Specsavers could leave Union Street for Bon Accord Centre amid struggle to find ‘suitable’ vacant unit for second store

Specsavers could be forced to vacate Union Street if efforts to open a second store nearby fall flat.

Management is eager to expand beyond the current offering at the opticians towards the bottom of the Granite Mile.

They want to open a second unit in close proximity, ensuring customers wouldn’t have far to travel if needing to visit both.

But bosses have been left shocked by the condition of the three empty units they’ve checked out.

And if they can’t find a suitable second location nearby, they are considering transforming the former River Island at the Bon Accord Centre into a Specsavers “superstore”.

Details of the struggle emerged during a summit aimed at resuscitating Union Street on Wednesday.

‘You couldn’t put a business in there’

Ian McLellan, one of the directors of the Aberdeen branch, told us about his problems hunting for new premises.

Mr McLellan explained he had looked at the for-sale Lush shop, the empty Ecco store next door and the old Vodafone unit across the road from them.

He explained: “They were unfit for purpose, there were no facilities, no toilets, no running water… There wasn’t space for a staff room in one.

“You couldn’t put a business in there.

“We were looking for ground-level units, but some of them had no access to the floors above.

“That means if levels one or two were sold to someone else, they would need to come through our shop to get there.”

Specsavers director wants to help Union Street bounce back…

Mr McLellan stressed that Specsavers wishes to remain in its current base, ideally opening the second branch within easy walking distance.

He said: “Within the shop, we have separate businesses, and we are outgrowing it.

“We want to open the new store nearby so it doesn’t feel like two separate businesses, and there’s potential for customers to go between the two.

“We are still doing OK as a business in the city centre, we have grown over the years.

“But we aren’t seeing anywhere suitable, I was shocked when I saw how bad these retail units were.

“In Lush, the staff room is pretty much just space in a corridor.”

What next for Specsavers?

Management is now “keeping their eyes open” for any other sites nearby that become available.

But if it comes to it, they do have another option in mind.

The director said: “If we can’t find that second unit we will have to move away, likely to a much bigger space.

“We have been looking at the old River Island in the Bon Accord Centre as a ‘superstore’ sort of thing.”

Mr McLellan’s concerns reignited the debate on the need for Union Street’s absentee landlords to take greater responsibility for their premises.

Aberdeen City Council has been trying to track down owners leaving their buildings to become blots on the Granite Mile.

FG Burnett boss on problem of empty shops

Richard Noble, from FG Burnett, was part of the panel that discussed the problem of Aberdeen’s empty shopfronts at the crunch session at the Douglas Hotel.

He explained: “For us, as property agents, we try to get our clients to get their buildings into the best condition possible.

“When people have money to do that, in the past we have seen these units will tend to let quicker than units poorly presented.

“It’s very much a case of ‘you wouldn’t put a dirty car in the showroom’.

“But not all of our clients can afford to do that.”

The old Ecco store is next to the former Doc Martens, which has now been taken over by the Attic clothes shop in one encouraging sign for the stagnating street.