A vacant unit in Fareham Shopping Centre becomes Flo's Pop-Up, trading every weekend from November to Christmas. The council's own footfall data explains why.

An empty unit in Fareham Shopping Centre is being turned over to Hampshire makers and independent traders for the run-up to Christmas. Flo’s Pop-Up @ The Courtyard will trade every weekend from November through to Christmas, and will also form part of the centre’s Festive Thursdays programme in December.

Fareham Borough Council announced it on 2 September. The venture is run by Helen Ruff, who already organises the Portchester and Gosport markets and publishes Flo’s Mag, and it is backed by the borough council and Fareham Shopping Centre.

What shoppers can expect, according to the council, is a mix of:

  • gifts and crafts
  • artisan food and drink
  • workshops
  • seasonal activities

Participating traders, workshop details and the festive events programme have not been published yet. The council says they will be announced ahead of the launch later this year, so there is no list of names to check and no confirmed opening date beyond “November”.

Why a weekends-only pop-up is the right shape

This is where the council’s own evidence is more interesting than the press release.

Fareham Borough Council published a Baseline Data Assessment Paper in August 2026 as part of the evidence base for its new Local Plan to 2044. Two findings in it sit directly behind this announcement.

The town centre is not emptying out. The summer 2025 retail occupancy survey found Fareham Town Centre holds around 325 occupied units at an occupancy rate of about 90%, and the paper describes the borough’s retail network as resilient, with vacancies “largely limited to a small number of units within the larger centres”. The Courtyard is one of those.

Footfall is the actual problem, and it is a long-term one. The same paper records a sustained fall in town centre footfall since 2013, a sharp drop in 2020, a partial recovery in 2021 and 2022, and levels that then stabilise but remain below pre-2016 figures. Its conclusion is worth quoting because it describes exactly what a weekend Christmas pop-up is for:

Overall, the data indicates a sustained reduction in town centre activity over time, alongside a shift towards stronger reliance on weekend and event-driven visits.

Saturdays consistently draw the highest footfall in Fareham; weekdays the lowest. A pop-up that trades weekends and Thursday evenings in December is aimed squarely at the days the council’s own counters say people still come.

The bigger works behind it

The pop-up is a temporary use of one unit. The council is separately spending money on the fabric of the centre.

At a special Executive meeting on 22 July 2026, the council approved the next phase of investment in Fareham Shopping Centre. The first phase, designed by Leslie Jones Architecture, covers:

  • improvements to the centre’s main entrances
  • a new shopping arcade connecting Fareham Live and the Civic Gardens to West Street
  • upgrades to Thackeray Square and Westbury Square, including the ability to use them as event spaces
  • relocated and modernised public toilets
  • essential maintenance across the centre

A second phase would extend refurbishment to other retained areas of the centre and to Delme Square. The council says the designs draw on Fareham red brick and the Victorian railway viaduct, and that the approach prioritises reusing existing structures and materials.

Councillor Simon Martin, the council’s Executive Leader, framed the pop-up as a stopgap that earns its keep: “It’s exactly the kind of creative and flexible use that helps bring vibrancy and activity into our town centre while longer-term regeneration plans continue to progress.”

What it means for you

  • If you shop in Fareham, expect a changing set of independent traders in The Courtyard at weekends from November, plus Thursday evenings in December under the centre’s Festive Thursdays programme.
  • If you are a Hampshire maker or small producer, the traders are being invited through Helen Ruff’s own network rather than through an open council application process, and no public application route has been published. The council’s customer service centre on 01329 236100 is the number given on the announcement.
  • If you are watching the town centre more broadly, the shopping centre works approved in July are the substantive change. The pop-up fills one unit for six or seven weeks.
  • No dates yet. The council has committed to “November through to Christmas” and nothing more precise. We will update this page when the trader list and opening dates are published.

More from Fareham News: things to do in Fareham, parking in Fareham, planning news and roadworks and travel.

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