...is upon us, the 2 photos below show a row of empty shops in Newport City Centre, Newport hasn't been a city for that long (City status was granted by the Queen in 2002) and already it is dying, I can remember when all the shops below were filled with great items and the centre filled with people, and it's getting worse, with Cwmbran shopping centre only 5 miles - and the added bonus that Cwmbran town centre has free car parking, many of the shops have closed completely or moved to one of the out of town retail parks.
The shop with the white out windows used to be Dorothy Perkins (they now have an outlet within BHS) and next door was Burtons
Starbucks is always busy even though it is next to the boarded up Westgate Hotel, the now closed clothing store Internationale and the soon to close HMV.
This row of shops is directly opposite the other photograph.
And this is just a small area of the town, there is work under way by Newport Indoor Market to improve the facilities there, but the rest of Newport's regeneration appears to have grounded to a halt.
I hope the situation changes soon, but Newport has lost so many high street chains lately it is hard to image in changing any time soon.
While Cardiff grows Newport shrinks and it is a very sad time - as I have very fond memories of shopping in Newport as a teenager - it's where I bought my first Marilyn Book (in Blackwells - now closed) my first Marilyn videos (Woolworths - Gone) and many other things.
Good memories - and I hope that Newport recovers otherwise there will be no more good memories to be made - only the faded ones of times past.
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