Stores won’t be reopening
Town set to lose big names
A NUMBER of big companies won’t be reopening their stores in Llanelli after lockdown restrictions are eased.
The UK’s largest mobile network operator EE has closed its store in Stepney Street in the town centre as part of a planned consolidation with the store in Parc Trostre retail centre.
But the company has confirmed that the decision for the closure was announced to staff before the pandemic and was not as a result of the Covid-19 lockdown.
Staff from the Llanelli store were informed of the closure in February and have moved into new roles in other EE stores.
A spokesperson for the company said: “We aren’t furloughing any of our retail colleagues and we’re as committed as ever to maintaining our presence on UK high streets and we look forward to opening our doors again in the future in Wales pending advice from Government.
“We’ve continued to pay retail colleagues and looked at ways they can help their local communities to stay connected. We’ve also been continuing to train and upskill staff so they’re ready to hit the ground running when we can welcome customers into our shops again.”
The store closure follows a long list of bigname companies such as Marks and Spencer and Holland and Barrett that have moved from the town centre to nearby retail park Parc Trostre.
But Parc Trostre will also be losing a big name company when restrictions are eased and shops are given the go ahead to reopen.
Shoe retail company Clarks has confirmed it will not be reopening its Llanelli store and customers will have to go to neighbouring Carmarthen or Swansea to shop at the shoe company.
A spokesperson for the company said: “We continually review all of our stores to ensure that they are the right size and located in the right areas in order to provide the best possible offering and environment to our customers. After careful consideration, we have decided to no longer trade at Llanelli Parc Trostre.
“Customers can continue to shop from our full range of products online and at our nearby stores in Swansea and Carmarthen.”
Meanwhile, the future may also be looking bleak for Parc Pemberton’s Frankie and Benny’s store after the restaurant chain announced that they would be closing up to 120 restaurants across the UK.
The Restaurant Group (TRG) which owns Frankie and Benny’s and Asian food chain Wagamama’s, have not yet confirmed which branches will be closing but have confirmed that the chain was facing challenges before the Covid-19 lockdown and that a ‘large number’ of their stores will be closing permanently.
TRG which is one of the biggest in the UK has around 22,000 staff currently on furlough and the closure will affect around 2,000 - 3,000 employees.