TK Maxx to close its Shrewsbury town centre branch
Retail giant TK Maxx will shut its Shrewsbury town centre store when it relocates to the Meole Brace Retail Park next month, it has emerged.
The high street chain, which has a two-floor shop in the Darwin Shopping Centre, will open its new out-of-town outlet on March 7 – creating an additional 15 jobs.
The town centre store will shut on March 6, with about 30 members of staff transferred over to the new outlet in Meole Brace.
But town councillors have described the out-of-town relocation as another blow for the town centre.
Shrewsbury Town Councillor for the Quarry and Coton Hill, Andrew Wagner, said high rents were driving businesses out of the town centre.
He said: "It is unfortunate that TK Maxx are moving out. It is not just them, there are other companies moving out of town as well.
"Lots of it is to do with landlords charging too much which is pushing people out.
"Every day you see shops closing. If all these shops keep going out of the town centre there will be nothing to attract the big shops to come in because we won't have the footfall. I don't know what the town centre will be like in 12 months time," he added.
TK Maxx is to take over the space previously used by Focus DIY, which has been empty for nearly two years.
TK Maxx also has a store at the Forge Retail Park in Telford.
Evelyn Morton, for TK Maxx, said: "We have created 15 new jobs for the Shrewsbury store relocation."
TK Maxx launched in the UK in 1994 and now has more than 230 stores. It specialises in selling designer brands at reduced prices.
