B and M Wigan town centre

What a mess this once beautiful building is…shame on the owners…and how long has that scaffolding been up…it’s awful…even the window displays are dirty

Probably being lined up for closure as part of the town centre revamp Why throw good money at it if it is being pulled down

Hi guys, that building will not be pulled down as it's listed the redevelopment of the galleries will have to work round it, you are right in what you say when owned by british home stores it was immaculate.

It’s a disgrace B and M hold your head in shame

has anyone else noticed the BHS and Lancashire roses carved into the stone above the centre bay window. I can't make out what's on the wall just above there, 2 fittings for a flagpole or lamp or something?

Never noticed that pewfall, i will take a look next time im around there, i know bhs put a plaque with their name on it on side wall, thats on here on photos.

I don’t remember ever seeing the plaque, Bambam: WW Album.

This photo was taken of the shopfront in June 2021:

What are they doing to the building that requires scaffold for nearly a year

Hi Jo anne, when they knock galleries down the plaque will be seen again, it got covered when they built tyldsley arcade it's at the rear of the jewellers workbench, all shops in galleries are now closed, peterp can only think it must be a problem with the building being listed, they can't do what they want but it's an eyesore now.

The mistake was Wigan Councillors deciding to have two shopping centre in a small town centre like Wigan.

Owd Codger before they started the second white elephant the council were told all that would happen was the stores would just move over into the grand arcade. Some of the units in the galleries were never let and look what is happening in and around Wigan now

The builders have pulled out of the new town centre project

Peterp you're absolutely correct, a lot of stores have closed in grand due to high rents and no shoppers, when Superdrug was in galleries it was very reasonable but when they moved to grand the prices went extortionate and people will not be robbed, the grand may be busy but people are not spending in there.

roylew

I cannot find anything on the interweb, which says that the builders have pulled out.

Hi roylew, if you mean the galleries development nothing has been signed yet, all pall drilling on site has now finished so sign over contract should be completed at end of April .

They have pulled out (original contractors)

BCEGI are the contractors and they ripped up their 1bn agreement with Bolton council to rebuild Crompton Place in November last year.
There is no information available on the construction media sites to suggest Roylew is correct, but all agreements have been signed, and if you access the City heart site there is an article confirming that.

I was looking at that B&M, the old British Homes Stores building yesterday, and I think those window frames are 'rotten' and in danger of falling out of their frames, AND they contain lead beadings, which means that they will be heavy, and as such if one of those windows falls on somebody's 'bonce' (yed) they will end up with one hell of a headache

So the scaffolding is there to stop those windows falling on to the public people

So they need maintenance on them…still shame on B and M…bet they move into the grand arcade

I suppose it depends on who owns the building, if B&M do not own the building, and they are renting it, then it will be up to the landlord to fix the windows, and if it's a listed building, then the windows with the lead beading will have to be replaced, keeping to the original design of them, to keep the building in its original condition, which will be expensive, so the delay in repairs might have something to do with that.

They rent the building. £150,000 a year on a fully maintaining and insuring lease until 2027.
But, I suspect, there'll be a clause in the lease concerning the re-development. If the building is part of the re-development, it'll be compulsarily purchased, or the landlords will be compensated, along with B&M for the remainder of the lease.

"Sign the contract, Big Boy. Sign the contract"! (who said that, a few years ago?)

You're right Tommy Two Stroke I've been informed the scaffolding is there to hold building up, the place once owned by Dave Whelan and since sold on needs a lot of work doing to the front, scaffolding has now been up for 5 years you would think the powers that be would enforce the owner to get it sorted, I'm sure it's against the law to leave a building in disrepair especially when general public walk into it daily.