Walton Shopping Arcade
Walton Advertiser 2019 by Dale Bates
Insert the phrasal verbs that fit best into the gaps in the story below.
beat down buy out buy up close down give back look around look for mark down pick out
queue up rip off sell out set back shop around
splash out stock up take back
try on
Plans to demolish the Walton Shopping Arcade have been met with criticism by local
residents with some calling for the region's oldest shopping centre to be given listed building status.
Although the empty shopping centre has been
＿ for nearly 6 months now, there
have been unsuccessful attempts to
＿ all the deeds to the property in an effort
to reopen the site and attract new businesses to the area and stimulate the local economy.
The original arcade was built towards the end of the 1950s when consumerism in the UK
started to experience its first post-war boom. Shoppers ＿
＿ bargains flocked to
the brand new centre in their thousands and business flourished. Things were a little different in
those days and haggling was still customary with shoppers trying their hardest to
＿ the shop assistants on the price of a new TV or washing machine. It didn't hurt profits
though, with popular brand names ＿
shops and customers sometimes ＿
＿ all night so as to be in with a chance of
buying that all important product by being the first ones through the doors in the morning.
＿ almost as soon as the items arrived in the
The shopping centre was voted the most user-friendly in 1977 with an approval rating from
customers of 89%. This was quite a record in its day and was explained in part by the enormous
changing rooms where shoppers could
＿ the clothes that were on offer. The
post sales service on offer in the majority of shops also ensured a high level of satisfaction among
the clientele. An agreement was reached between all the different shop owners to ＿
＿ the money to all customers that were unhappy with a purchase regardless of the
complaint; as long as a receipt was produced, of course.
The design of the centre also made things easier for shoppers. If somebody was ＿
for a particular item, an interactive map was set up with a phone system linked to an
office where an operator could talk through a speaker installed inside the large map. Customers
would push a button indicating a series of products, and the operator's voice would tell the shopper
which shops sold that particular item. This would help the customer ＿
the
shops they needed and would also save time and therefore add to the overall efficiency of the
centre. This system has been copied and digitalised and is now common in many shopping centres
up and down the country.
There was also a wide selection of luxury goods on offer for those shoppers that wished to
＿ on more expensive items that were previously only available to customers in
the bigger British cities. Wealthy shoppers would come from miles around to buy these luxury goods
that would
wanted to
them
a good deal of money. And those shoppers that just
＿ rather than buy the more expensive goods on offer would often
end up buying something despite their intentions to save their cash for another day.
In the mid-1990s, the Walton Shopping Arcade was
by a property
company and the complex was modernised. Increased rents for the shop owners meant that prices
would also be raised. Some of the clientele started to go elsewhere feeling that the shops in the
centre were ＿
＿ the customers by charging so much for their goods. As a result,
business fell off. And although many of the shops started to
their products
hoping to attract more customers because of the lower prices, business at the shopping centre
never recovered.
Many of the remaining shops started to ＿
＿ with inferior quality products
which nobody really wanted to buy. Those customers that did do their shopping there would often
＿ their purchases a few days later for a refund… Consequently, overall customer
satisfaction just never recovered and eventually the centre closed its doors for good.

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