High Chelmer in Chelmsford now has a Community Pop Up Shop. These shops make use of empty retail units. Rather than leaving a shop empty, which can make a shopping precinct dull and uninviting, the community pop up shops provide a more charitable way for traders to sell some of their wares.
The Community Pop Up Shop in High Chelmer is currently hosting a collection of art work, photographic prints and other items made by local artists and photographers. There are also some books written by Essex based authors. When I was in the earlier today there was a nice gardening book in hardback by Alan Titchmarsh – he studied at Writtle College.
Community Pop Up Shops are becoming a bit of a trend. In London many retail outlets are making use of this pop-up idea. Some small retailers are using them as an opportunity to take their first steps into retail and other units are being set up as cafes and restaurants by budding entrepreneurs who are not ready to make the big step to develop their own site.
It is good to see that these units are not left empty, especially now that Chelmsford is not only Essex’s county town but also its only city! Let’s hope that a similar shop replaces the Game store, should it be forced to close.
