The Cardiff branch of House of Fraser, housed in the long-standing Howells building, has closed its doors for the final time. The department store has been open since 1865 and staff have paid an emotional tribute to their time there as they bid it goodbye.
"Up until now I’ve been very stoic about the whole thing," said staff member Sue Falcon, who started and finished her 34-year Howells and House of Fraser career in the children's section under the same boss, Ann Vaughan.
Sue admitted there would be "a few tears" on the final day at work, adding: "Then I’ll go home and have a really good cry! Before I started this morning, I went around and revisited some of the places over the last couple of years that have been important to me, and mentally said goodbye."
READ MORE: The secret history and untold stories of Howells and House of Fraser
The store's closure was confirmed in February, with a precise date confirmed days later. On Sunday, March 26, staff headed in to work for a final time.
Customers arrived as soon as the doors opened to make some final purchases. Some staff were visibly emotional as they recalled decades of memories working in the Howells building. You can find all the best pictures as colleagues said their goodbyes here.
"It's been a great family," said Tina Saunders, who has worked in the department store for 17 years - starting in the home section before moving to menswear. "It’s just been a wonderful 17 years and I’ll miss it, especially at my age, 61, looking for another job."
Tina has now accepted another job offer closer to her home in Barry, but to her, Howells and House of Fraser have been something unique. "I do say that we pride ourselves on service," she continued. "There’s some department stores where you don’t even see members of staff. We’re always here, always friendly."
Standing in an almost-empty section of the store , Tina recalled some of the highlights of her time working there: "We used to have galas here, and to promote the tickets I dressed up as ABBA, and when William and Kate got married we all dressed up in our wedding outfits and hats to make that occasion a bit more special."
Tina spent much of the store's final weeks remembering her favourite customers from over the years: "On this one occasion a customer had a pretty green umbrella that he was really fond of. He lost it, so he gave me his phone number and I called when I found it. He brought in a bunch of flowers because he was so thrilled to get it back.
"I had a customer come in with a box of chocolates and a card for our good service. I used to love them coming in, two men, they were just lovely characters and every time I saw them I would smile at them."
As well as the customers, the friendships between the staff have been equally important through the years. In the minutes before House of Fraser opened its doors for a final day of trading, Tina danced along the shop floor with her colleague Fleur Cullinane, while singing along to a Tina Turner song blaring out on the loud speakers: "You're simply the best / Better than all the rest."
"Because of me being mature," said Tina, "I’ve been like the mother or even the nan to some of them. I say things and they go: ‘What’s that?’
"The other day I said ‘this is like the Forth Bridge’ and they went: ‘Forth Bridge?' [I explained] they used to start painting it at one end and by the time they got to the other end they’d have to start again. That’s what this has been for the last eight weeks - we’d start tidying one end of the building and go back to the other end."
House of Fraser looked borderline unrecognisable as it prepared to close. Most wall fittings had been taken out entirely, with the rest earmarked as "for sale" or "sold." Even the mannequins had gone up for sale in recent weeks, with most products discounted by up to 50%.
Other pieces of shop furniture were boxed up and earmarked to be sent to different House of Fraser branches across the UK, and the last items of clothing, toys, perfumes and soft furnishings were laid out on tables with the few remaining clothes rails as customers searched for one last bargain.
One customer, 58-year-old Anne Grainger, has been shopping at Howells and House of Fraser for more than 40 years. Waiting outside to head in for a final time, she said: "It’s been a staple, really. It’s very sad, I just came to say goodbye to the store.
"It’s history really - it’s been here for years. It was a treat on a Saturday morning to come to Howells and to David Morgan, it’s the end of a tradition."
Over the years the Howells building has welcomed countless customers, changed dramatically and featured in Doctor Who. You can see some of the best pictures from its centuries-spanning history here.
The building, originally acquired by James Howell, was rebranded as part of House of Fraser in 2010 but still retains the James Howell & Co signage. It has now been bought by the Thackeray Group and will be redeveloped in a £100m project which could involve the installation of apartments, restaurants, shops and more.
For Sue Trepleton - who moved to work at House of Fraser with her Tina (quoted above), her colleague at Dan Evans in Barry - the closure is a loss for Cardiff generally. "The city is losing a great history of 158 years," she said.
"I’ve researched the store for 10 years and I’m writing a book about it now, about the many aspects of things that have gone on, the people I’ve worked with, the customers, and the famous people that have been here - about the chapel as well, which has been there since 1807. I’ve got a lot to do."
The final day was "very emotional" for Sue, who added: "I’ve made lots of friends and I’ll keep all those friends, we’ll all keep in touch with each other. It is a sad day."
Before closing the doors, staff raised a glass of bubbly to toast their many happy years' employment. They stood still and listened to a final announcement on the tannoy by general assistant Dylan Marks, who acknowledged the longest-serving members of staff and added: "We would like to thank customers for their support throughout the close-down process and wish you all the very best for the future from all of us here at James Howell.... For the final time, I would like to thank you for shopping at Howells Cardiff."
Employees' tears were audible and applause rang out following the announcement. After gifts were given out and speeches made between "friends for life," it was time to say goodbye. Spiridoula Cuschieri, who worked in the store for 26 years, said: "I’m feeling sad. It has been a remarkable journey and we have now reached the destination, which we all knew was going to happen. Still, a shock."
After working in the homeware section for years, she said customers had visited in the final weeks to thank staff for their kindness and talk about the beloved items in their house that they had bought from Howells or House of Fraser over the years. "I've had customers coming in with flowers thanking us," said Spiridoula, "it was amazing."
She wanted to say "a big thank you" to everyone involved in supporting the business, from James Howell to Sports Direct, and added: "We have been privileged to work in this building."
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