BOURNEMOUTH’s only town centre supermarket Lidl closed for the final time yesterday evening.
Staff at the budget German retailer shut up shop for one last time on Friday, October 7, at 6pm as the town centre bids farewell to its only supermarket.
Shoppers expressed their sadness at the town centre’s latest retail loss.
Selma Tudor said: “We live in Westbourne, but we usually come here about three times a week.
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“I usually buy quite a bit, so we will really miss it. We will now have to find a new shop and Bournemouth is very lacking in food shops.”
Her friend Barbara Griffin added: “It’s such a shame that Wilko had to go, it hasn’t done the shopping centre any favours. We knew Lidl would go when Wilko went.”
Another shopper, Christopher Derbyshire, also said it was no surprise Lidl had to close.
He said: “I usually come here once a week but not many people come here anymore.
Read more: Bournemouth Wilko closes to the disappointment of shoppers
“Wilko closing has meant it is less desirable to come to the shopping centre.”
Most shelves looked empty yesterday afternoon as shoppers bought their items at the shop for the last time. The Daily Echo was told unsold stock will be taken to surrounding Lidl stores.
Staff were notified in August during a meeting about the shop’s closure. There have been no redundancies as all staff will be transferred to another Lidl store.
Read more: Why are Lidl closing their Bournemouth town centre store?
Bosses of the budget supermarket stated they had struggled to come to “more agreeable” lease terms with the landlord of Richmond Gardens Shopping Centre.
Lidl also said turnover was not recovering to pre-pandemic levels and neighbouring Wilko’s closure earlier in the year contributed to the decision to close the store.
The closure marks the end of the town centre’s only supermarket, with only a Tesco convenience store remaining in The Square.
Despite this, a Lidl spokesperson said Bournemouth town centre remained on its desired site requirements list.
Lidl has additional stores in Wimborne Road in Winton, Poole Road in Branksome, Christchurch Road in Boscombe and Holdenhurst Road in Springbourne.
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