WOMBWELL High Street has suffered another blow as staff in Poundstretcher have been told the shop is to close.
This week staff wrote messages in the shop windows to say the shop was closing - but they have been left unsure as to when this will actually happen.
Joanne Wilson who works in Linda’s Cafe directly opposite the shop saw staff writing signs in the shop windows on Tuesday morning and went across.
Joanne, 43, said: “They told me the company never gave anyone an indication that it was closing, or when, apart from an email telling them to put the message up in the windows. The staff were obviously upset.
“We need the council to help businesses around here, but we don’t see many councillors around.”
News of the closure has come as little surprise to local residents and businesses, who see it as another sign of the continued decline of Wombwell’s once busy High Street.
Jacky Carroll, who owns Gabby’s Florist, said: “It will be a shame when it goes, but that’s the way it’s going. They sell the same things as Wilko and Poundland down the road, so people have no reason to go in there.
“They’ll probably make it into a hairdresser or a barber. It’s not bad round here for the little shops but the big chains seem to struggle.”
Theresa Arnold, 48, owns Taattoo on the high street. She said: “We have the Burton building and the old Post Office empty and not doing anything.
“It’s about time Barnsley Council invested in the outer towns and really put some effort into building them up instead of just spending all their money on the town centre.”
Joanne Coldwell, 50, of Hall Street, said: “We are all upset, it’s been here a long time and it will be missed.
“When we didn’t have the Tesco it was very handy. I will probably have to get the bus into town now.
“There’s nothing in Wombwell now but tattoo shops and hairdressers.”
Janet Marshall, 70, of Barnsley Road, said: “They sell everything in there, I go in all the time.
“It used to be a lovely shopping place round here where you could buy anything, and now I generally have to rely on family to fetch me things or take me into town.”
Another resident, who did not wish to be named, said: “With the Wilko there’s no room for any more shops like that, one had to go.
“People will go wherever is cheapest and there’s so many places now where you can get stuff for a pound.”
Councillor for Wombwell Dick Wraith said: “It’s a really sad sign of the times.
“We keep trying to promote Wombwell but it seems to be one step forward and two steps back, but it’s another gap and we will try our best to fill it.
“We haven’t got a good mix in Wombwell at the minute as it’s all takeaways, nail salons and barbers’ shops.”
