Wirral's independent local news website
WHSmith is set to close its Birkenhead store in July 2021. The company has informed staff at the store who will be offered the opportunity of relocating to other branches nearby.
A WHSmith spokesperson told birkenhead.news, “We can confirm that the WHSmith store in Birkenhead will be closing in July 2021. Unfortunately, we are unable to continue to trade viably from this location and the decision has been taken to close the store as a result of the forthcoming lease expiry. We are currently in discussion with Post Office Limited so they have time to find a suitable franchise partner to ensure continuity of Post Office services within the town.
“We are disappointed to be losing our presence in Birkenhead and we would like to thank all our customers for their support and for shopping with us. We are also extremely grateful for the commitment of our in store colleagues who we will support with this transition and redeploy to nearby stores, where possible.”
The store’s landlord is the “Mars Pension Fund” who are the property owners and it is not part of any property portfolio owned by Wirral Council.
A Post Office spokesperson said: “The operator for Birkenhead Post Office has just announced the difficult decision to close their store, where the Post Office is based, in July 2021.
“We know how important a Post Office is to a community and the vacancy will soon be advertised on www.runapostoffice.co.uk.”
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CORRECTION: This article originally stated that the landlord for the WHSmith building was “The Pyramids Shopping Centre”; the actual property owner is “Mars Pension Fund”, Managed by Jones, Lang, La Salle (JLL).