Glasgow's city centre has been dealt another blow as one of the last major retailers operating on Sauchiehall Street announces its closure.
Sports Direct will be closing its doors in the coming months with staff being moved elsewhere.
Signs have been placed outside of the shop advertising a closing down sale and stating that all stock will be reduced.
It comes just weeks after it was announced that Marks and Spencer will also be closing their branch on the street.
The company cited changing as the reason for pulling out of the site.
David Bates, M&S regional manager said they will 'focus their investment on the right stores in the right places'.
The Sports Direct branch on Argyle Street is expected to remain open with staff from the Sauchiehall Street branch offered the chance to relocate there.
Jamie O'Neill, a Sauchiehall Street business owner who started the Open for Business group in light of the Victoria's Nightclub fire, said: "The dominoes have fallen one by one on Sauchiehall Street, leaving parts of the street the perfect setting to shoot any Batman film.
"I’ve watched it become a run-down Gotham city and believe Sauchiehall Street is now beyond saving. After the fires, small businesses and sole traders spoke about the aftermath and how we believe with proper investment, the street would take 10 years to recover.
"We have not seen that investment. Instead, we have seen greedy landlords demand extreme rents and a council who hasn’t moved fast enough to save what was left of this street.
"We went into the pandemic on the back foot and one by one, the big names abandoned us. The office staff worked from home, people were discouraged from going outside unless necessary, cycle lanes changed how easy it was to get in and out of the city and parking restrictions made it too expensive for some. This has all led to the complete shambles we are in and I can’t take any more.
"Our landlords have demanded rent that we can’t afford and are forcing us out. I have put everything into keeping my store running and my colleagues have also sacrificed because we had hope that things would return to normal. It won’t. No one is coming to help and it’s soul-destroying.
"Sports Direct, like Marks and Spencer , and Lush and Sainsbury’s and Argos, Santander, Coop, Greggs, Virgin, Vodafone, EE - just to make a few - brought footfall. Now there’s little reason to come to Sauchiehall Street - unless you’re filming a Batman film."
Sports Direct has been contacted for comment.
