A BELOVED independent DIY store is closing down after half a century.
Shoppers in the town of Builth Wells, Powys, are heartbroken after the store’s owners announced they would be shutting its doors for good.
Home and garden store Nibletts Mica broke the news on Facebook, sparking misery among the town’s residents.
It has since launched a 30% sale on all of its products, which will be in place for as long as stock lasts.
The store told locals: “After well over half a century of serving the community, we regret to announce Nibletts Mica Hardware will be closing its doors.”
It blamed increased strain caused by the cost of living crisis and falling footfall on high streets for the decision, and thanked customers for their “loyal support over many years”.
It wrote: “Falling sales and greatly increased costs over recent years intensified by changes to rates and recent NI increases have made the books increasingly difficult to balance.
“We have been inundated with kind messages of support for which we were so appreciative, but this did not translate in terms of trade, sales were sadly down in the last six weeks of 2024.”
The post was flooded with emotional comments, with one person writing: “Very sad news. I’ve bought allsorts from Builth Nibletts in my 13yrs in this area. Always so friendly & helpful. You will be missed.”
Another local said: “Really sorry to see you go. It’s a great little shop important to the community.
“Unfortunately the government doesn’t understand that high energy costs and high NI is crucifying businesses and they haven’t helped people like you at all. Whatever you do next I wish you the very best.”
A third resident chimed in: “Yeah this is horrendous, just a horrible reminder that so many people are struggling right now and we don’t really get to see too much of it in this area so are relatively lucky. Sad.”
[bc_video account_id=”5067014667001″ application_id=”” aspect_ratio=”16:9″ autoplay=”” caption=”Iconic department store follows Macy’s and reveals it’s ‘forced’ to close down in weeks after ‘more than a century'” embed=”in-page” experience_id=”” height=”100%” language_detection=”” max_height=”360px” max_width=”640px” min_width=”0px” mute=”” padding_top=”56%” picture_in_picture=”” player_id=”default” playlist_id=”” playsinline=”” sizing=”responsive” video_id=”6369060183112″ video_ids=”” width=”640px”]It comes as a number of other independent retailers have also buckled under rising costs and slow sales.
For example, boutique pre-loved clothing store, The Closet at Harker, drew its blinds at the end of last year.
All Types Electrical in Rotherham also shut for good after over five decades of trade on Christmas Eve.
We recently revealed a full list of independent shops that had closed their doors at the start of the year because of various pressures.
A host of other chain retailers are closing stoors over the next few months, although this could be for a number of reasons.
Card Zone is set to close its Scunthorpe site in April and another store in Stroud, Gloucestershire next month.
Shoe Zone has also closed a raft of stores and is expected to close more this year, having shrunk from around 320 stores in May 2024 to just 297 by the New Year.
Anthony Smith, Shoezone’s Chief Executive, said: “Shoezone has experienced very challenging trading conditions, principally a weakening of consumer confidence and unseasonal weather, both of which have decreased revenue and profit.
“Consumer confidence has weakened further following the Government’s budget in October 2024.”
Meanwhile, Homebase has launched closing down sales across the country.
The garden and homeware retailer fell into administration last month, but around 70 stores were rescued by CDS Superstores, the owner of The Range and Wilko.
Just this year, the chain has lost 34 branches across the UK.