WH Smith has confirmed it will close one of its high street stores in Bangor.
The historic high street retailer providing books, stationery, newspapers, magazines, cards, entertainment, confectionary, WH Smith currently has two shops on Bangor High Street in close proximity of each other, with the other store providing stationary and post office services.
However the chain has told North Wales Live the books and magazines site will close this October. Bosses said the lease was due to expire and they have been unable to “trade viably” from the site.
Bangor’s high street – the longest in Wales – and the nearby shopping centres have lost several major retailers over the pandemic – including Debenhams, H&M and Topshop/Topman. There are grants and loans on offer from Welsh Government to attract businesses to the city centre.
A spokesperson for WH Smith told North Wales Live: “We can confirm that the WHSmith Books store in Bangor will be closing in October 2022. Unfortunately, we are unable to continue to trade viably from this location and the decision has been taken to close the store as a result of the forthcoming lease expiry.
“We are extremely grateful for the commitment of our in store colleagues who we will support with this transition and redeploy to nearby stores, where possible. Customers in Bangor can continue to shop with us at our other WHSmith store located on the high street, which will be incorporating the books, news and magazines offer.”
