Un_rap remains empty on Webber Hill (Photo credits: Tia Boddey)
Over the last few weeks, we’ve heard a lot about Falmouth’s high street and how some places are struggling to stay open.
Some large outlets like Ann’s Cottage surf shop and Poundland are shutting – and Trago Mills says it’s facing the chop.
Hannah Pearce owned Un_rap, an eco-friendly food refill store that stocked cupboard foods like rice and pasta in jars instead of plastic packaging, that was located on Webber Hill in Falmouth.
At the beginning of September, Hannah decided to close Un_rap’s doors.
“Profits weren’t increasing enough to cover the costs sustainably,” explains Hannah.
“I wasn’t losing money but I felt like it was the right time to get out before that started happening because i feel like this year that potentially could have started happening.”
She also says that, among other reasons, the shop’s closure was also influenced by her landlady’s decision to sell the building.
The store sold unpackaged cupboard food, aiming to reduce the use of plastic packaging (Photo credits: William Morgan)
Hannah says that in the first three years, Un_rap was really successful – even during Covid.
“We could get things that other people couldn’t, for example; bread, flour, pasta, rice, yeast – that kind of thing. We were able to provide the community with things that supermarkets literally couldn’t get onto the shelves fast enough and part of that was because we sold things unpackaged so we were really in demand during that time.”
Once everything started to go back to ‘normal’ in May 2021, many businesses have been hit hard by the rapid drop in footfall in Falmouth.
Hannah says, “I saw a huge decline in footfall in town and I think it was because, during Covid, there was loads of home deliveries and I think a lot of shop owners would agree with me on that people were shopping online for things that they once got in town.”
She also says the high street “never really came back to the same degree.”
Hannah also says the closure of other essential shops in Falmouth, like banks and cobblers, alongside stores such as Wilko and Poundland, greatly affected the drop in footfall from 2023-2025.
“People are no longer finding it worth it to buy essential household knickknacks or thinking ‘I’ll just pop into town to get that’. Now they’re popping out of town to those because that kind of stuff just isn’t here anymore.”
Many shops along Falmouth’s high street remain empty or half-renovated (Photo credits: Tia Boddey)
Keren Cooksey, manager at the Business Improvement District, says, ““Falmouth has a really strong independent offer and with that comes a lot of resilience. I do feel, personally, that we are going to weather this storm and come back fighting.”
Hannah responds to Keren’s statement, saying, “I owned a business for seven years on the high street and I’d say five years of that was fighting, so I’m pretty tired.”
However, she continues to say, “Starting a community shop on the high street or starting any shop on the high street is a risky thing to do, but also it was probably one of the best decisions I ever made. It was great and I felt like a real part of a community that mattered, that cared. We all looked out for each other. So that’s way more important than any money.”
All hope for Un_rap is not lost, though.
Hannah says she’s been working with a woman named Amy from eco-friendly charity, Another Way, to potentially open another store.
“I’ve been hearing good things, I have my fingers crossed.”
Hannah Pearce, the owner of Un_rap (Photo credits: Mykola Williams)