Off Season 'Ghost Town' with Blackpool businesses like 'satellites orbiting the Pleasure Beach'

The Cost of living crisis causes continued Chaos, shop owners prepare for an uncertain summer season

Like a hibernating animal, Blackpool is slowly waking up from its wintery slumber, as one by one shutters are raised, beach balls, Kiss Me Hats & Rock candy get hung up for the coming tourist punters.

Many shops, for around four months of the year, choose to close shop in Blackpool, after working grueling seven day weeks during the summer season, giving themselves a well earned time to rest. Its the sights of your typical seaside town, where working flat out in the warmer summer season is a necessity to survive in the off season months.

For those who stay open through the quieter months, its a struggle to survive, with the town being likened to a 'Ghost Town'. Now the town looks to welcome back tourists and holiday makers with open arms. The Pleasure Beach reopening being a sure sign of the en masse footfall coming back, However it is not all certainty, with the current economic crisis casting a shadow on any certainty.

Local businesses are unsure on what the season will hold, Mark Yates, of Brooks Collectables, has run the shop for the last 38 years, he said: "Someone said to me the other day that Blackpool is one of the cheapest places to come. Now that's a good thing. We're extremely lucky, we've been here since 1949, but it has been difficult, we've had all these weird years.

"We planned for last year being particularly bad, because we thought foreign travel had opened and would affect us. Now, I think we're going to get day trippers when the kids are off, who are not necessarily spending a great deal but I think it should be okay.

"We're going to budget for it being a bad year and take it one day at a time. It's so unknown. Since people have been allowed out since Covid, people have been coming to the seaside again. I describe us as satellites orbiting the sun. We open when the Pleasure Beach opens."

With the horizon on the season still looking unclear many shops are preparing for the worst, expecting a low turnover, the cost of living crisis has shown very little sign of easing up, however, with the continued investment into the town by the council, from hotels and new tourist attractions the hopes are that it will draw in increased numbers to Blackpool, However, only time will truly tell how the season will be for the town.