in July 2017 that Starbucks Coffee would be opening amongst the new retail units on Strood Retail Park. In February 2018 It was announced that Maplin would close due to going into administration. In June 2018 Following a £15 million loan, it was announced that Carpetright was to restructure its Kent stores with the Strood store closing and everything being transferred to the Gillingham store. Strood's retail centre serves the villages out to the Isle of Grain and Rochester, as the town has six major supermarkets at its heart (Aldi, Asda, Morrisons, Tesco, Iceland, M&S Food Hall), as well as a plethora of smaller shops and units. Transport River Transport in Strood was dominated by the river. From the earliest times river transport used Strood, but before the coming of the Romans the area was marshy and not well populated. Once Strood started to be filled in various boatyards and ship repair businesses started up both on the river and in the creeks which drain the marshes. Road Although Strood must have lain on ancient tracks, the coming of the Romans started to fix the road pattern. The lowest bridging point of the River Medway is between Strood and Rochester, and the first bridge was built soon after the Battle of the Medway. This road from Dover via Longdon towards north Wales became known as Watling Street and forms two of the major highways of the Kingdom. The section from Dover to London became the A2 trunk road. The 20th century has seen a major expansion in road transport and the consequent building of the M2 motorway. The route roughly parallels the old A2 and has necessitated the building of two high level bridges in Strood to the south of the town. Beyond the M2 is the M20 motorway leading to the south of London and accessible by major roads from Strood. Strood is on National Cycle Route 1. Canal The Thames and Medway Canal was dug between 1804 and 1824 to provide a safe route between the rivers Medway and Thames. Barges were able to avoid the long passage into the Thames estuary and around the Isle of Grain. At the Strood end the canal was entered through a lock into Frindsbury basin and then entered a tunnel. It opened 4 October 1824. The canal was with headroom and wide, to take , 60-ton Thames Barges. It had a