December 11, 2005
Another Burnham-On-Sea High Street shop announces closure
Another shop has become the victim of a downturn in trade along Burnham-On-Sea High Street – the fifth in the last two months.
The Blazing Saddles gift shop on the corner of Cross Street is to close at Christmas after eight years in business.
Its owner, Pauline Lawrence, pictured, said “crippling business rates” and poor trade in recent months had meant closure is the only option.
“We pay exorbitant business rates and don’t get anything back in return,” she told Burnham-On-Sea.com. “The number of shoppers coming into the town has taken a real dive in recent years because Sanders Garden World has more to offer them, especially now that there are so many charity shops here.”
“It’s ridiculous that those charity shops don’t pay business rates but can sell the same new products as traditional shops like us, but at far lower prices. It’s just not fair.”
The news comes just a few weeks after Crandon Computer Supplies in Cross Street and the Little Brum gift shop in the High Street also closed.
Earlier in the autumn, phone company Bridgwater Communications closed its High Street shop and estate agent CJ Hole also shuttered its Burnham branch.
RELATED LINKS:
Crandon Computers and Little Brum gift shop close
Phone company Bridgwater Communications shuts Burnham store
Estate agent CJ Hole closes its Burnham-On-Sea branch
