[Madhatter]

depends what the charity shops sell. we've got one thats a book shop also selling dvd's and videos. It's part of our Atherstone booktown which is at the moment 5 bookshops, soon to be 7, and eventually about 15 shops. The idea is to attract tourists, the tourists will attract some unique shops to the area taking up more empty shops, not that we've got that many empty shops. Also it will create hotel trade, the major hotel has already been renovated refitted and a new extension will be complete. All this will create extra jobs, extra trade , extra footfall that will help keep the shops that provide our daily needs. To keep shops you need the footfall, no footfall, no trade. If footfall is low you need something to increase it. It's no good waiting till your town centre is derelict, cos then you will have a struggle. I think HBC need to wake up a bit.