Mostyn: Abakhan Fabrics plans car boot sales to boost visitor numbers

A well known fabric store in Flintshire is looking to boost its footfall by holding car boot sales in its car park.

Abakhan has been trading from its shop on the Coast Road in Mostyn for around 50 years and currently employs 90 people locally.

The store is popular with customers for its garden centre, cafe and fabrics and craft department.

The company is now looking to expand its business by holding car boot sales on its car park on Wednesday and Saturday mornings.

A planning application has been submitted to Flintshire Council to change the use of part of the land to allow the events to go ahead.

In documents submitted to the local authority, agents acting for the firm said the proposals were designed to address a recent drop in customer numbers.

In a planning statement, they said: “The site has a long history of retail use related to crafts, fabrics and haberdashery.

“The business operator is now looking to expand this already successful local business through the offer of the car boot sale/market.

“The applicant already holds market days under the 14-day rule and these have proven successful in increasing footfall to the site.

“As with a lot of businesses, there has been a downturn in footfall and sales.”

They added: “The business is at a point where they are having to diversify their offer in order to attempt to turn this downturn into an upward trend in sales and footfall.

“The car boot sale/market day is a low cost and low impact way of doing this, hence this application is made.”

Figures included within the statement show the business has experienced a 3.3 per cent drop in sales in 2023, compared to the previous year.

The company said the area of the car park which is proposed to hold the car boot sales is “very rarely used” at present.

The car boot sales will take place every Wednesday and Saturday between 7am and 1pm if the plans are successful.

The planning agents added: “Overall, it is considered that this proposed development will make use of a largely redundant area of previously developed land on the wider site for set time during the working week.

“The expansion of the business in this way will secure jobs and prosperity for this local business.”

Comments are currently being invited on the application via the council’s website, with a decision due at a later date.

By Liam Randall – Local Democracy Reporter (more here).