Which stores do Swindon residents want to see come to the town centre?
While our recent investigation determined that the number of empty units in Swindon town centre has significantly reduced since 2021, there are still many unused and empty buildings blighting the area.
So, we decided to ask our readers for their suggestions on what they would like to see taking up residence in those empty stores.
One of the popular criticisms of Swindon town centre is that it isn't what it used to be and the overwhelming majority of the hundreds of suggestions do come with a nostalgic element.
Of the ten most suggested shops in the 245 comments we received, five were stores that were already once in Swindon's town centre, but have now since left.
Woolworths was mentioned by several individuals, including Kandy Lopes, Sharon Mason, Amanda Curtis, and many others.
The popular store closed nationally in 2008 leaving a hole in Swindon's high street - and many others across the country - that many have never gotten over.
Debenhams which has sat closed since 2020 was proposed by various individuals such as Lisa Bevan, Malcolm Yates and Chrissy Montgomery among others.
Fellow closed business Marks and Spencer was advocated by Brenda Harrington, Chrissy Montgomery and Shirley Lawrence who would clearly like to see it return after it closed in October this year.
British Home Stores (BHS) and McIlroys were also suggested which were both once mainstays in the town centre.
McIlroys closed in 1998 and BHS closed in 2016.
New businesses were also suggested with Lisa Bevan, Hannah Ruth Melissa Edwards, and Kandy Lopes, suggesting fashion retailer Zara, which had to close thousands of stores after the pandemic.
Charlie Heath and others asked for a Lego Shop.
And Uniqlo and John Lewis were two other popular suggestions.
Rounding out the top ten was a call for general independent shops with Melanie Ormston, Justyna Misior and Joanne Baskett sharing their desire for more locally-owned unique businesses, although it was not specified exactly what type of independent shops people would like to see.
Other suggestions from readers included clothes shops Urban Outfitters, discount retailer Costco, chocolate shop Hotel Chocolat, homeware retailer Flying Tiger, flatpack furniture shop Ikea, and cookware brand Lakeland.
This year, with the addition of Commercial Road, and without the Arcade side of the Brunel Shopping Centre or the Tented Market which are both set for development in the future and so are empty on purpose, there were 33 empty units in the town centre.
This is an improvement on the 54 that were empty in 2021.
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