Almost !

The Westfield centre in Derby (the first Westfield to open in the UK) is up for sale (at £400 million)

these things are sent to try us.

hedda wrote:
these things are sent to try us.

Oh, hedda - please don;t use the word "try"

Every time she goes into a shop its only to "try" something on LOL !

In The Know wrote:

The Westfield centre in Derby (the first Westfield to open in the UK) is up for sale (at £400 million)

Its rare for Westfield to exit a market so soon; their due diligence is usually top class. But Derby has declined dramatically since Westfield refurbished and extended the old Eagle Centre in 2007.

They'll still make a profit - if they achieve the £400m asking price and plan to invest these funds in their flagship centre in White City, London; this has been a roaring success due its location in affluent West London.

A 550,000 square foot extension is planned. It is already the largest and most profitable on Europe - with four train/tube stations nearby, as well as a bus station.

I wonder if Mrs ITK finds you as trying as we do?

hedda wrote:
I wonder if Mrs ITK finds you as trying as we do?

You can ask her yourself, hedda, when we are down under (you "missed" the last clue, didn't you !)

In The Know wrote:
hedda wrote:
I wonder if Mrs ITK finds you as trying as we do?

You can ask her yourself, hedda, when we are down under (you "missed" the last clue, didn't you !)

how unfortunate for you I will be in Thailand for 6 weeks,

which part of this wide brown land are you gracing with your presence so I can alert the locals ?

hedda wrote:
which part of this wide brown land are you gracing with your presence so I can alert the locals ?

The locals will already be organising welcome parties, hedda - relieved to have someone sane in a land of the bland !

Ben 9 wrote:
Derby has declined dramatically since Westfield refurbished and extended the old Eagle Centre in 2007


Yes, its no wonder Westfield are leaving.

Derby - and Derbyshire - have a longterm unemployment rate of 20/21%

The average, nationally, is 7.7%

In the county, the lowest rate is that of Bolsover District, at only 13%

Westfield- owned by Frank Lowy , richest man in Oz and friend of the right wing- Murdoch, Kissinger etc. Made an absolute fortune on the collapse of the World Trade Center when he purchased the basement shopping mall 5 weeks before 9/11...huge insurance pay-out.

Destroyer of High Street shopping centres and squeezes tenants til they weep.

If UK Westfields are being sold- a sign of the times.

My (late) good friend ran the Westfields dirty tricks office. You wouldn't believe the scams they get up to to keep the Mrs ITKs of the world bedazzled.

hedda wrote:
If UK Westfields are being sold- a sign of the times

No they're not. Only Derby.

Because Derby (and the area around it) is now a downbeat/rundown hub of economic woe - and just a relic of its historic role in the Industrial Revolution and the start of the Railways: now the place lives, almost totally, on the back of the Rolls Royce and Toyota plants.


In London, Westfield:-


- are flying high in Stratford (East London), just beside the Olympic Stadium

- are building a new massive centre in Croydon (South London)

- have over three times the population of Derbyshire coming through their doors every month, at White City (West London)

- are extending White City soon by c15 acres!


So far, hedda, Westfield are making the right decisions in the UK - going where the profit margins are.....

In The Know wrote:
hedda wrote:
which part of this wide brown land are you gracing with your presence so I can alert the locals ?

The locals will already be organising welcome parties, hedda - relieved to have someone sane in a land of the bland !

bland ?

we have:

x-factor
B (Australia) got talent
Dancing with the stars
Rupert Murdoch
Westfield
Who wants to be a Millionaire
big brother
Tories in power

bland ?

hedda wrote:
In The Know wrote:
hedda wrote:
I wonder if Mrs ITK finds you as trying as we do?


how unfortunate for you I will be in Thailand for 6 weeks,



Bit too close for comfort Hedda....stay and keep ITK and the sheep comfortable.

hedda wrote:
bland ?

we have:

x-factor
B (Australia) got talent
Dancing with the stars
Rupert Murdoch
Westfield
Who wants to be a Millionaire
big brother

... any real, home grown talent ??

Tories in power

It's a good thing that the Ozzies listened to me, hedda - and rejected your "certainty" isn't it !!!

She's still got Meadowhall, Pattaya (unfortunately) ... and Trafford Centre not too far away.

InPattaya wrote:
hedda wrote:
In The Know wrote:
hedda wrote:
I wonder if Mrs ITK finds you as trying as we do?


how unfortunate for you I will be in Thailand for 6 weeks,



Bit too close for comfort Hedda....stay and keep ITK and the sheep comfortable.

I've alerted the sheep and they are nervous.

hedda wrote:
I've alerted the sheep and they are nervous.

With you around - and all those criminals - they would be !!!

I would imagine that some of those sheep would look pretty attractive after doing a five-stretch !

they didn't bother the sheep. Sydney was famed throughout the Pacific for it's male bordellos where sailors flocked for rest and relaxation.

was always corrupt and still is.

In The Know wrote:
hedda wrote:
I've alerted the sheep and they are nervous.

With you around - and all those criminals - they would be !!!

I would imagine that some of those sheep would look pretty attractive after doing a five-stretch !

Just got back from a morning's shopping here - fairly quiet considering Christmas is only a few weeks away.