What's happening with Falmouth's empty shops?

By irgmcdonald | Thursday, April 29, 2010, 18:51

The summer holiday will soon be upon us and this means an influx of tourists to Falmouth. Like many people I am wondering why there are so many empty shops in our town. On a quick walk through the town centre I saw eleven empty shops. This paints a bad picture for tourists.

The old Woolworth's - What would you like to fill it?

So why are there so many empty shops? I spoke to Richard Gates, the Town Manager. He said: "Falmouth has the lowest percentage of empty shops across the South West region and the reason why the sites were empty was due to legal negotiations with the letting agents. There are only two sites in Falmouth where there are not current negotiations and I hope they will be filled in time for the summer season."

The most obvious gap in the town centre is the old Woolworths shop. This has been empty for some time now. I asked the Town Manager what the plans were to fill it:

"The old Woolworths site should be filled soon however there are structural issues that need to be sorted. If it's not filled in time for the summer we would like to cover the glass with a vinyl window sticker."

You can click here to see our gallery of empty shops in the Town. Are the particular shops you’d like to see in your town? Are there any you really don’t want? Let us know in the comments.

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Comments

I would like to see the stores used for an social entrepreneurial college supporting 16-22 year olds and helping the next generation solve the problems of the modern world;

An alternative might be an interactive kids museum designed by undregraduates as part of their study!!

By gpotter21 at 13:21 on 04/07/10
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Considering the amount of students who study in Falmouth and Penryn, perhaps these empty retail units could be let as pop up galleries. There is a serious lack of affordable exhibition space in a town which has an outstanding college of art.

By concreterock at 09:54 on 29/06/10
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In answer to the Martin's question the best thing about Falmouth for shopping is the number of local specialist shops which you cannot find elsewhere thereby giving Falmouth a unique feel. If you are looking for surf shops there are a number but Sessions is my favourite. Seasalt and Secrets are good for clothes. The Falmouth Bookshop has a good selection of the usual books but also a good local selection. There are a number of shops to buy good quality souvenirs such as Tall Ships and a number of art galleries showing local artists. Beside the Wave have currently got an exhibition of Richard Tuff's work. His Italian paintings are particularly appealing. For food there are any number of pastie shops and quite a few of the cafes and restaurants have now been reviewed on this site. Fal Falafel, the mobile caterers, can usually be found on the Moor or the Prince of Wales pier is worth a visit. Of course all the time you are in Falmouth you are glimpsing the beautiful harbour - a truly unique location.

By SueCrellow at 09:11 on 13/06/10
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@ themartins Falmouth does have a lot of good shops and many of the ones mentioned here have now been filled. In terms of supermarkets, like all towns, we have a wide selection. Tesco, Asda, Sainsburys etc. Falmouth has loads of great restaurants (including Rick Stein) and a hell of a lot of good bakers. Recently, two new specialist bakers have opened up in the town and they make some great bread. Falmouth isn't all doom and gloom. It's actually a really good place!

By irgmcdonald at 21:17 on 12/06/10
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Can you tell us what shops there are for us in your town ? As potential visitors we would like to know about superstores, restaurants, sandwich bars. bakers, best fish and chip bar. We want some positive points as visitors, please.

BJ

By themartins at 21:56 on 11/06/10
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