A SHOP in Hereford’s city centre is set to shut its doors permanently.

‘Closing down’ signs have recently appeared in the shopfront of the Shoe Zone outlet on Eign Gate.

The interior of the shop has been redecorated to reflect the imminent closure, with bright yellow ‘closing’ signs throughout the store tempting locals in to make the most out of any last-chance deals or discounts.

This comes months after it was revealed that a new, significantly larger Shoe Zone was set to occupy 12 and 13 High Town, next to Regatta.

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The partition wall between 12 and 13, previously home to Mountain Warehouse and Game Retail respectively, will have to be removed in order to facilitate the sizeable shop, according to a bid for planning permission submitted by Charville Estates.

In a nod to the building’s history the firm has proposed to re-establish the ‘Gurneys’ sign, the name of a former grocery shop, between the first and second floor windows.

The front windows themselves, described as ‘beyond repair’, will be replaced with traditional sash windows, their frames painted to match the sign's colour. Only the leftmost doors onto High Town will be retained.

The plan also proposed creating a new entrance to the building from the Maylord Orchards service yard to the rear, giving direct access to the upper floors without having to go through the shop.

Shoe Zone has over 330 shops across Britain and is headquartered in Leicester. Its Leominster branch closed in 2022.