Empty shelves, £1 sales and staff callouts as high street shop closes for good
Shelves in the Coney Street store had been stripped back to fixtures and fittings on the ground floor at lunchtime today (Monday, October 19) (Image: Newsquest)
Today marks the last day of what was once a high-street "institution" in York.
As reported by The Press, TG Jones, at 39-41 Coney Street is closing (Monday, October 19) after weeks of winding down the former WHSmith store, which occupied the site for decades.
The closure was confirmed on September 2, with “Store Closing Down” and “Everything Must Go” signs appearing as the retailer prepared to leave the city centre.
Today, only a handful of books and cards remained for sale, although you could buy fixtures and fittings including chairs, coffee tables, card racks and shelves, with one person walking around the store calling out which items were for sale.
It appeared that a number of shopfitters were well advanced with the closing down well away from the items which were for sale in a small space towards the front of the store.
A sign at the entrance said: "Only fixtures and fittings for sale on the first floor, no stock for sale on the first floor."
Shelves in the Coney Street store had been stripped back to fixtures and fittings on the ground floor at lunchtime today (Monday, October 19) (Image: Newsquest)
The Post Office inside TG Jones closed on October 14, by which point the store’s first floor had been cleared and remaining stock moved downstairs, with discounts reaching 60 per cent.
Today, signs were displaying everything on sale for "£1 or less."
TG Jones is not disappearing from York, with the Monks Cross retail park store still open, according to the company website.
Shoppers inside the shop in Coney Street were looking for last-minute deals today and The Press caught up with a couple on their way out.
David and Elaine Oldham were in York on holiday from the Midlands and had spent time here and Harrogate whilst they've been away.
They'd bought a few children's things and some cards.
Both said they'd really rather that stores like TG Jones would stay open in the high street and David said that the increased cost of national insurance contributions and rents were all playing a part in the downturn of businesses in the high streets.
Carol and John Sammons have run Baileys Cafe and Tearooms in Museum Street for more than 30 years and both said they were sad to see the loss of another shop in the city centre, and in an area where they said they had looked at opening another premises themselves over the last 20 years or so.
Although they hadn't bought anything specifically today, they had been in to buy things a few times in the last six weeks since the closure was announced.
Carol said it was maybe a sign of the times, and John said: "Coney Street used to be the main street in York.
"It's like every time a recognisable shop or name closes, it doesn't get replaced with something comparable.
"They never used to approve coffee shops in Coney Street, and we couldn't do it."
Carol and John Sammons were concerned about shops in Coney Street not being replaced by similar enterprises or brands (Image: Kevin Glenton)
The announcement from TG Jones in September also confirmed the loss of York’s main Post Office, which had operated inside the store since moving from Lendal in 2019 and Carol said it was vitally important that there was a large branch in the city, rather than customers relying on Colliergate and Micklegate branches.
A Post Office spokesperson said it wanted to open a replacement branch "as soon as possible", but it can "take around six months to re-open a replacement branch".
At the time the closure was announced, a TG Jones spokesperson said: "As part of our work to secure the long-term future of TG Jones, we have confirmed that our York store will close.
"We appreciate this will be disappointing news for our colleagues, customers, and the local community."