A butcher is closing one of its high street shops so it can keep up with online demand.
Less than three years after Willowtree Family Butchers opened its doors in Long Eaton to a queue of customers, owner Reece Thornton announced it would stop trading on February 27.
The closure is yet another blow to High Street in the town. Earlier this week New Look confirmed it would be permanently closing on April 24.
Mr Thornton said the family business had evolved since the pandemic.
Moving forward it will continue with delivery of online sales across Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire and the Heanor shop will remain open six days a week for walk-in customers and click and collect orders.
The business will also be relaunching a nationwide service with next day delivery of its meat boxes anywhere in the UK.
Mr Thornton said: "The main reason for this is the pandemic and our business evolving into a different business it was 12 months ago. The main reason we are closing the shop is we just can't keep up with demand, we need to keep all our staff under one roof which will enable us to give an even better service, better quality of product and cheaper deals.
"We feel the butcher's shop needs to be online, it needs to be delivered to your door, we need that convenience of delivering directly to your door.
"We feel walk-in and retail is struggling at the minute but as a business we are definitely not struggling. We can't keep up with demand."
He added that customers who can't use a computer to order online can telephone the shop staff who will place an order for them.
