New lease of life for empty shop windows
Empty shop windows in Mansfield town centre are being brought back to life with poster installations on empty shop windows to add to the vibrancy of the street scene.
The posters were installed on Friday 28 January to make the town centre look more vibrant and attract shoppers and potential business interest.
This is a further boost to the town centre's image after a recent survey revealed that the number of empty shops in Mansfield town centre is at its lowest in two years.
The six designs are from Smart City Dressing, who specialise in retail window dressing and transforming vacant shops using temporary high quality graphics.
Three of the posters have been installed on vacant units on Leeming Street and one each on Market Street, Regent Street and Market Place.
The poster images are made of self adhesive vinyl which will be glued to the external glass surface and removed when the property is no longer vacant.
The total cost including design, installation and taking down is around £7100, which is being funded by the Communities and Local Government Empty Shops Revival Grant.
Currently, 10.7% of retail units in the town centre are vacant but Mansfield is fairing better than other cities and towns in the UK, with the current national average for shop vacancies at around 13% and some places reporting shop vacancy rates as high as 30%.
Cllr Kate Allsop, Portfolio Holder for Regeneration, said: "Although Mansfield has a lower than average number of empty shops, it is still an issue in the town centre.
"We want to encourage our residents to shop locally and are concerned that vacant shop fronts can be off putting.
"The posters will add vibrancy to the town centre and are a creative way of tackling this issue."