High street retailer set to leave town after 58 years

House of Fraser will close up shop for good in Cwmbran next month, with its final day of trading scheduled for June 23.

It means the House of Fraser store in Cardiff will be the only branch of the department store in Wales.

Seen as the Cwmbran Centre’s flagship store, House of Fraser has been a dominant presence in Gwent Square for 58 years – when it originally opened as David Evans department store.

The once staple feature of Cwmbran's Gwent Square has been covered in scaffolding recently. (Image: Newsquest)

In recent years the building has been almost completely covered in scaffolding, with plans of what will become of the empty space as yet unclear.

Now, huge ‘closing down’ signs have appeared in the store’s windows with stock inside being sold off at a 20 per cent discount.

One woman said: “It’s really sad to see it go. It’s been here for so long that the square will look very strange without it.

The Cwmbran Centre is a popular shopping choice due to its free parking.

“I hope they can find another use for the building because it’s such a big space.”

A spokesman for LCP, the national commercial property and investment company that owns and manages Cwmbran Centre, confirmed to the Argus that House of Fraser has served notice to terminate its lease on June 23.

The Cwmbran Centre said it was "disappointed" to see the store go.

“While we are naturally disappointed that House of Fraser, which is a long-standing retailer here, has decided to vacate its store, we will use its departure as an opportunity to kickstart our plans to revitalise and develop Gwent Square,” he said.

“Since taking ownership earlier this year, we’ve been looking at how we can update this part of the centre and we look forward to revealing those plans over the next few months. Cwmbran Centre is a thriving and busy centre that serves a large community, and we are committed to investing in it and improving the offer there."