Trader puts her

plans

on the

table

A KNUTSFORD trader wants to turn her King Street shop into a restaurant before she leaves town

Viv Allinson - whose fashion shop Vivi's is up for sale - believes a restaurant licence would make the double-fronted property more attractive to buyers.

"As a retail outlet I consider that the future for an outlet this size, with its considerable overheads, would mean a string of tenants," she said in a letter to planning boss Peter Yates.

She went on to say that a restaurant would be the most 'logical' way to ensure the next owner made a profit.

Mrs Allinson said the current economy and effect of out-of-town centres made it difficult to make a living from a shop which is almost as twice as big as her neighbours properties.

And soaring costs have left the former Harrod's buyer struggling to make ends meet.

"This is my sole source of income and even with my 30-years experience in the clothing trade, my business is in loss again," she said.

Rates on the prime town-centre site have trebled over the last ten years, she said, with rent taking up 50 per cent of her profits while takings have halved.

Mrs Allinson said she was exhausted with finding new ways to keep her 12-year-old retail business alive.

Mrs Allinson said that Knutsford's future lay in the leisure industry and described King Street as 'restaurant street'.

"Knutsford has to offer the public what it wants," she said.

Yesterday (Tuesday) Mrs Allinson, who plans to move to the south of France in summer to publish her first novel, was unavailable for comment.

A KNUTSFORD trader wants to turn her King Street shop into a restaurant before she leaves town

Viviane Allinson - whose fashion shop Vivi's is up for sale - believes a restaurant licence would make the double-fronted property more attractive to buyers.

"As a retail outlet I consider that the future for an outlet this size, with its considerable overheads, would mean a string of tenants," she said in a letter to planning boss Peter Yates.

She went on to say that a restaurant would be the most 'logical' way to ensure the next owner made a profit.

Mrs Allinson said the current economy and effect of out-of-town centres made it difficult to make a living from a shop which is almost as twice as big as her neighbours properties.

And soaring costs have left the former Harrod's buyer struggling to make ends meet.

"This is my sole source of income and even with my 30-years experience in the clothing trade, my business is in loss again," she said.

Rates on the prime town-centre site have trebled over the last ten years, she said, with rent taking up half of the trader's profits while takings have halved.

Mrs Allinson - a town-centre ladies' fashion retailer for 12 years- said she was exhausted with finding new ways to keep her retail business alive.

Mrs Allinson said that Knutsford's future lay in the leisure industry and described King Street as 'restaurant street'.

"Knutsford has to offer the public what it wants which nowadays leans much more towards the 'leisure spend'," she said.

Yesterday (Tuesday) Mrs Allinson who plans to move to the south of France in summer to publish her first novel, was unavailable for comment.

Converted for the new archive on 13 March 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.