People living in St Ann’s have spoken about how sad they are after cash and carry I.C. Discounts closed after 28 years. The discount warehouse store is on St Ann's Well Road.
It sold food, DIY products, toys, cleaning products and more. It is not clear why the store has closed down but the firm continues to trade from its other shop in Derby.
Before it was a discount store, it was the Cavendish Picture House. The cinema closed on September 15, 1968. The cinema then operated as a bingo club which continued until 1991 with I.C. Discounts then taking over. But that came to an end on March 5 when the I.C Discounts announced on their official Facebook page that it was closing after 28 years.
Read more: Here's what people living in St Ann's think of the area
Betty Charlton, 75, who is retired and lives in St Ann’s with her husband, said she was saddened to see the discount store close. Betty spoke of her shock when she found out what was happening.
“I was really surprised and I thought ‘oh dear’," she said. “It did some as a shock, I think they had struggled because of Covid. I think they [the owners] have a place in Derby and that’s where they’ll be going. The last time I went in was around 2 weeks ago.”
I.C. Discounts stands for ‘Ian and Claire’ discounts, they were the original owners in the family run business. Betty continued and said: “We live just around the corner and it is just so easy and convenient, they sell everything. It was massive inside. The store was good for many things like getting Christmas presents.
“We go to Heron which is further up but everyone misses the old Aldi. I.C. Discounts was for everyone, especially people who can’t get on buses to go to town. Now, there's nowhere to go, in here [I.C. Discounts] we could browse as much as we liked and the staff were lovely. When it was a cinema, it was packed but now, we could do with a few shops, there's a lot closing down."
The Aldi on Huntingdon Road in St Ann’s closed on August 1st 2021. Betty’s husband, Grenville Charlton, is also sad to see the store close, he said: “It was a cheap shop and now they’re putting everything up, council tax is up, rent is up, it’s expensive.
“What I don’t want to see is student accommodation we could do with something like bingo, there’s a lot of old people about in the area.”
Dawn Allen from St Ann's worked at the discount store up until 1996. Now, she works at a pub. She said: "The store was brilliant. I loved working there. I left in '96."
Even though Dawn had finished her time at the warehouse store, she still regularly went in, she continued and said: "I went in every week over lockdown because I had my mum with me and we use to go in and get sweets. I shop all over now. "When I had the grand-kids, I use to go in [I.C Discounts] and get them toys."
