With more than 100,000 people using Birmingham's New Street Station on a daily basis, you might expect that the street just outside of the station entrance would be thriving, but a lot has changed down on Stephenson Street. Only a month ago, Yorks café and Tiger Bites Pig were helping to tempt train passengers up to the top end of the road and draw shoppers away from busy New Street, but both are now closed. A sign in the window of Yorks reassures customers that the closure is for a refurbishment and only temporary, but the upturned chairs on the tables have started to gather dust.
Pan-Asian restaurant Tiger Bites Pig proved so popular that it outgrew its tiny first home within six years and recently moved to Church Street , while Hush Hair and Beauty shut its parlour next door to open a new 'super salon' in Brindleyplace. Two success stories of local businesses going up in the world, but both have left empty units behind. Read more: 'New B&M' rumours quashed as replacement confirmed for Birmingham Wilko store When I wandered down there mid-week, New Street was packed with German Market-goers, but as I veered down Lower Temple Street and onto Stephenson, the Christmas music faded into silence and the jolly atmosphere disappeared with it.
The road looked empty in stark comparison to the crowded high street, despite trams passing through and stopping right outside of the station at regular intervals. Tonight Josephine and Be At One were closed until late afternoon, Costa Coff.