THE changing face of Newport’s main shopping street in recent years has included the departure of some major brands and firms.
Google Street View images from 15 years ago show how well-known department stores, clothing retailers and electronics shops are among those to have left Commercial Street in the city centre.
We took a look at those images from 2008 to see just how dramatic the changes have been.
Starting at the eastern end of the street, outside the Westgate Hotel, the two most obvious differences between then and now are the appearance of women’s fashion retailer Dorothy Perkins and ubiquitous coffee house Starbucks.
Dorothy Perkins was one of several stores owned by Philip Green’s Arcadia fashion empire, which went into administration in 2020.
The chain still exists online and is run by Boohoo, but the departure of the Commercial Street store preceded Arcadia’s collapse – more recently the premises has been the home of a party store.
Starbucks, meanwhile, has a new home in John Frost Square, which was renovated as part of the Friars Walk development that opened in 2015.
Marks and Spencer has also left its Commercial Street premises but continues to operate a supermarket in John Frost Square. For the firms’ clothing and home ranges, you’ll have to head to Spytty’s retail park.
Further along, and there are signs of four big names which no longer trades on the high street: Barratt’s shoes, Mothercare, and other Arcadia firms Burton and Topshop.
Opposite, you’ll see the British Home Stores shop which, like other branches across the UK, was closed by 2016. The site has stood empty ever since and there is now a planning application to turn the Newport premises into a bank.
The year 2019 brought the end of an era in Commercial Street when the city’s oldest department store, Wildings, closed for good. It had been in business for 145 years – the Google images from 2008 show the store in happier times.
Next to it is Sports Direct, which has since moved to the former Marks and Spencer premises.
Bookstore Waterstone’s is one of the few businesses to remain in the same place, 25 years on. To the right, both JD Sports and fashion store H&M have both departed, relocating to Friars Walk.
On the other side of the book shop, there’s Poundland – the discount retailer is currently preparing to open a large shop in Friars Walk, too.
This image from the junction with Friars Street shows a T-Mobile shop – one of several mobile phone specialists to have left Commercial Street since 2008, along with Orange.
Further down, you’ll see the old RBS bank which reopened as a pub, the Alexandra, in late 2021.
Our journey ends - because there are no more Google images from 2008 - at the corner of Charles Street, where The Body Shop once stood.
The site is now a pawnbrokers.
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