THE NEW manager at the town’s shopping mall has said Macclesfield’s town centre has plenty to offer.
Ed Kennedy, 49, is the new boss at the Grosvenor Shopping Centre and said he likes what he has seen so far in Macclesfield.
He has praised the town’s diverse mixture of independent and high street stores and good community spirit.
Mr Kennedy said he wants to build on the centre’s links with the community.
He said: “We’ve had a pop-up art gallery for the Barnaby Festival and there are lots of other initiatives. I’ve only just started to meet the 300 or so people who work in the Grosvenor Centre but I’ve already begun to realise that many of them are very active in the community.
“Some town high streets feel identikit – with the same company names and even the same shop fronts, but Macclesfield is different, as a town it’s fascinating. It’s got a great sense of community and there is an interesting mix of well-known names and independent stores, especially along Chestergate.
“And that’s the strength of the town, people live in the centre, as well as working here and socialising together. The shops are right here on their doorstep with the train station nearby and the bus station only few minutes away.
“I think people’s attitudes to shopping are changing, it’s not about packing everybody into the car to a big shopping centre. Often it’s easier and cheaper to nip into town.”
Mr Kennedy, who lives in Congleton with his wife, a lawyer, and their two young children, started his career as a trainee at Sainsbury’s before moving to Asda, Woolworths, Disney stores and managing an outlet shopping centre in the Potteries.
He said: “I don’t live that far away from Macclesfield and I’ve often been shopping here with the family, so I was keen to take up the chance of managing the centre.”
Mr Kennedy takes over at a time when the centre faces a massive expansion project. Eskmuir, which owns the centre, got approval for revised plans to extend the centre into the former neighbouring Cheshire Building Society earlier this year.
It plans to demolish five retail units, including Argos, and part of the iconic Cheshire Building Society on Castle Street to make way for four large shops and an extension into the building society which will be used for offices. A new canopy at the entrance has been built as part of the plans.
Mr Kennedy said: “We’ve got 36 shops at the Grosvenor Centre plus some occasional pop-up stores. As everybody knows, there are plans in place for expansion and I think there are exciting times ahead for the Grosvenor.”
