Dressing Empty Shops

Along with many high streets and shopping centres, Wolverhampton has its fair share of empty shops.

The vacancy rate in Wolverhampton’s wider city area is above the national average as many units are currently awaiting demolition as part of the Summer Row retail development and cannot be re-let or even occupied on a temporary basis.

In the core retail area vacancy rates are around 13.5% (September 2010) which is close to the national average.

Recognising that this was a medium to long term project WVone developed a Vacant Unit Strategy in early 2009.  WVone has now been working with the City Council private landlords and community groups for the past two years to improve the appearance of empty properties or open up ‘pop up’ shops and art galleries.

To date over 40 shops and properties have been tackled using a mixture of persuasion, determination and funding from the Empty Shops Initiative by the Department of Community and Local Government (DCLG) which was received in October 2009.

Now everything that has been learned about how to progress projects is contained in the Utilising Empty Shops best practice guide.

The guide contains case studies, learning points and contact details to enable people all over the country to take advantage of the experience of the Wolverhampton community in improving the appearance and vitality of the high street.

Download it Here