Kendalians have reacted to the closure of Bodycare in town, as fears mount over the general state of the high street.
Earlier this month, the retailer Bodycare, which specialises in health and beauty, announced that it had fallen into administration.
As a result, the shop, which was founded in Lancashire in the 1970s, announced a string of store closures across the country.
Not long after, shoppers on the streets of Kendal will have noticed the huge ‘STORE CLOSING’ posters on the windows of the health and beauty store’s unit on the Stricklandgate high street.
Asking those in the town centre about the shop's closure, there was a mixture of sadness and anxiety over what could replace it.
Fiona Leisi, from Kendal, was on her lunch break. On the closure, she said: “There’s going to be nothing left soon.”
“It is sad when another shop goes,” said Steven Marsden, from Preston, who owns a caravan in Grange-over-Sands.
He continued: “It either doesn’t get replaced or gets replaced by something like a Turkish Barber’s or a charity shop.”
Steven also noted that he would worry about a shop replacing Bodycare that might “attract the wrong sort of customers”.
Vape shops were one of his main concerns, as he said that he’d heard stories of some selling illegal cigarettes.
The Preston man, who said he comes to Kendal regularly, said that he wouldn’t mind seeing another banking hub in the spot.
Carol Gendle, from Grayrigg, said she wasn’t fussed by Bodycare’s closure – she goes to Boots usually.
She was, however, concerned about the plight of the high street in Kendal: “There are too many charity shops here and cheap shops”.
Carol pointed to the success of Crew Clothing in Kendal as a blueprint for what she would like to replace Bodycare.
“That’s doing very well in there,” she said of Crew, “and it’s a nice shop, nicely set up and everything.”
Bodycare has around 1,500 employees across the country, but due to their recent administration announcement, they’ve announced mass layoffs alongside the closure of a host of stores.
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