‘£34 in a week’: Abergavenny street ‘forgotten’ during Covid

Retailers have said an accumulation of rising cases, restrictions on the hospitality sector, and pedestrianisation of the road has driven shoppers away at the most crucial time of the year.

But others have questioned whether the impact of the road closure is completely negative, saying it worked well in the warmer months and will have longer term benefits for traders well after Christmas.

Cross Street has been pedestrianised between 10am and 4pm (from the Angel Hotel to Market Street) since August – in an attempt by Monmouthshire County Council (MCC) to develop a café culture in a town often hailed a prime destination for Gwent shoppers.

But clothes retailer Jason Harries who owns Revue on Cross Street, says since the weather has turned – so has the footfall.

“Cross Street used to be the entrance to Abergavenny, now we’ve been forgotten,” he said. “On Saturday it was desolate – at Christmas. It’s horrendous.

Jason Harries

Jason Harries

“I do think it’s largely due to the pedestrianisation. A lot of elderly people used to come and park up and pop in my shop – that’s very rare now. There is very little passing trade.

“This year I’ve lost £173,000, I’m 65 per cent down on last year – I’m eating into my own personal savings.

“We used to get people down here because in the summer they’d go outside the cafes and restaurants. The place looked appealing and people were intrigued and came to Cross Street. But now it’s too cold for that, this idea of the road closure has wrecked our trade.”

Cross Street on Monday

Mike Preedy, who has run Barnfields TV and radio store since 1971, says last week he took £34 in income.

“I can’t remember it as bad as this,” he said. “It’s been a ghost street recently. I do put it down to the road closure. People don’t stop outside anymore, they don’t really walk down here either.

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“The business rates are higher down here than elsewhere in the town too, it’s all accumulated and is getting difficult.”

Jayne Bell, who part owns new store Style Boutique with Linda Smart, said: “It’s been a difficult financial period, and a terrible December, but that’s for a multitude of reasons.

“It started when the local lockdowns began in neighbouring areas. We were getting a lot of visitors from Blaenau Gwent and Torfaen, but that all dried up – and it’s never really got back since.

The Angel Hotel

The Angel Hotel

“In the summer I could understand pedestrianising the road because it meant hospitality traders could utilise the space, and people were out there and it was good, but now no-one’s coming, and the closed road is affecting our trade.

“The main pull for this part of town is also the Angel Hotel, which has closed due to the ban on alcohol and the curfew.

“I walk through the town from Frogmore Street and when you get here it’s like you’re in a different place altogether.”

Over the road at Cwtch Café owner Jo Nicholson says it is the quietest she’s seen the street, but doesn’t believe the road closure is at the heart of the issue.

Outdoor ‘pods’ have been installed by the council outside her premises, and next door at Regency and The Kings Head – to improve trade by increasing capacity while maintaining social distancing.

Jo Nicholson

Jo Nicholson

“I think Covid has badly affected people’s confidence, and people are just doing their shopping online,” she said.

“It’s a shame because I know there has been a huge push from traders and the council to get people to shop locally.

“The sad thing is that it does get busy enough at Frogmore Street, and we’ve actually got a higher concentration of independent stores here.

Cross Street on Monday

“I’d like to think the pods are going to work – the road is going to remain closed anyway so we may as well try and embrace it and use the restrictions to our advantage the best we can.

“My main concern is the impact of the new four tier system that is coming, because again it will affect visitors from outside the town that we rely on.”

Raj Neupane, who runs The Kings Head and Regency, says he is “losing money every day”.

“We’re staying open to serve dog walkers and meals, because everyone else is closed,” he said.

Raj Neupane

Raj Neupane

“We felt someone needed to stay open and it became apparent that was going to have to be us.

“We hoped the pods would help us through December but they’re still not ready – although they should be this week. They will definitely help us in the warmer months, and I’m sure they will help all traders because they’ll attract visitors.

“I think the reason footfall is so low is because of the restrictions on the hospitality sector. Once they are lifted I am positive we will start to see things pick up again.”

A spokeswoman for Monmouthshire County Council said: “We are aware and concerned about the immense challenges faced by businesses in Abergavenny, which are also being experienced by businesses across the county and elsewhere in the UK due to the pandemic. We have seen no evidence of the road closure being responsible for any reduction in footfall to businesses in Cross Street. However, there are many other factors affecting businesses, not least the alarming and worrying rise in cases of COVID-19 across Monmouthshire that has made shoppers wary of venturing out.

"The Cross Street closure was implemented as part of a wider programme of measures to enable shoppers to social distance safely by widening footways, without coming into conflict with motor vehicles in the road. Now more than ever we need to keep making social distancing easy and safe if we are to reduce community transmission. This is not the right time to relax our measures, we have a great deal to lose if the transmission of COVID-19 is not brought under control. In the meantime we will continue to offer businesses all the support possible.”