It wouldn’t be unreasonable to describe 2021 as a mixed bag, to say the least.

A year filled with ups and downs, which started and ended with lockdown-like conditions, and a good chunk of freedom in between.

The high street saw mixed fortunes too, with some businesses setting up shop in Newport and opening for business.

But it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows, as other businesses took the at-times difficult decision to close for good this year.

These closures came for a number of reasons – from pivots to online only business models, to changing customer habits, and even a failure to attract enough staff to keep on going.

We won’t have each and every closure to affect the city this year, but below, you can check out a number of high profile high street casualties in Newport from 2021.

Read more: The shops and restaurants opened in Newport in 2021

Shops and businesses closed in Newport

Debenhams

The big one has to be Debenhams.

It opened as the flagship department store to anchor the entire Friars Walk shopping development in Newport city centre.

But, less than six years later, it has departed, leaving a vast empty space in its wake.

Early in the year, the retailer announced plans to pivot to trading online only, exiting the high street game, and in May, the store closed down for good.

Several months later, and the unit remains empty, with no signs of that changing any time soon.

Donut King

A concession inside Debenhams, they did only one thing, but they did rather well – donuts.

The eaterie, which served all manner of fancy and tasty snacks, fell victim to the closure of the department store, being forced to close too.

And, despite calls from customers to relocate elsewhere in the city, this did not come to be, with donut lovers having to look elsewhere.

Lidl

On the grand scheme of things, losing a Lidl store doesn’t seem like too much of a hardship, when a new one sprung up on Cardiff Road the literal next day.

But in April, the Newport West Retail Park store, off Docks Way, closed down for the final time.

Thankfully, staff were able to transfer over to the new supermarket, located on the site of the former Argus office.

But, for anyone who lost their local shopping destination as a result, it would have come as a blow.

The former site is currently on the market.

TUI

Anyone looking to jet off on holidays will have to book online, or elsewhere, following the closure of the TUI store on Commercial Street.

News that the holiday firm was closing stores was first announced in 2020, and while the city centre store avoided the first round of closures, the axe fell at the second time of asking this year.

It joined a number of TUI branches in Gwent to close, though the store at Newport Retail Park remains open.

Cineworld

There is a slight asterisk to this one, as there has been no confirmation at all from Cineworld about the future of their city centre cinema complex at Friars Walk.

But, in this case, the silence speaks volumes.

Following the very first lockdown, this cinema failed to reopen, while others, including their other branch in Spytty, resumed viewings of blockbuster movies.

A letter seen by the Argus earlier in the year suggests that the company is not planning on reopening the city centre cinema.

There has previously been suggestion of a dispute between the cinema chain and their landlords at Friars Walk.

Meat

The popular burger restaurant on Clytha Park Road shocked customers when they revealed that they were permanently closing down.

But, in slightly better news, the owners confirmed that they would be taking the business down the delivery route, and will soon start running monthly pop-up style takeaway events.

And what’s more, the former restaurant site has already been put to good use, having been converted into the new home of the Rogue Fox Coffee House, which has expanded into the bigger premises.

Lloyds Bank

In early summer, the Lloyds Banking Group announced plans to axe a number of their branches across the UK.

This included the Maindee branch of Lloyds, which has been permanently shuttered.

There was some controversy attached to the closure, as low customer footfall was cited as a reason – despite there being the ongoing issue of the pandemic.

As a result of the closure, the nearest bank for Maindee residents is now on the other side of the river.

Have we missed any big departures in Newport this year? Let us know in the comments below.

Also read:

Five new businesses to look forward to in Newport in 2022