Wilko: Shoppers react as closure of High Wycombe store looms

Joannie Wilkins, who has lived in Buckinghamshire all her life, spoke to the Free Press the day it was revealed that the national chain will close its south Buckinghamshire branch.

The store now lies partially empty as customers are purchasing goods at slashed prices, and Joannie believes the departure of Wilko ‘is a sad day for the high street.’

Wycombe's Wilko branch is based in the Chiltern Shopping Centre (Image: NQ)

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She said: “Wilko is a great shop as they sell everything.

“Literally everything you want in one shop but due to the cost-of-living crisis and with the shop closing, it’ll now be much harder to try and find basic things to get cheap stuff for your house.

“I’ll probably have to go to Oxford or Reading to find a few bits, but that’ll cost more with the travel getting there.

“It’s a shame as we’re losing so many shops on the high street.

There were many empty shelves in the shop as the closing date looms (Image: NQ)

Mrs Wilkins also believes the increase in eateries along the streets of High Wycombe are not essential and that more local shops are needed.

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She also pointed out that ‘family-oriented time has now gone’ due to shops opening for large periods of the day, and that customers primarily purchase items online.

The Wycombe resident continued: “I’ve lived in Wycombe my entire life and growing up in the 1970s, the high street was so busy but it’s changed so much.

Joannie Wilkins has lived in High Wycombe all her life and has described the situation as 'sad' (Image: NQ)

“Now, I’ve never seen so many cafes and takeaways along the street where shops once used to be.

“So many are disappearing, and they are being replaced by so many takeaways.

“We’ve got too many takeaways.

“Do we really need more places to eat?

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“No wonder so many people are obese.

Many items are still left in the shop (Image: NQ)

“I remember a time when shops wouldn’t be open on a Sunday, and halfdays in the week.

“If you didn’t get what you wanted by 1pm on a Saturday, that was it until Monday.

“That family-oriented time is gone now because shops are open all the time and you can shop online as well.

“Because of all that, the high street is dying in nearly every town or city, and with the cost of living on top, it doesn’t help.

Parts of the store have been cordoned off (Image: NQ)

“This is the end of an era, it's very sad.”

Wycombe’s Wilko store will close on September 25.