THE TOWN centre's WHSmith store will close in January - and a dozen other businesses are set to relocate.
Retailers on Cheapside and May Day Green have been told they have to move out of the Metropolitan Centre by January 31, so the council can press ahead with a £15m refurbishment of the building as part of the Better Barnsley project.
However, a source at WH Smith told the Barnsley Chronicle that it has ‘nowhere to go’ once it shuts in the new year.
Other businesses affected include Amore cafe, Game, The Works, Carphone Warehouse, Poundland, Thomson, Thomas Cook, Barnsley Shopmobility, Max Spielmann photos, a ‘pop-up’ knitwear shop, an electronics retailer and a newsagent.
Some retailers on the Cheapside/May Day Green side of the Metropolitan Centre have not yet secured alternative premises. However, it is understood some are in negotiations for units in the Alhambra centre, on Market Street and other parts of the town centre.
