House of Fraser is set to close one of its two remaining Welsh stores for good next month. The fashion brand has confirmed it will close its shop in Cwmbran Centre after serving notice to terminate its lease on June 23.
Seen as Cwmbran Centre's flagship store, the shop has a long history in the town having been on the site for 58 years. Its departure means the House of Fraser store in Cardiff city centre will be the only one left in Wales.
LCP, the property and investment company that took over Cwmbran Centre earlier this year, said it was "disappointed" to see the store close but said it would "use its departure as an opportunity to kickstart our plans to revitalise and develop Gwent Square." It said it would reveal plans to revamp that area of the shopping centre "over the next few months."
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Both the Cwmbran and Cardiff stores were initially earmarked for closure back in January 2018, but were saved after Mike Ashley's Sports Direct took over the brand.
A spokesman for LCP said: “While we are naturally disappointed that House of Fraser, which is a longstanding retailer here, has decided to vacate its store, we will use its departure as an opportunity to kickstart our plans to revitalise and develop Gwent Square.
“Since taking ownership earlier this year, we’ve been looking at how we can update this part of the centre and we look forward to revealing those plans over the next few months. Cwmbran Centre is a thriving and busy centre that serves a large community and we are committed to investing in it and improving the offer there.”
Cwmbran Centre has 180 retail units over 740,000 sq ft, anchored by an Asda and a Primark. Other brands include JD Sports, River Island, Superdrug, New Look and Deichmann and there are 3,000 free car parking spaces and a bus station.
