A long-running charity shop in Chatham will permanently shut its doors at the end of May this year.
The UK's leading vet charity, PDSA, has confirmed that its shop in the town's High Street will close for the final time on Saturday, 22 May. Lloyd Hughes, PDSA’s Head of Retail, said: “After exploring every avenue and careful consideration, sadly our Chatham shop will be closing its doors for the final time on 22 May. “Like many retailers, we have been facing extremely tough trading conditions on high streets up and down the country, and we took the difficult decision not to renew our lease. “On behalf of PDSA I would like to thank the staff, volunteers and customers and hope they will continue to support our work of treating sick and injured pets in the future. “Although our shop in Chatham will be closing, this does not affect our veterinary clients in the area, who can still access PDSA’s charitable treatment for their pets as usual.” It is understood that PDSA's Chatham branch first opened in May 2003 and has been very well supported by the local community over the years, with dozens of volunteers helping in the running of the shop. PDSA provides free and low cost veterinary treatment to sick and injured pets belonging to people in need. In September last year, Age UK also permanently closed its charity shop in the High Street. Hobbycraft has confirmed that it will be opening its first store in Medway this summer.
The UK's largest arts and craft retailer will welcome customers for the first time to its new branch in an empty unit at Strood Retail Park, previously occupied by Carpetright. In September last year, Future Chatham revealed that Boots was to open a large new store in the same unit. However, these plans have since been shelved by the health and beauty retailer. A spokesperson for Hobbycraft said: "We are delighted to confirm that our new Hobbycraft store will open at Strood Retail Park in Strood later this summer. "We’re looking forward to welcoming craft beginners and enthusiasts alike into our new store and will confirm more details closer to the opening day." The exact opening date of Medway's first Hobbycraft store has not yet been revealed. The Carpetright branch at Strood Retail Park permanently closed in 2018 as it was one of 92 underperforming stores across the country axed amid the firm's troubled finances. Since its launch in 1995, Hobbycraft has grown to become the UK's largest arts and craft retailer, with its closest store to Medway currently in Maidstone. A brand new fashion outlet has opened its doors in Chatham's former Burton and Dorothy Perkins store. Love Labels welcomed its first customers on Friday, 16 April and sells a wide range of women's clothing, from tops and dresses to trousers and jumpers, at affordable prices. Ahead of the grand opening, the empty unit formerly occupied by Burton and Dorothy Perkins was given a facelift both inside and out. The Burton and Dorothy Perkins store in the Pentagon Shopping Centre, Chatham permanently closed in February this year, after the two brands - along with fashion chain Wallis - were acquired by online fashion retailer Boohoo in a £25.2m deal.
The deal was for the stock, ecommerce and digital assets of the three brands, excluding the large estate of physical stores, which were owned by the Arcadia Group when it entered administration at the end of last year, leading to a significant number of job losses nationwide. Chatham High Street's latest shop opening comes just weeks after Burger King reopened its restaurant after a major makeover and a month after Kent Reliance welcomed back its customers to its new-look bank branch. Work to clean and repair a well-known railway bridge in Chatham has reached completion. The 1858-built cast iron underbridge of the historic Luton Arches also boasts a refreshing new colour scheme following a full paint job - previously being red and green. Having started in January this year, the three-month-long refurbishment involved cleaning, brickwork repairs, pigeon proofing, gutter repairs, installing new plates under the railway to improve the track quality and repainting the steelwork. After a long life in service, Network Rail - who owns and manages the bridge - says it needed a refurbishment to ensure it can "continue to carry trains and passengers for another 160 years", as well as to "maintain its place" as an "admired landmark" in Chatham. The £652,000 refurbishment was due to finish on 21 March, however, the discovery of "areas of concern" during the works meant that further repairs to the steelwork were needed. Works were completed on Sunday, 11 April instead. To enable the project to take place, the westbound side of Chatham Hill towards Rochester was narrowed down into a single lane for the duration of the project, which was organised in liaison with Medway Council and local businesses. The full makeover to the Luton Arches comes after leaking, old metal guttering was replaced with new plastic pipes back in 2015, after which £96,000 worth of improvements were completed in late 2017 involving the installation of a canopy to protect pedestrians from pigeon droppings.
Network Rail also joined forces with Arches Local and artist Lionel Stanhope last summer to create a unique art mural on the bare walls of the bridge. The refurbishment was completed by contractor Dyer & Butler on behalf of Network Rail. Photos: Future Chatham |
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