Newquay High Street Trades Late

Newquay BID supports local businesses trading late throughout August to ensure everyone can make the most of our long summer evenings while they shop, eat, drink and have fun.

Creating a vibrant evening shopping experience, Newquay BID hopes to increase footfall in the town and welcomes visitors and residents alike to explore the town’s wide range of independent shops, high-street shops, and eateries during their extended opening hours.

Historical footfall information on Bank Street in Newquay shows there are around 500 people exploring the high street between 9 am – 10 am, compared to almost 3,000 between 6 pm – 7 pm during the summer.

And after asking for public feedback via the Love Newquay social media channels, there was strong positive sentiment for the return of a vibrant night-time economy.

The feedback regularly noted that across Europe, it is now an expectation for visitors to experience bustling towns and city centres on summer evenings.

Many visitors to Newquay in the past reminisced that it was a regular occurrence to see surf shops busy and getting post-dinner ice cream on the public feedback post on Facebook.

An individual commented: “When I first visited Newquay when I was 15yrs old (I’m now 48 years old) the buzz in the town was amazing in the evening, full of shops all open until late, it was part of the summer vibe.”

Similarly, another individual celebrates the decision, commenting:

“I love this idea coming back. I’ve visited for years and enjoyed going round the shops after dinner instead of missing a day on the beach.”

Following similarly positive feedback from local businesses, over 30 retailers, experiential premises and eateries have confirmed they will be extending their opening hours.

Many premises such as RetroBlast Coffee, Palm Bay and VRcade will be open until 8 pm with other businesses such as Ben and Jerry’s, Pirates Quest and Heron Tennis staying open until 10 pm.

Newquay BID Manager, Mark Warren, says:

“We’ve had an exciting reaction to this late-night shopping August initiative.

As an ex-retailer I know how valuable it can be to take every opportunity to drive sales and opening later during peak summer will absolutely achieve this.

Visitors and locals can come into the centre as they leave the beaches and attractions and can then be tempted into shops as they search out a location for dinner.

I truly believe that these extended opening times will boost early evening footfall and sales to meet the demand thus creating a vibrant early evening night-time economy that Newquay is so well placed to achieve now and into the future".