Businesses on Cardiff's Womanby Street are no strangers to the threat of closure. This time, though, it's not a gig venue but Castle Emporium, whose tenants have been given just 30 days to vacate the premises.
The word is that the place is going to be taken over by an "independent local brewer". In normal circumstances, I'd be firmly in favour - but not when it's going to have a negative impact on several other independent local businesses. Among those affected are radical bookshop Shelflife, which relocated from the front of Pop'n'Hops, and non-profit anti-depression organisation Heads Above The Waves. Castle Emporium is also notable as the place where suppliers of high-quality caffeine Hard Lines - under their original name Outpost - first found their feet.
While I'll admit to not being as regular a visitor to Castle Emporium as I could/should be, it's nice knowing it's there. Cardiff's Victorian arcades are much lauded and much loved, and rightly so - but there's also a place for a relaxed, low-key alternative arcade that channels some of the vibe of Manchester's Afflecks Palace.
Though it's looking like curtains for Castle Emporium, here's hoping that the building's current occupiers can find new communal premises in a similarly central location - a big challenge in such a short space of time.
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