2018
J3374 : Ground floor unit, Cleavers, Belfast (July 2018)
taken 8 years ago, near to Belfast, Co Antrim, Northern Ireland

Ground floor unit, Cleavers, Belfast (July 2018)
The media continues to report the retail decline in the UK. Belfast is no exception. A prime unit such as this (corner of Donegall Place and Donegall Square North) should not, in normal circumstances, have stayed vacant.
Robinson & Cleaver, Belfast
Robinson & Cleaver (usually “Cleaver's”), at the corner of Donegall Place and Donegall Square North, was, by far, Belfast’s most exclusive department store. It was completed in 1888, by H&J Martin, to a design by Young and Mackenzie. The external features include turrets, clocks and embellishment in the form heads and busts. Internally the staircase was one of its notable features. Another victim of the changing shopping pattern caused by the bombing campaign, it eventually closed later being converted to offices with the ground floor let as shops.
