And relax.
It must be time to enjoy the sunshine as it appears the economic clouds that have hovered over Dundee for years have finally cleared.
What other conclusion can there be? As a city we have just turned our noses up at 125 new retail jobs and more than £5 million of inward investment.
You can surely only do that when times are good? Right?
Wrong.
Dundee has just walked away from the potential of long-term retail investment in exactly the week that British Home Stores is set to close its doors for good.
In the case of BHS, we are talking about 11,000 UK retail jobs gone in a puff of smoke with nothing emerging to fill that void.
In Dundee, Next offered a chink of light on the horizon but that is now off the table thanks to the infinite wisdom of our councillors and short-sighted planning rules.
Their concern is to protect the shopping precincts in the town centre – one opposing councillor cited the potential “doughnut effect” of the city being encircled by retailers with nothing in the middle – and that is a laudable objective.
But take a wander around the city centre and you’ll soon realise the stable door has been left open and the horse has bolted.
Whatever the plan for the city centre is, it clearly hasn’t worked.
Back in 2013, Next had a scheme for a new-build store at Kingsway West turned away for similar reasoning to the latest decision.
Then, as now, I was in favour of Next’s application being approved on the grounds that job creation must be the priority in this city.
If there had been an obvious improvement in the city centre retail environment in the three years between Next’s applications then I would have acknowledged the foresight of our planning department.
I would happily have admitted I was wrong.
But the city centre has gone backwards in that time as the waterfront redevelopment has taken priority.
The truth is Dundee – which has haemorrhaged more than 700 jobs this year – cannot afford to wantonly waste opportunities to increase its employment base.
Turning away Next is a mistake.
If customers enjoy the convenience of out-of-town shopping then they should have the option to do that.
But it does not have to be a one or other scenario. We can have both.
One of the major issues facing retailers in the city centre is the cost of doing business.
Commercial property rates are simply too high to allow independents and small chains to turn a profit.
A real focus on this issue and a drive to cut the red tape that so constrains enterprise in Scotland will pay dividends.
Hopefully it could revitalise high streets not only in Dundee but in other towns and cities like Perth, where the loss of a major independent like McEwens has left a huge hole.
By being smart we can offer consumers the choice they want and retailers the chance to flourish.
And then we can relax.
