A Savers store is the latest chain to leave a soon-to-be demolished shopping centre – with several more traders also following this month.
The health and beauty shop is open for the final time today (Saturday) at the Park Mall shopping centre in Ashford, having called the precinct its home since the 2000s.
Savers will leave Park Mall today. It is not known if it will reopen elsewhere in Ashford
Park Mall, owned by Ashford Borough Council (ABC), will be torn down next year and replaced by an interim car park, with a residential scheme planned in the future.
Traders were told of the council’s plan for the site, off the high street, earlier this year and were originally given a deadline to leave by August. This was later extended to January 2026.
Many have already departed, but Savers and a few others remained open.
Bosses at the chain have yet to reveal if they will reopen elsewhere in Ashford.
All tenants have been told to leave Park Mall by January 9 – but only a few remain. The shopping centre will be torn down next year
In October, they told KentOnline: “We are actively exploring alternative premises and will continue to review any suitable opportunities for our customers.
“All staff members affected by the closure will be carefully supported throughout this process, and we will look to redeploy to nearby branches where possible.”
Some traders – such as Bronzone, East Kent Mobility, The Little Teapot, Warhammer, The Record Store, Timeless, Divine, Made in Ashford, The Craftship and WED2B – have already relocated to other shops in the town centre.
Meanwhile, children’s play centre Little Land, which left Park Mall in October, will open at the Henwood Industrial Estate off Hythe Road in the coming months.
One You shut up shop in Park Mall yesterday
Kent County Council health facility, One You, closed yesterday (Friday), with bosses planning to open a new unit in January, although not in the town centre.
Other upcoming departures from Park Mall include Nepalese and Gurkha community hub, Sagamartha, and print shop Kall Kwik, which will both close on December 23.
Kate Edwards, who runs Kall Kwik, says the long-standing business will fill the unit formerly occupied by Itaca’s bar in North Street on January 12.
Neighbours, Baby Art Studios, will be the third trader to depart Park Mall on December 23.
Print shop Kall Kwik will leave Park Mall on December 23 and move to North Street in Ashford
Owners Joe Bartlett and Amelia Birling are to reopen at The Secret Garden in Mersham during the first week of January.
TAT 2 LTD, which has been in Park Mall for more than a decade, will replace the former Billy’s Pie and Mash unit, in North Street although a relocation date is not yet confirmed.
Baby Sensory, which only opened in September 2024 – five months before the demolition announcement – will not relocate to a permanent unit after their departure on December 19, but will move to mobile classes in the New Year.
Meanwhile, Ultrasound Plus, Poundstretcher, The Ashford Hub and Salvage Studio have also left the centre and not found an alternative unit.
Sowa and Vapeology remain at Park Mall, and are yet to officially confirm their new plans.
A temporary 200-space car park will open on part of the Park Mall site, while hoardings will be erected around the remainder of the plot
ABC, run by an Ashford Independents/Green Party coalition, has long held ambitions to flatten Park Mall, blaming a declining retail sector, the loss of anchor tenants such as Wilko and escalating maintenance costs.
Both Edinburgh Road and Park Mall car parks will also be demolished.
Council papers previously revealed the ABC – which has owned the site since 2015 – maintains “Park Mall is not financially sustainable”, with annual losses of £700,000.
KentOnline reported last month how, once demolished, hoardings could surround part of the shopping centre site for up to five years, with a 200-space interim car park filling the other section.
Park Mall car park will be demolished as part of the plansEdinburgh Road car park will also be demolished as part of the plans
A “residential-led, mixed-use development” is earmarked for the land in later years, and ABC expects demolition to be carried out next year.
In July, a last-ditch effort to save the centre – backed by actor Tom Burke and a petition signed by 3,500 people – was blocked by ABC.
The authority said its members “acknowledged the strength of feeling” of campaigners, but agreed to press on with its redevelopment plans “so it can play an important part in the wider regeneration of the town centre”.