Hitting A Brum Note

‘YET another reason to visit Birmingham. Not only is it home to Clare Short and the cheapest drugs in Britain, but it is also one of the best places for shopping in the country.

God and Mammon

Of course, the prevalence of cheap drugs may explain why it is one of the best places to shop, just as the presence of Ms Short may explain the need for cheap drugs.

But the fact remains that the £500m Bullring in Birmingham has risen from 13th in last year’s charts to third – behind London’s West End and Glasgow – as a shopping destination.

The Guardian says the city has the futuristic Selfridges shop – inspired by a Paco Rabanne dress and covered with 15,000 aluminium discs – to thank for its revival as a retail centre.

‘Birmingham has now become a world-class shopping centre, thanks to visionary new investment and the reinvention of the Bullring, with its emphasis on design and fashion and new outlets such as the futuristic Selfridges,’ said Martin Davies, director of retail planning at Experian [see previous stories].

But as we scan the list, we notice what could be another explanation.

Is Birmingham’s meteoric rise up the shopping charts linked to the fact that it was named as one of the country’s 20 fattest cities earlier this week?

We ask only because we notice that Kingston-upon-Thames, Britain’s thinnest place, is heading in the opposite direction, slipping from 12th to 17th.

In other words, maybe it’s not designer clothes that makes the city a haven for the discerning shopper but cheap smack and a good pie and chips. Oh, and Clare Short, of course.’

Posted: 3rd, March 2004 | In: Broadsheets Comment | TrackBack | Permalink