High streets across the UK are facing tough times and Newport is no different.
With the effects of the coronavirus pandemic coupled with the booming popularity online shopping it's no surprise that many big names have left Wales' third city for good in 2020.
It's not all negative – a number of great new businesses have opened this year (check out some of them here ) and developments such as the Chartist Tower and redeveloped indoor market bode well. But walking around and counting the empty shops it is clear that Newport has failed to escape many of the struggles facing high streets around the UK.
At the end of November we went for a walk around Newport's Commercial Street and High Street. In total we counted 38 empty shops along the two main streets, not including any side streets.
National jewellery brand H Samuel, which has been in business since 1862, stunned shoppers in January 2019 when it announced it would be leaving its Newport store.
Today, while the iconic clock remains on the building, the shop remains shuttered and vacant.
Sadly it's far from the only one:
Some traders have not left Newport altogether but have migrated to busier parts of town. Independent comics and games store Sin City opened up in Friars Walk shopping centre earlier this year, leaving behind its old shop in Commercial Street.
But walking down the old Commercial Street you'll be met with many painted windows and boarded-up premises.
These include the former Ty Hafan charity shop, Richards, and Bibi Bags.
Even some of Newport's most well-known businesses have fallen by the wayside. In 2018 Wildings, the department store in Commercial Street, announced it would close its doors for good after 144 years of trading in the city.
At the time, the store cited "the economics of trading in Newport" as a reason for the closure.
Newport has lost major brands such as hairdresser Toni and Guy, which had a premises at 36 High Street but closed a few years ago.
The Santander bank which once stood next to the TUI holiday store has also gone, moving further down the street to numbers 20-21.
Phone shops were once dotted around high streets for miles like this Orange shop which once stood outside O2. But while the latter remains the former has long gone.
There have been a host of small businesses that have been and gone including outlet fashion stores, beauty parlours, street food joints, and bookshops.
Nods to Newport's famous heritage as a live music hub have also vanished from the high street. The site of the old TJs nightclub in Clarence Place, which once hosted the likes of Oasis and Nirvana, has been left derelict for many years. In October Ashley Sicolo, the grandson of TJs' owner John Sicolo, announced he would be shutting the latest incarnation of his business, El Siecos in High Street, for good.
He said at the time: "If I’m totally honest my heart isn’t in it anymore. I love Newport but it’s just not enough for me to make it what I wanted it to be."
Some more recent casualties include Coffee Bean House, which was open as recently as October.
All these units were vacant during our trip around the city:
The number of empty shops in Commercial Street appears to rise the further you walk towards Cardiff Road, away from the city centre.
Here you'll find pawn shops, book shops, takeaways and newsagents which have all gone – some of which have not been replaced for years.
But what has changed about the high street in Newport?
Annette Farmer has run Xclusive Jewellers for 33 years. She was previously in Newport Market but moved across to the road to her current shop 18 months ago. She said there were a number of reasons for the decline of the high street.
"You've got to be on the internet to survive now as a business. A lot of local people come into the shop but a huge amount are online now," she said.
Annette said buses also didn't serve that side of the city as much as they used to.
"Especially since Covid happened you get a lot less buses coming in this side. That needs to be looked at."
She said the pedestrianisation of the areas around the city centre were a good thing but did pose some issues for those shopping in the city.
"I honestly like pedestrianisation but they've barricaded off areas of the streets to cars and it means a lot of elderly people now have to come through Friars Walk to get to this side of the high street."
While it might be easy to draw a line between the old commercial hub and the newer, shinier shopping centre at the end of it it's not quite that simple.
When Friars Walk opened in November 2015 it was hailed as many as a project which would transform the city centre. But recently Friars Walk has not been immune from the same ills affecting the old major shopping district.
In August we counted 21 empty shops in the centre – around 39% of its units. It followed a flurry of major chains announcing they would be leaving Friars Walk including Topshop, Schuh, and Flying Tiger.
That was followed more recently by the news that Debenhams would be winding down its store operations and going into liquidation – a development traders and politicians in Newport said would be "devastating" for the city.
Tracy Stokes runs La Belle Femme clothes shop in the city centre. She shop used to be in Commercial Street but moved to a new building in nearby Llanarth Street, a stone's throw from Friars Walk, just over a year ago. She said the old high street has changed beyond recognition.
"It's changed dramatically," she said. "A lot of it has been down to online and the likes of Amazon obviously. You also have the fact that the big supermarkets sell everything now. People's shopping habits have changed as well, especially among younger generations."
Tracy said the changes were affecting high streets "everywhere" and said she believed the Friars Walk development did little to bring much new footfall into the city. "It moved [the people] from one place to another. You didn't have a lot of new shops coming in because the rent was too expensive."
She added that many units in Commercial Street were owned by private landlords, many of whom were not based in the city itself.
"I know some of them are based in London and other areas beyond. So they are possibly going off London prices, or prices in Swansea or Cardiff, rather than Newport.
"With the economy the way it is you've got to reduce rents and rates and get income coming in – encourage people to come into the city or to start a business.
"Newport to me is a commuter town so rather than free parking all day you could have three hours free parking. That would allow people enough time to come in, go to the bank, look around a few of the shops, and have a coffee. A lot more needs to be done."
Annette added that she felt Friars Walk "moved the footfall" and was a case of "putting all your eggs in one basket." She agreed that parking remained an issue for some businesses and shoppers.
"People come into me and say they love Newport but that it's easier to go to Cwmbran or Spytty.
"They don't feel they should have to pay. There is no parking over this side of the high street and where there is it is too expensive. I think we need to have one hour of free parking every day.
"Businesses need someone to engage with them, get the traders on their side, and work with them to make things easier for all of us."
