The Feel Good Cafe/Rochdale Emporium has closed

Feel Good Cafe/Rochdale Emporium

Despite significant financial support from Rochdale Borough Council, the Feel Good Cafe/Rochdale Emporium has closed.

The project, first mooted in 2009 as an 'Afflecks Palace' for Rochdale, opened in March 2012.

The council paid for the fitting out, believed to be upwards of £50,000, before handing over the cafe to Rochdale Town Centre Management, who had set up Rochdale Emporium as a private company, limited by guarantee, in January 2011.

http://rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/2/news-headlines/67830/feel-good-at-new-caf%C3%A9

Initially, 25 Ten Boutique was downstairs with The Emporium and Feel Good Cafe upstairs, however, in 2013, 25 Ten moved to Littleborough and the Feel Good Cafe expanded downstairs, with a loan being provided by the council to fit out the downstairs.

In a highly controversial move, the council also used its discretionary powers with regards to business rates and the cafe did not pay a penny in rates on a ground floor that has a rateable value of £30,000, much to the anger of other town centre cafe owners.

http://www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/2/news-headlines/83434/feel-good-cafe-expansion-greeted-with-anger

Rochdale MP Simon Danczuk raised the issue in Parliament telling MPs the rate relief amounted to "unfair competition".

http://www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/2/news-headlines/84107/mp-raises-feel-good-cafe-unfair-competition-in-parliament

For the last 18 months the Emporium has run independently and a press release issued by the directors following the closure this weekend portrays the project as "successful" citing the fact that the building was otherwise destined to become a "charity shop" and that it provided small businesses the opportunity of "low cost start up units".

However, the Emporium struggled to attract and keep tenants, particularly since the cafe moved downstairs, and it is understood that, despite the financial support from the council, the business was not profitable.

The owners are said to be in negotiation with another cafe owner interested in taking on the premises.