here. - It's Liverpool

THELIVERPOOL ONEEFFECTTurbulent times on the high street? No-one seems to have told Liverpool.How did 40 windblown acres become the retail success story of a generation?It’s online shopping. It’s the recession. It’s out oftown malls. Ask a retail expert, and chances arethey’ll give their own diagnosis on the causes ofthis year’s high street meltdown.Ask them how we can turn it around, andthere’s a little less discord: more animation.Manicured parks. Pop-up events and mixed usedevelopments. The future of retail? It looks a lotlike Liverpool, circa 2013.How did we get it so right?With one in ten high street shops lying fallow, andbig names from Comet to Jessops disappearing,there’s no denying it: few experts could havepredicted the seismic year we’ve seen.Yet, way back in 2000, Liverpool, and developersGrosvenor, saw something what few othercities saw: shoppers wanted more out of theirSaturdays. They wanted more fun.They didn’t, especially, want to be in an airconditionedmall. They wanted Gok Wan anda catwalk. They wanted an ice bar and a waterchute. They wanted open air piano recitals andal fresco lunches. And they wanted to see localtraders given a chance to show their goodsalongside anchor department stores.And so an ambitious plan was hatched. Liverpoolwas going to reimagine city centre shopping. Itwas going to create lush gardens above a carpark, it was going to look to the Romans forinspiration: with double height shopping streetsopen to the elements, yet sheltered from thevagaries of the weather. And it was going todo it all on 42 acres in the heart of the city -connecting city with river, ancient with modern,day with night.And, with occupancy levels at an all time high, it’ssafe to say: it did it brilliantly.It’s a sunny September afternoon as It’s takes astroll across the manicured grass of ChavassePark (still green and perky after that summer).From our vantage point, the development wrapsconfidently around us: a third green space, a thirdresidential and hotel, and a third retail and leisure.Is this the Liverpool ONE secret, we ask ourguide, Liverpool ONE’s Marketing DirectorDonna Howitt?“Yes, in a way, it’s about balance,” Howitt says,“...and understanding the changing needs ofthe customer. The experience is all important.Shopping needs to be about more than justthe transaction. We recently had Malibutique,offering free manicures on Paradise Place,and events like Tickle the Ivories create a greatDonna Howitt, Marketing Director, Liverpool ONE17