Heading towards Christmas, 2019, in Swansea, you might have popped into Debenhams to visit the beauty counters, then made your way over to Topshop and Next to try on some clothes for the warmer months, before finishing it all off with a pizza at Frankie & Benny's.
That... was then.
Of course, none of us had the faintest clue at the time that it would be the last relatively normal Christmas we'd see until 2022 (fingers crossed!) or how our lives would change almost beyond recognition in the meantime. But our lives weren't the only thing that changed.
During a tough three years which saw us stuck in the house for months or weeks at a time, trying to stay clear of Covid, giving home recipes a go and shopping for gifts online from our sofas, many well-established brands vanished from our high street.
It wasn't all doom and gloom for the city, however, as it also underwent some exciting new regeneration projects, with a £3 million upgrade of Wind Street, the shiny new Copr Bay development with a 3,500 capacity arena, and a new city centre community hub on the way. With the addition of new shops to replace some of those lost, and new independent bars and eateries, Swansea is quite a different prospect for Christmas shoppers this year compared with before we'd ever heard the word 'coronavirus', and when the only time we wore a mask was at Halloween.
And when the shopping is done, Swansea's Wind Street, for example, now has a lot more to offer than just getting merry at the works Christmas do, as some unique new venues have replaced some of the bars and clubs there. So you can be forgiven if you've lost track of what Swansea's town centre once looked like. To help, here's a look at all the shops in Swansea that bit the dust, and what is now on offer in the city centre. You can read more stories about Swansea here.
Some of the shops we've said goodbye to since the pandemic
2020
Back in October, 2020, seven months after Boris Johnson announced a nationwide lockdown, Sports Direct and Miss Selfridge launched their closing down sales in Oxford Street, marking the start of three years of shop closures and empty storefronts.
Swansea Quadrant shopping centre's surf shop, Animal soon followed, closing in December that year and making seven staff members redundant. The shop had been a fixture of the shopping centre for 13 years. At the time, manager Kyle Riseley said it had nothing to do with Covid and the closure was planned months before but his customers were "absolutely devastated". He added: "The store has basically been making a loss on profit for the last six or seven years and it has just come to a head.
2021
As coronavirus hit high streets across the UK, Arcadia Group, which owned Topshop, Topman, Burton, Dorothy Perkins and Miss Selfridge, went into administration in November, 2020. By January, 2021, online clothing retailer ASOS had purchased Topshop and Topman. A true sign of the times, the online company did not want to keep the shops but wanted the brands for its website. This meant Oxford Street's Topshop was no longer, leaving a big gap on the high street.
Retailer What! which replaced BHS and later moved in next door, to occupy the old Miss Selfridge, is also now nowhere to be found in Oxford Street. Swansea Council has since taken over the former BHS/ What! and Miss Selfridge buildings for its city centre community hub, this will be the new home for Swansea library. Recently a frozen-in-time old 80s Swansea bar was found in the old BHS. You can read more about that here.
The melancholy sight of an almost empty Debenhams then made headlines before staff closed the doors of the 42-year-old anchor department store in The Quadrant for the last time. Shop shelves, which had been browsed by generations in Swansea, were cleared out as Boohoo bought the company, only to keep its online shop. The Arcadia Group debacle also saw the closure of Dorothy Perkins and Burton in the Quadrant.
2022
After a rough two years, 2022 came along and saw the closures of two shops which were once the staple of many people's Christmas shopping. The Welsh slate gifts and scented candles of Valley Mill left the city centre, while card shop Card Market, where many once got their Christmas cards and last minute gifts, closed in February, 2022.
Then, in another huge blow for Oxford Street, clothing giant Next shut its doors for good as the city tried to recover after the pandemic. The store had been a feature of the city centre for decades and left another gap in the high street. Opposite, another gap was to form with the closure of Sports Direct, a staple of the city centre, which shifted its operation to Parc Tawe in July.
This all paints a pretty bleak picture of Swansea city centre but some new and exciting shops have since replaced some of the empty ones and in the wider city centre some grand developments have come into fruition.
So, what's new?
After quite a few spaces in Swansea's Quadrant shopping centre opened up new businesses soon set up shop. Some shops have remained empty, including the large Debenhams unit for which Swansea Council said securing a major new tenant remained a priority.
For now, here's some of the newbies:
From sandals to Supreme: The Clothing Culture has replaced Animal
This designer store arrived in the same month, replacing the old Animal unit, and has stocked big-brand, high-end names such as Supreme, Palace, Anti Social Social Club, Fear Of God Essentials alongside Weekend Offender, The Couture Club, and FKA Collection, among many others. The founders of the store, which also has a huge following on Swansea's High Street and Cardiff's St David's, are Mumbles-born Paul Davies and friend Carl Read. If your loved ones are into their brands, this is the place to go for a Christmas present to impress.
From high heels to running shoes: Rugby Heaven and Moti have replaced some big clothing brands
Replacing the Burton and Dorothy Perkins unit, Rugby Heaven and Moti, home to top rugby and specialist running brands, moved into the Quadrant from their Castle Square shop where they had been for six years. You can get your sports-mad family members something they actually want this year! Specialist running socks are better than normal socks right?
A new toy shop arrived last year which is perfect for Christmas shopping
The Entertainer opened in October, 2021, and is still there this Christmas. A great place to grab gifts for the kids, The Entertainer is one of the UK's leading toy retailers and has toys for all ages with brands like Barbie, Lego and Disney. There have also been other new arrivals, including women's clothing retailer, Lime, in the old Topshop, comic book shop, Nerdware in Swansea Market, and more.
Where can I go for a pit stop?
If you're are exhausted from all that shopping- I know we were- there are a few new options in Swansea. On the city's recently developed Wind Street, some of the clubs that a few of us embarrassed ourselves in on a Wednesday and Saturday have gone and in the case of the old Revolution, have been replaced with something a bit different. Old chain restaurants and independent bars which did not make it through the pandemic have been replaced with swanky new ones, with big city chains like Wagamama's and Brewdog taking their place.
And, of course, if you haven't seen it yet, Wind Street itself has been given a brand new look with pedestrianisation and new street furniture. Here are some of the new places to go...
Founders & Co
A unique food and drink venue with a vintage clothing shop, barbers, coffee shop, bar and several local food vendors, this venue, which a lot of us used to drink at when it was Revolution is a refreshing addition to Wind Street. There are lots of events on both day and night including craft workshops, quiz nights and vintage kilo sales.
Wagamama's
Replacing Frankie & Benny's, which closed after the Covid pandemic "significantly impacted [their] ability to trade profitably", Wagamama's took over the Wind Street unit and now serves tasty Japanese food to the people of Swansea. It's a great lunch option after you've hit the shops. There's also loads of local stalls in Swansea market offering tasty food if you want to support smaller businesses too.
Bored of shopping? There's also plenty more to do in the post-pandemic city centre and huge changes!
A lot of businesses suffered during the pandemic, but others have also arrived, offering an alternative to shopping. There is Swansea's first ever board game café, Socialdice, which arrived in Wind Street last year and an adult-themed crazy golf venue, BUNKERS! which came to Swansea at the end of 2019. In Dillwyn Street, you'll find axe throwing venue Lumberjack, while over in Parc Tawe, where there have been a number of new businesses set up, you can enjoy a climbing experience at Flashpoint and Crazy Climb, or a TV-style assault course at Ninja Warrior.
But perhaps one of the biggest changes is either side of Oystermouth Road near the LC. If you stroll over the new golden bridge straddling the dual carriageway beneath, you'll find the new Swansea Arena at Copr Bay, where you can enjoy a concert, comedy show or musical just a stone's throw from the shops, restaurants and bars of Swansea's city centre. There's also the new Coastal Park alongside, while on the city centre side of the road there are apartments and a new multi-storey car park, with many more developments between there and the heart of the city centre yet to come as part of the next phase of the city centre regeneration.
So, all quite different from 2019 - some things lost, others gained. We await to see what future Christmases in Swansea will look like.
Read next:
- Christmas in Swansea 2022: The ultimate guide to the festive events in the city
- 1,600 jobs at risk as Joules will appoint administrators
- Mr X Appeal 2022: How you can give presents to children who might go without this Christmas
- Date and full details announced for Swans
- Swansea Waterfront Winterland 2022: Rides, prices, food and drink and everything else you need to know
