‘Give our town Primark store’, shoppers plead

SHOPPERS in a “neglected” Lancashire town have called for Primark to open a new store – and the budget retailer has responded.

Residents in Skelmersdale have often told how they feel that the West Lancashire town has been overlooked and ‘forgotten’ about over the years.

As is the growing trend across the county, the town centre has been struggling for the last 20 years, with many shops in the Concourse shopping centre having come and gone.

Many feel that there is a shortage of places to shop, especially for clothes, and often shoppers travel to other places such as Liverpool,

Southport, Wigan and Preston to spend their hard-earned cash. Meanwhile, others simply avoid the high street altogether and prefer to shop online. We visited Skelmersdale last week to find out what people want to see change.

Leanne Downes, 38, told the

Advertiser that she felt Skelmersdale been “neglected.”

She said: “Skem has been neglected for a long, long time.

“Not just in terms of shops but in terms of usage of children’s services and that sort of stuff, I myself work in children’s services.”

There are hopes that things will get better following the opening of the new Tawd Valley Centre development. It has seen Lidl open its doors on June 9, and B&M is set to follow on July 6.

“Leanne said the new development is an asset and will be “good for the people”.

She added: “I think it is good for the town and good for morale and to see we have been finally allocated some money.

“It’s good for the economy and good for the people.

“I mean we have got all these new houses being built and we needed something like this for a long term. We just need something now in the way of doctors and dentists and all that kind of stuff but every little bit.”

West Lancashire Council said the new town centre complex is part of the regeneration plan for Skelmersdale. the opening of the town centre complex,. some people think more is needed to make Skelmersdale a good place to shop.

Taxi driver Barry Smith, who has lived in the town for around 30 years, said more clothing shops are needed – including a Primark.

He said: “No men’s clothes shops. Dunnes is that still open? There is so many shops being shut in the Conner [Concourse]. Primark we have harped on about it for years.

“We could do with a Primark, saves people going to Wigan. We haven’t got a Primark or Matalan.”

Skelmersdale is currently home to New Look, Peacocks, George at Asda and a handful of independent shops.

The Advertiser decided to ask Primark if has considered Skelmersdale as a place to open a new store in.

A Primark spokesperson said: “We continually review opportunities for expansion of the Primark business however, as you’d expect, we don’t comment on speculation about where or when we might open our next stores.”