The news that House of Frazer department store in Hull is to be closed could be viewed as an almost inevitable result of the demise of department stores, partly in the face of loss of trade to on-line buying, after all most other stores have gone already, Woolworths, BHS, Co-op (store), Alders etc. The House of Frazer building, standing as it does right in the city centre and opposite the Transport Intersection, is a fine example of post-war re-construction and any loss of its external features would be a great loss to the City. In truth, even without on-line competition, House of Frazer has done well to last this long in the face of Hull planners fondness for city centre ‘all under one roof’ precincts, in chronological order Prospect Centre, Princes Quay and St. Stephens.
With a reputation for selling somewhat expensive goods (indeed I don’t remember buying anything there except refreshments in the basement café) the interior fixtures and fittings have (as I have walked through) looked ‘tired’ for some while now. The shop’s devotees will now have to travel to Leeds, Sheffield (Meadowhall) or Nottingham at the nearest to continue to support the business or, ironically, unless they shop on-line.
City of Culture designation put Hull centre-stage and gave the city a positive image somewhat lacking for decades previously. Of course stereotypical imaging is nothing more than that and there is much to be positive about in terms of future economic initiatives. But does the fact that the Leeds branch of House of Frazer is to remain open signal, in a small way, a tendency to return to the perspective of Hull being ‘at the end of the line’. Furthermore Hull’s transport facilities don’t seem to figure large in the ‘Northern Powerhouse’ vision when the rail line west cannot seem to secure the electrification that other regional centres take for granted.
On a more homely level the experience of ‘going up town’, maybe to shop, maybe just to experience the atmosphere, maybe to visit cultural events, maybe all three, so beloved of post-war generations is under threat. How sad to see successive fragments of that experience fall away.