South Wales Evening Post - 8 July 2006
Swansea's St David's Shopping Centre has lost one of its key stores. Discount shop Hypervalue has suddenly closed at the centre, giving no notice to centre chiefs, it is claimed.
Centre manager Matt Beaumont said the discount store suddenly pulled out on Tuesday, when it was emptied, and is no longer trading.
The shop traded in just about anything from food to lighting and carpets, all at knock-down prices.
"It was a bit of a surprise to be honest with you.
"It had not been doing very well for the last couple of months. We had no inkling of this," he said.
The store employed about 10 staff.
It is been a stalwart of the area for more than a decade. Its departure will leave a gaping hole in a centre which once housed everything from a Safeway supermarket to a South Wales Electricity showroom, a branch of the Abbey National and furniture store.
Its biggest single tenant now is Iceland Frozen Foods.
Mr Beaumont said: "Any shop closing in St David's is a blow to us."We don't want to see empty shops. We have enough of them already."Mr Beaumont said Hypervalue had still to surrender the lease.
"It's a big unit, hopefully it's a good unit and we shouldn't have any problems letting it again, but they haven't surrendered the lease."
Shoppers in the centre said they were sorry to see it go.
Helen Newman of Joiners Road in Three Crosses added: " I am sorry it has gone."I think it is a pity because the centre can't really afford to see any more closures.''
Hypervalue stores in Parc Tawe and Llansamlet are still trading as normal. Another branch in High Street closed a couple of years ago.
A spokesman for the company said yesterday: " No comment.''
