THERE was disappointment and frustration as a Stratford sweet shop closed its doors on Sunday (5th January).
As reported by the Herald in November, family-run Wilfred’s was having to close its High Street store as its lease came to an end and was not renewed.
The building is owned by luxury jeweller Pragnell.
Keta Coulthard, who has lived in Stratford for 10 years, contacted the Herald to express her disappointment at the town losing an independent retailer.
The shop in High Street, Stratford, closed last weekend.
“Wilfred’s was an independent shop, a nostalgic shop, which won’t come back,” she said. “People come to Stratford for tourism, but the town has nothing else left – there’s not much for shoppers as you can walk around the town [centre] in 20 minutes.”
She added that, while Pragnell may have plans for the buildings it owns on High Street, not everyone wants to buy high-value jewellery and handbags and the firm should have been able to expand its business and allow the sweet shop to continue.
Wilfred’s was known for its huge range of pick-and-mix sweets, US candy, bubble gum, liquorice and chocolate. The business had been at the site for 14 years and was previously known as Mr Simms Olde Sweet Shop.
Pragnell, which has already expanded into the former Fraser Hart building on the corner of Wood Street and High Street, had previously submitted a planning application to put up scaffolding outside numbers 38 and 39 High Street (Wilfred’s and Timpson’s) but the application was later withdrawn.
The Herald understands that Timpson’s is on a five-year lease with no plans to move out in the near future. The former Body Shop unit, also on High Street, has Pragnell branding on the front of the store.
“We need a good mix of shops in the town that make people want to come to Stratford,” Keta concluded. “In my opinion the town is very slowly dying and will take a long time to recover.”