The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
City store and post office closing down
WH Smith has confirmed the closure of its Union Street branch in the latest blow to Aberdeen city centre.
Pensioners are now facing a trek the length of the Granite Mile to reach their nearest post office, with the counter set to shut within weeks.
The nearest branch will now be located in the WH Smith store at the Bon Accord Centre.
The chain has been on Aberdeen’s main street since taking over from John Menzies in the late 1990s.
A city centre mainstay, it has been a newsagent and book shop since the 1950s.
Locals making their way out of the premises yesterday told us how the loss of the post office service would hit them.
One 74-year-old man told us he had been visiting the shop since he was a little boy.
He said: “This is a huge hit for the community, especially considering the post office will be gone.
“I remember when it was John Menzies in the 1960s, and even remember the shop before that.”
Another local pensioner told us she was worried about being able to walk to the nearest remaining facility.
She said: “I find it difficult enough to walk to the post office here, now I’ll have to walk twice as far to get what I want.
“I rely on it for communicating with my family and friends.”
North East MSP Liam Kerr pleaded for a new post office to open up elsewhere along the Granite Mile.
He said: “It is bad enough to see another good business leaving Union Street, which has been struggling along with many other high streets.
“Many people depend on local post office counters for irreplaceable face-toface services – not just mail but finance, as banks seem to keep pulling out of Aberdeen.”
The shop has provided newspapers, books, magazines and other essentials to Aberdonians for decades.
It is expected to shut on February 17. It is not yet known how many employees will be affected but it’s understood staff have been consulted about redundancy.
Several WH Smith stores across the UK have closed in recent months, with the shutters falling on venues in Manchester, Newcastle and Kent.
Last month, The Press and Journal reported the closure of the Oban branch of the retail giant.
WH Smith and the Post Office have been contacted for comment.