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‘Heartbroken’ Elgin shoppers say final goodbye to St Giles Centre

The centre will shut for good on Monday.

The empty St Giles Centre in Elgin. Image: Ena Saracevic/DC Thomson
The empty St Giles Centre in Elgin. Image: Ena Saracevic/DC Thomson

Shoppers have expressed their heartbreak after saying their final goodbyes to the St Giles Centre in Elgin.

More stores in the centre have shut ahead of the centre’s final day on Monday.

The town’s High Street was busy with shoppers from across the north-east on Saturday as Elgin City prepared to face Aberdeen in the Scottish Cup.

Many also visited the St Giles Centre one last time.

Tenants were given less than two weeks’ notice of the closure earlier this month.

‘You wonder where it has all gone wrong’

Most shops in the centre have already shut – including Waterstones and WHSmith.

Subway, EE, Vodafone, Fab Brows Bar and The Works were among the shops still operating on Saturday.

Jaqueline Russel from Birnie, just outside Elgin, remembers the centre being built.

She was accompanied by her daughter to visit the centre for a final time.

The St Giles Centre. Image: Ena Saracevic/DC Thomson.

She said: “You do wonder where it has all gone wrong.

“I know the retail parks have come, but even they don’t have many shops. It’s just heartbreaking.

“We’ve come to have a last look around, just because it’s so sad that it’s closing.”

Jenna Smith, from Aberdeen, said: “I’m only here to see the football, but I’ve been to the shopping centre before and it’s such a shame that something like this could happen.

“It feels like a ghost town.”

Queues of customers at The Works. Image: Ena Saracevic/DC Thomson
The Works had its last day of trading on Saturday. Image: Ena Saracevic/DC Thomson

The Works initially said its final day of trading would be Friday but it remained open on Saturday.

The firm is working to move its five staff members to other sites.

It is understood the retailer is unlikely to open another branch in Elgin.

One shopper said it was the busiest she had ever seen The Works with long queues at the checkouts.

Irene Harrold, from Elgin, remembers when the shopping centre opened in 1991.

Shopper Irene Harrold. Image: Ena Saracevic/DC Thomson

Speaking to the Press and Journal last week, she said: “The St Giles Centre was good when it first opened because there was a lot of shops in it but gradually over the years it’s had less and less.

“I’m sad it’s closing down as it’s going to be another empty space in Elgin.

“I feel very sorry for the shops that are still there that need to find new premises.”

Waterstones is among the shops already shut. Image: Ena Saracevic/DC Thomson.

A Waterstones spokeswoman said: “We are very disappointed that we must leave and we will consider all options to remain in Elgin.

“In the interim, roles for all members of the Elgin bookselling team have been found in our Inverness shop.”

Read more on the closure of the St Giles Centre

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