THERE was a blow to Llandudno’s town centre as two major retailers moved to administration and a long-running independent furniture store closed its doors.
Major music and film retailer HMV and camera and photography equipment chain Jessops have both entered administration, dealing a blow to the retail scene in the town.
Deloitte was appointed as administrators for HMV on Monday evening. The 92-year-old business, which has a store on Mostyn Street, has more than 4,00 staff and 238 outlets across the UK.
The business faced fierce competition from the increasing availability of downloadable music, with more consumers buying music and films online rather than on CD, DVD or BluRay.
Its stores will remain open while Deloitte attempts to find a buyer for the business, but store closures are predicted as a result of the collapse.
Camera chain Jessops, which also has a store on Llandudno’s high street, went into administration last week with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), at the cost of 1,370 jobs across its 187 stores.
Furniture store Oaklands – formerly Finney’s World of Interiors – on the corner of Vaughan Street and Conwy Road, closed its doors last week.
Town Mayor Cllr Myra Wigzell described the news of the administration of HMV and the closure of Oaklands as a “considerable blow”.
She said: “Obviously, it’s another blow to our high street in Llandudno. With all these empty shops, goodness knows who’s going to come and buy them. It is a very big worry.
“It’s a very considerable blow to our high street and a very worrying trend, and we as the Town Council will follow any viable avenue suggested to encourage business into Llandudno.”