At the end of last year I mourned the closure of Walkers Bookshop in Market Harborough. The chain continues to trade elsewhere in the East Midlands, but its store in this town closed because rent negotiations the property's owners fell through.
And have those owners replaced Walkers with new tenants paying a higher rent?
No, it is still empty almost six months later and a board gives you a Birmingham number to ring if you are interested in taking it on.
Why didn't the landlords make more effort to keep Walkers in the shop? Why haven't they reduced the rent on the shop and found a new tenant?
It is hard to escape the conclusion that one reason for the number of empty shops around the country is that the commercial property market does not work.
We have exactly the same issue with the London Map Centre in SW1. Rent was doubled; shop closed; no new tenant. Suspect the words 'upwards only' have a lot to do with it. Why don't landlords consider the time it will take to recoup the empty periods even if they do cajole anew tenant to pay a higher rent?
ReplyDelete