A GALLERY shop in the Market Place, has become the town’s latest shop to shut in the cost-of-living crisis.
Gallery One A opened last year and is closing down this month because low footfall in the town centre has meant the owner cannot afford to pay the rent.
The shop exhibits and sells photography prints including originals, limited editions, antique and vintage and those from the world of press and photojournalism, street photography, music, film, TV and travel.
Owner, Lockhart Murdoch said, “The place has sadly proven to be financially non-viable because it is on a pretty busy street in terms of pedestrian footfall, the rent is quite high. Some months the business does not even make the rent.
“When I started this shop, I started it as a project and I didn’t expect it to make any money but I certainly didn’t expect to be losing money. On top of the high cost of rent, I also have bills to pay that have gone up too.
“The Frome Independent has always been a really good way for businesses like mine to make money and in one day we can usually take half the month’s rent. From October the weather wasn’t so good during the market and footfall decreased generally in the town as people began getting letters to say their cost-of-living was increasing.”
The shop will cease trading but Lockhart plans to sell prints at the Cheese and Grain’s Camera Fayre and local markets.
In its final farewell, the gallery displayed a tribute in the window to commemorate Yoko Ono’s 90th birthday that was on Saturday 18th February.
Speaking about the impact of the cost-of-living crisis on the wider Frome town centre Lockhart said, “Something needs to be done. A number of other local shops and restaurants have had to close because of high rents and now the buildings are standing empty. Something needs to happen to help the situation.”
