Mystery shop in Birmingham. It’s been there since at least the early 90s, nobody can go in, there’s an older gentleman there regularly who waters the flowers and moves the furniture, and a company tied to it – but nobody knows what it is. Does your town have a mystery business?

by Bobinthegarden

19 comments

  1. Have you tried ringing the number?

    According to Companies House, the address was used for a ‘management consultancy’ business called Freekquency Worldwide until 2022.

  4. In Manchester we have Withy Grove Stores Ltd. Similar vibe to this one it’s in the centre of Manchester (behind the Arndale centre), has been around for decades, and even though it always seems empty & locked you can call them and someone will pick up the phone to help.

    They sell safes and locks and stuff

  5. There’s a gun shop down one of the high streets. You pass it when walking from the main train station into town.

    You can see airsoft/pellet guns in there, and I assume there’s proper weapons for hobbyists too.

    Never seen it open. Never saw any customer inside.

    I wonder how it’s still there.

  6. The bloke may be living there eventhough it’s registered as a commercial unit, so if it continues to look like a business and have business associated with it, questions about planning don’t get asked.

  8. According to Birmingham planning, its been a shop since 1901 but this may be a mistake as planning documents for this list it as 1957. It was owned by Manders Brothers until at least the 60s which means it was probably a paint and varnish shop. Since 68, all applications for changes have come from the West Bromwich Building society and the same guy has owned it until recently.

    I would say its someone’s personal space that still operates some kind of business.

  9. They’re practising for when they open an actual shop.

  11. It got closed and condemned during COVID but there was a ‘beauty and massage’ parlour next to the cinema from as far back as I can remember. I was about 14 when I realised what it really was 😐

  12. Another Birmingham one. When I was a kid in the late 80s and for most of the 90s, possibly even longer, there was a mystery business in a small unit on the concourse at Birmingham International train station. It was just to the right of what was John Menzies newsagents and I never saw it open or anyone in there. Post just kept piling up inside the door and it had a few random electronic gadgets in the window iirc. I only lived a couple of miles away and went up there a lot because my mum worked at the NEC and my dad worked for BR. I was fascinated by that place.

  13. An art gallery and Armenian restaurant owned by the same guy (until quite recently when the building the restaurant was housed was listed for sale), has been regularly asked about on /edinburgh for years.

    The art gallery (42 dundas street, in case you want a nosey on streetview, it’s the unit under the clothes shop) is a basement unit and looks abandoned and derelict.
    The restaurant was a bit difficult to book into due to the guy’s abruptness and there being a year and a bit waiting list.

  15. I imagine a crime lord sitting in the back, smoking cigars, chunky sovereign rings, gold chain, maybe a gold tooth. It’s where the business meetings happen, and sometimes visitors leave in black plastic bags.

  17. Possibly someone lives there and makes it look like a shop so they don’t need planning permission for change of use to residential 

  18. There was a bar in my town for a while, had a black and white colour scheme, never seemed to be open during the day, was called Midnight, not saying hiding in plain sight vampire lair *but*

    More mundane ones:

    There’s also been a couple of ‘random shops selling a really random mix of items that no one ever seems to go in’

    Also the recently closed place that was a combination American sweet shop, vape shop and multi cuisine takeaway but I think that one was actually above board

Comments are closed.