Sharon Edwards/BBCMore than a quarter of shops in Boston, Lincolnshire, are empty and retailers are calling for urgent support. But some local leaders believe the answer is to play with leisure and heritage in search of a “new identity”. The BBC spent a day in the city to ask what the future holds.
Boston suffered injuries from retail casualties.
A short walk through the town center to the Market Place took in empty shop after empty shop – some boarded up, others with “to order” signs posted in their windows.
Look beyond the signs and there is a bare wall with signs of where the display cabinets have been ripped off.
“There won’t be a downtown in five years if we keep going the way we are,” said Lisa Fitzgerald, who manages the Pescod Square shopping center.
He is smart, the modern precinct is faring better than most of the city, with three empty units among a total of 19. But he does not pull punches about the prospects for the future.
“We’re dying from the inside and if something doesn’t change drastically in the next year or two, people will stop coming into town and we’ll lose more stores.”
Sharon Edwards/BBCAt nearby Café Noglish, owner Anne Britt, 56, churns milk to make a cappuccino. He said business was slow.
“I love this place and I want it to be successful, but the rent, rates and gas and electricity are too expensive and I need more customers to survive.
“Wednesday and Saturday are the only good days because they are market days.
“People say they don’t come to the city because there’s nothing here,” he added. “Well, there’s a store here, but we need more.”
According to the Boston Borough Council, 46 of 169 retail spaces (27%) are vacant, while 10% of restaurants have closed since the pandemic.
among them who disappeared in the new year it is Marks & Spencer, HMV and Oldrids, their local department store closed in 2020 after 216 years. WH Smith will follow him in December.
Sharon Edwards/BBCThere are success stories, including Coneys, designer stores, and independent food and jewelry stores.
But there is debate over how to restore the city to its former glory. Should the emphasis be on retail revitalization, or should we focus more on other sectors, such as leisure?
Anne Dorrian, the council’s leader, said she was “sad” to see so many empty shops, but rejected suggestions the town center was dying.
He was quick to list some of the local events that the authorities have implemented and said that shopping habits have changed, especially since the pandemic.
The answer, he believes, is to find a “new identity” for Boston – a “unique selling point”.
“Is the cafe culture, a traditional craft center, more about leisure or should it build a heritage asset?” he asked.
Sharon Edwards/BBCThe council is investing £39m in regeneration projects, funded by government grants, and has commissioned research into why people visit the city.
The plans include upgrades to the Geoff Moulder Leisure Complex and a new adult learning centre.
Rosegarth Squarein the city center, because it will be rejuvenated with green spaces, residential units and the redevelopment of the former B & M store, while shopfronts will be changed and new signs installed.
But more than £40m of “leveling up” grants, promised under the previous government, are under review. The package includes £2m a year for 10 years to improve security, stage events and preserve buildings.
Back at Pescod Square, Ms Fitzgerald said the focus on leisure, tourism and heritage meant shops were “neglected and ignored” when it came to investment.
“Without the support of the entire city, it will continue to decline,” he said.
Sharon Edwards/BBCThat’s the view shared by jeweler Tim Hopper, who owns one of Boston’s longest running businesses.
ST Hopper Ltd, in Market Place, was founded by his grandfather in 1926.
Gray black and white photographs, displayed near the front door, capture the store’s history.
“Boston is struggling,” Mr. Hopper said. “We need shops that are worth coming to. We have some, but we need more, and we need free parking for hours.
“We’re retail and we want people to come to the store and I don’t think the investment is just in leisure.
“Market The market itself must be for retail.”
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