I am guessing, but I imagine that the Image Gallery Cafe ran into the sand on cashflow (this is how 90% of small businesses crash). Perhaps the rent was increased? Maybe sales did not reach the projected levels, or costs increased? or perhaps not enough customers went and spent their money there?
Whatever the reason/s, I'm not sure what a town centre manager would be able to do about turning around the profitability of a small business like this. The majority of them do not survive long because they have very little idea of managing cash, so they go bust quite quickly. The only example of a business surviving long after it stopped making any money was the Eco Shop on Chiswick High Road, but not everyone is in the lucky position to be able to fund a vanity project like that for long periods of time. reality hits home eventually.
I believe that a lot of small businesses take advantage of "fag end" leases, where the last year or two of the existing lease is sold off at a heavily discounted rate to a business that has ambitions. But once the short lease comes to an end, and rents are reset to market rates, everyone wakes from the dream quite quickly and realises the game is up. |