A FORMER furniture store which operated in a town for decades could become a pub or bar, after an application was submitted to change its use.
Philpotts shut down in Hitchin last year, leaving many wondering what its future would be.
The family-run Sun Street store had been in the town for 80 years, but it now looks likely to be run as a different venture, with an application submitted to North Herts District Council to change its use to a restaurant or drinking establishment, over both floors.
The application was submitted by agent Barker Parry Town Planning Ltd on behalf of the freeholder, with the building still up for lease.
It is being advertised as a possible “bar, restaurant, residential or hotel” in a letting listing.
On the possibility of the change of use, town centre manager Keith Hoskins said: “I think we have to be realistic about this.
“Everyone will say there’s enough leisure, but if you read Portas, it’s just the way it’s going.
“I certainly would be pleased to see it occupied.”
Wetherspoon, which was said to be interested in the building when it became vacant, has said it has no knowledge of the application.
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