A Savers store is the latest chain to leave a soon-to-be demolished shopping centre – with several more traders also following this month.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Savers will leave Park Mall today. It is not known if it will reopen elsewhere in Ashford<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Traders were told of the council\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
Many have already departed, but Savers and a few others remained open.<\/p>\n
Bosses at the chain have yet to reveal if they will reopen elsewhere in Ashford.<\/p>\n
All tenants have been told to leave Park Mall by January 9 \u2013\u00a0but only a few remain. The shopping centre will be torn down next year<\/p>\n
In October, they told KentOnline: \u201cWe are actively exploring alternative premises and will continue to review any suitable opportunities for our customers.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll staff members affected by the closure will be carefully supported throughout this process, and we will look to redeploy to nearby branches where possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, children\u2019s play centre Little Land, which left Park Mall in October, will open at the Henwood Industrial Estate off Hythe Road in the coming months.<\/p>\n
One You shut up shop in Park Mall yesterday<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Kate Edwards, who runs Kall Kwik, says the long-standing business will fill the unit formerly occupied by Itaca\u2019s bar in North Street on January 12.<\/p>\n
Neighbours, Baby Art Studios, will be the third trader to depart Park Mall on December 23.<\/p>\n
Print shop Kall Kwik will leave Park Mall on December 23 and move to North Street in Ashford<\/p>\n
Owners Joe Bartlett and Amelia Birling are to reopen at The Secret Garden in Mersham during the first week of January.<\/p>\n
TAT 2 LTD, which has been in Park Mall for more than a decade, will replace the former Billy\u2019s Pie and Mash unit, in North Street although a relocation date is not yet confirmed.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Ultrasound Plus, Poundstretcher, The Ashford Hub and Salvage Studio have also left the centre and not found an alternative unit.<\/p>\n
Sowa and Vapeology remain at Park Mall, and are yet to officially confirm their new plans.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Both Edinburgh Road and Park Mall car parks will also be demolished.<\/p>\n
Council papers previously revealed the ABC – which has owned the site since 2015 – maintains \u201cPark Mall is not financially sustainable\u201d, with annual losses of \u00a3700,000.<\/p>\n