Big retailer cools Welshpool interest

A big national retailer appears to have lost interest in filling the vacant Sainsbury’s building after telling MyWelshpool they have “no current plans” to open.

Amidst all the closures of banks and shops last year, the news of The Original Factory Shop advertising a £25,000-a-year Store Manager for Welshpool gave us some hope.

But in a week when Lloyds Bank becomes the final high street bank to leave the town, the Burnley-based retailer said: “We have no current plans to open a new store in the Welshpool region at this moment in time.”

Last year, the retailer said it was launching an ambitious plan to open 50 new stores across the UK to add to its chain of 166 currently operating. But it looks like Welshpool has been removed from the list, for now.

Sainsbury’s called it a day in Welshpool during the pandemic, leaving the huge building empty. WH Smith, Savers, HSBC and Barclays have since followed suit with Lloyds closing this Friday.