A reminder of the scare of an empty building

I just stumbled across this in my photo file and it reminded me of ther brief period when local residents and traders were worried about the shops laying empty and the nervousness of what was coming.

We are looking here at the shops opposite Hampstead Post Office on the High Street just near the zebra crossing (which I think I'm standing on when I took this picture).

Empty shops can be so devastating and the effect on perception, moral and actual trade so demoralising...

So it's good when the refurb happens and they re-open...

http://474towin.blogspot.com/2009/01/two-shops-merge-into-one-unit.html