Bravo Empty Shops Network

The Empty Shops Network is so inspiring!

I’ll be honest, when lots of branches of chain stores started closing down I was really quite relieved. I hate how homogenised the British high-street has become and welcomed the break, the chance for something new. But of course with the economy still struggling, there aren’t many interesting independents able to take their places. This is, in part, where the Empty Shops Network comes  in – only it doesn’t want to regenerate failing retail as such, it wants to introduce (and indeed increase) high-street footfall to art! The idea of these disused shops being filled with art definitely fills me with the warm fuzzies! The buildings are going to waste and artists are often among the hardest hit by economic down-turn. I am however conscious of the fact art is not always the regeneration tool its purported to be. With nearly 15 years of experience in retail I know that footfall is a fickle thing. Your average shopper has a one-track mind and a carnival of art couldn’t attract a dedicated shopper on a mission. So the extent to which putting art in empty shops will energise lethargic high-streets remains to be seen and of course, it does work, there wont be any empty shops left to put art in!

But in the mean time I’m totally behind it!