls of Ripon’s expanded offer includes a wide range of women’s fashion.
Owned by Ripon-based property investment and development company Sterne Properties Ltd, the former Wrens store re-opened under its new Halls of Ripon branding in July 2021.
Operations director Barry Cooper, who works alongside his father Mike and runs the Red Buttons Jewellers in Halls, said:
“We anticipated that the post-covid bounce back for Ripon retail would be led by the city’s strong mix of independent businesses and we got it right.
“The proof of the pudding can be seen in the fact that we are expanding when many of the big names on the high street are downsizing their portfolios and closing stores.”
Simon Richardson with his Timeless Treasure stall, is one of the three new entrants.
He added:
“We’re sure that Peacocks who opened a few doors down from us at the end of February, and Trespass who opened in the former Barclays Bank building in November, will have chosen Ripon ahead of other locations.
“This is because Ripon’s mixture of independent retailers and hospitality businesses, combined with affordable parking and £2 fares on the 36 bus all make this historic city an attractive proposition.”
Read more:
- Ripon-based property company plans further investment in the city
- Famous Halls retail name back on Ripon high street
No 11: Curzon closure does not signal the end of cinema in Ripon
In this article, which is part of a series on the 12 stories in the Harrogate district that shaped 2023, we look at the closure in July of Ripon’s Curzon cinema
Film lovers in Ripon and the surrounding area suffered a blow on July 1 when Curzon, the London-headquartered cinema operator, closed the doors forever at its North Street premise.
That came just ten years after it opened in a blaze of positive publicity.
Has the city seen its final picture show? Or will the projectors be rolling again in 2024?
At the time of Curzon’s withdrawal, landlord Sterne Properties Limited, stated its own disappointment, but also announced plans to bring a community-run cinema to Ripon to operate alongside a leisure hub designed for families with young children.
The James Bond film No Time to Die, was one of the last blockbuster movies to be shown at Curzon’s Ripon cinema
With the New Year just (weeks/days away) the Stray Ferret asked Robert Sterne, director of the Ripon-based property and investment company, for an update.
He told us:
“The closure of Curzon in July this year was a huge disappointment all round, but we see this as an opportunity to make (subject to planning consent) some big changes so that the cinema better serves the community.”
He pointed out:
“There has been lots of interest from a whole range of cinema operators which we are considering alongside a community-run, not for profit venture. However Curzon still hold a lease over the property and it will therefore have to remain closed until terms can be agreed to bring it back under our control. “
Mr Sterne, added:
“We are working hard to this end and hope to be able to give some further updates in the New Year”
A family-focused new facility
In July, Mr Sterne told the Stray Ferret:
“Film lovers can take comfort that one cinema screen will be retained to be run as a community project. That way overheads, and therefore ticket prices, can be reduced whilst continuing to show a range of great films and streaming of live events.
“In addition we are proposing to create a hub for the benefit of local and visiting families with a play centre, baby sensory activities, café/restaurant and retail unit. This is something that has been under-provided locally and for which we see a strong demand.”
Leisure sector experience
In 2013, the company’s conversion of a former furniture store provided the wherewithal for Curzon to come to Ripon and bring cinema back to the city, 31 years after the final curtain at the Palladium on Kirkgate .
Sterne Properties, set up by Robert Sterne’s father Martin, has been investing in Ripon for more than 30 years.
It has a strong track record in the refurbishment and reconfiguration of redundant buildings in the city, to create mixed-use leisure and hospitality-led schemes that include a residential element.
One high profile example is the former Natwest Bank premises next door to Ripon Town Hall on Market Place South.
It is now the Claro Lounge cafe/bar at ground and basement level, with luxury apartments on the upper floors.
The company whose city centre portfolio includes properties which are home to Halls of Ripon, Caffe Nero, the Little Ripon Bookshop and Appleton’s Butchers, submitted a planning application to North Yorkshire Council in September for, perhaps, its most ambitious project yet – the refurbishment of the Spa Baths.
That application will be determined by the planning authority in the New Year and, if successful, will see a mixed-use hospitality-led scheme, designed to see the grade II listed Spa building returned to its Edwardian splendour,
Main image: The billboards are currently bare at Curzon’s premises, but cinema could be back in the New Year.
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Civic society ‘strongly supports’ plans to rejuvenate Ripon Spa Baths
Ripon Civic Society has welcomed plans to rejuvenate the city’s historic Spa Baths, which have fallen into disrepair since being closed two years ago.
Ripon-based investment and development company Sterne Properties Limited has proposed creating a hospitality-led development, which would see the spa building retained and refurbished.
The new-build element of the scheme would include four residential flats and a single-storey glazed extension, with a landscaped courtyard area linked to the adjacent Spa Gardens, providing a new public access to the parkland area.
This would replace the swimming pool building introduced before the Second World War, when the spa was converted into a public baths.
In response to the planning application, the civic society said:
“We give this scheme our strong support as being the best chance of allowing the site to survive.”
Mindful of the dilapidated and vandalised state of the grade two listed building, the society added:
“We would urge a speedy grant of planning permission and listed building consent to allow work to begin as soon as possible.”
Spa Baths closed two years ago and the building is in a state of disrepair.
Regarding the new-build element of the scheme, the society said:
“Overall, it is a sensitive approach with historic structures cleansed of later inferior additions (including the 1936 pool) and with new-build done in an unashamedly modern but complementary style and materials.”
The society’s response, which can be seen along with other documents on the North Yorkshire Council planning portal, added:
“The society very much welcomes this scheme which proposes to conserve and provide new uses for an important historic building in the city.”
The civic society, which accepts the need for a residential element in the scheme to make the development viable, said it supports the application in principle, subject to clarification on a number of points of detail, largely relating to the retention of decorative features dating back to 1905 when the spa opened.
The main picture is an architectural perspective viewed from Park Street, which shows how the spa building will look after renovation. Image: Architecture:ab
Read more
- Planning application submitted for Ripon Spa Baths regeneration
- Ripon Inn opens after multi-million pound refurbishment