SHOPPERS said farewell to a ‘staple of the town centre’ as it closed its doors.

As previously reported in the Gazette, Fabric Land in Festival Place will close its doors for the last time today after 25 years.

The store’s lease will soon be up for renewal, but the managing director of the company has criticised the shopping centre for not supporting independent businesses as one of the reasons for the closure.

Today (Saturday, 13 July) the store had a busy day last day of trading as visitors said farewell to the store.

Lisa Doyle, from Winklebury, was one of the regular visitors to the store who was visiting the Festival Place location on its final day.

She said: “It is a shame that a store that has been part of this town for so long has to close its doors.

“I have been coming here for years buying various product as have my parents, so it will be sad to see it leave the town.

"I can't imagine Festival Place without it, it is a staple of the town centre."

Another visitor who did not wish to be named, added: “This is going to be another empty store in Festival Place.

“I don’t understand why they would rather have empty units rather than supporting businesses which bring something to the community.”

Amanda Pennington added: “I’m totally devastated I’m not too sure how my business is going to cope without being able to nip in to to grab something I need urgently.”

At the time of the announcement that the store will close managing director Jeremy Berg said that Festival Place could have done more to support the store.

The four staff at the Basingstoke shop were offered employment at other Fabric Land locations, resulting in just one redundancy.