1 week Ago
WH Smith has issued a statement after announcing its Bolton store was to shut this week due to redevelopment plans. A spokesman said they were 'disappointed' to be pulling out of Bolton town centre and thanked customers for their support. WH Smith posted closing down notices in its windows on Tuesday (November 12) with a member of staff adding the closure was due to the demolition of Crompton Place Shopping Centre.
A spokesperson for WH Smith said: “We can confirm that the WHSmith store in Bolton will be closing early next year owing to the landlord’s redevelopment plans. Read more: Bolton: M&S agreement to put Crompton Place plan on track "We are disappointed to be losing our presence in Bolton and we would like to thank all our customers for their support and for shopping with us. "We are also extremely grateful for the commitment of our in store colleagues who we will support with this transition and redeploy to nearby stores, where possible.
” A staff member told The Bolton News that the closure date was either February 14 or 15. Read more: Bolton: M&S agreement to put Crompton Place plan on track There is a WH Smith in Bolton's train and interchange hub. WH Smith recently shut a branch in Sale.
WH Smith will be the latest big name to close a store in Bolton, with Marks and Spencer shutting its store in April of last year and Clinton’s Cards also leaving the town centre in 2023. Cllr Nick Peel, leader of Bolton Council, told The Bolton News this week that the council is working with the retailer to try and find new premises. He said: “We want the new Crompton Place to have a mixed use – residential, eating, leisure and retail.
.. more open spaces so that the current footprint will look completely different in the next few years.
” The Crompton Place shopping centre was bought by Bolton Council in 2018 with plans to demolish the building and redevelop the area. Since then a number of businesses have relocated including SpecSavers, The Works and Primark set to move into the Market Place in a matter of weeks. However, there is still not a developer in place yet although the council hopes to have a contractor in place before demolition begins.
The former Marks and Spencer building in Deansgate is still lying empty, after the closure due to “changing shopping habits”. Marks and Spencer had been a presence in Bolton since 1892. Crompton Place’s flagship store Primark will be leaving the centre later this month, moving into the former Debenhams location in Market Place.
The Crompton Place shopping centre opened in 1971 as an Arndale Centre, but was renamed in 1989 after Samuel Crompton, the Bolton-born industrialist. It contains 46 units, but few contain shops today as retailers await its demolition, which is expected to begin this summer..
