Some weeks ago I took these photographs. I was thinking that at last I can be happy seeing the closing of a shop. I assumed that the pop-up shop was closing to facilitate a new shop that was opening and so it was a sign of confidence in the Cork City retail sector. Maybe the tide has turned.
That was then.
Two weeks later and there is no planning application for a new shop. There is no sign of shopfitters for a new enterprise. There is just an empty shop unit.
So when even the pop-ups are closing, it doesn’t reflect well on our city centre and its attractiveness as a commercial hub.