Closing-down posters are up at the TGJones store at Parc Trostre in Llanelli, and staff say it is expected to shut at the end of November.
The yellow “store closing down, everything must go” signs are in the windows, offering up to 30% off “this store only”. Inside, the shelves of books, stationery and the Toys R Us concession are stickered at 20% and 30% off.
A member of staff said on Tuesday the last day of trading is expected to be at the end of November. TGJones has not announced the closure or a date.
It makes Trostre the third of seven south-west Wales branches to go since the chain’s rescue plan was approved in July. Tenby’s signs went up in August. Bridgend’s followed last month.
Seven at risk, now three with the posters up
The Trostre store was one of seven across the region left waiting on landlord rent deals when the High Court approved the restructuring on 1 July, alongside the Quadrant in Swansea, Carmarthen’s Guildhall Square, Neath, Bridgend, Tenby and Haverfordwest.
Up to 150 of the chain’s stores are expected to close under the plan, with rents cut by between 15% and 75% and landlords who refuse the new terms free to end their leases instead. That is where most of the closures were expected to fall.
Of the four still trading without posters, the Quadrant, Neath and Carmarthen stores all host Post Office counters, which prompted the Deputy First Minister to write to the chain over the Neath branch in May.
The chain has not confirmed any of the seven for closure, in Llanelli or anywhere else in the region.
Still WHSmith to most of Llanelli
The store opened as WHSmith and was rebranded TGJones after Modella Capital bought the high street business last year, in a deal that required the 234-year-old name to go. WHSmith lives on at airports and railway stations.
Modella has since blamed that forced rebrand for damaging customer awareness, and admitted in June that the retailer it bought was almost completely broken after years of under-investment.
In court in July, the retailer’s counsel said the business was “highly distressed” and “running on fumes”, facing a cash shortfall of nearly £8m within days if the plan was not approved.
What staff face
The chain employs 4,700 people and hundreds of jobs are expected to go. WH Smith refused to fund enhanced redundancy payments under the plan, leaving staff who lose their jobs on the statutory minimum.
Modella said in May that no final decisions had been made on staff and it aimed to preserve “as many jobs as possible”. Wales had 26 of the chain’s stores when the closures were announced.
The Trostre store also carries one of the Toys R Us concessions the chain runs inside some branches. Toys R Us backed the restructuring in court.
The posters at Parc Trostre have gone up six weeks before Christmas, with the chain yet to say a word about the store.
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