A city centre B&M store has been emptied by shoppers in a closing down spree. The discount store in Newport’s Kingsway shopping centre told customers it was closing down this week, sparking a rush for bargain products.
Emotional staff at the store were overrun with customers with everything being sold at 50% earlier this week, and pictures show the store desolate on Thursday afternoon ahead of the last day of trading on Friday, October 21. Every product left in the shop on Friday was sold at 75% off.
WalesOnline approached B&M for an explanation as to why the store was closing, but it did not respond. The premises was first made available for lease through real estate agent Savills in March, with a monthly rental figure of £8,750. You can get more Newport news and other story updates straight to your inbox by subscribing to our newsletters here.
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Staff at the store have been told they will all be able to keep their jobs and be moved to nearby stores - of which there are a handful in Cardiff and Newport. Traders and shoppers in Kingsway have said they’ve been shocked by the news and confused as to why the store - one of the most popular in Newport - has had to close.
Bob Herring, who works in the Newport County club shop in the centre, said: “We’re just gearing up ready for Christmas, and obviously with B&M, which is next door to us, closing down, the footfall will be less. You have always had quite a lot of people going in there. B&M has always attracted people to Kingsway. We’re baffled as to why it is closing. I hope it won’t have that much of an effect on us. We rely on supporters coming to us and buying the products so hopefully we don’t feel the loss of B&M too much.”
Helen Oliver, who jointly runs a clothes bank for refugees who have fled Ukraine, from inside Kingsway, said she had been blown away by the number of people queueing in the centre for B&M this week. “It’ll be a big loss to the Kingsway - absolutely massive,” she said. “A lot of the footfall is very dependent on B&M.”
Regular shopper Ian Dore said more needed to be done to protect the shopping centre. “The Post Office has been lost and Peacocks has closed down and been replaced with a Job Centre,” he said. “B&M attracted a wide range of customers, so the closure will have a knock-on effect to older people who don’t have a car to travel to out-of-town centres.
“The bus service to get to these out-of-town shopping areas is abysmal and you would be lucky to get one bus an hour. All car parks should be free like in Cwmbran. Here in Friars Walk the full-size Debenhams store remains empty. The problem is all over the world - not just in Newport. The city centre cannot afford to lose any retailer, otherwise shoppers will ask what is the point in going into town. Somebody is not trying hard enough to lease these units at a competitive price.”
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