Party Zone

On the 20th January 2017 "Party Zone" Falmouth's  only fancy dress shop is closing its doors for the final time. After 8 years Lawrence Fenton has made the decision to close the store as it is no longer deemed profitable.

For the past 8 years Party Zone has had steady business supported by the booming student presence that has only increased in recent years. Mr Fenton told me that it wasn't the lack of customers that forced this decision but instead the drastic fluctuation in business rates put in place by the Cornwall council

.With a steady increase in previous years the rates took a massive step forward for 2017 increasing the costs from £27,000 to £31,000 meaning that the business would be paying almost  £1000 per week just to simply keep its doors open.

With court cases being cancelled left right and center Mr Fenton concluded that the closure of the store is the best option at this time and has a sale on all through the week up until its closure date on the 20th

.Mr Fenton said "With the massive hikes in business rates it wont be long before shops on the high street will be a thing of the past especially in small towns such as Falmouth where the revenue is reliant on the students which in recent times haven't been staying during the holiday months"