Another shop bites the dust

Stead & Simpson, one of Britain's oldest retailers that has had a presence in Bradford city centre for 50 years is due to close on Thursday, 20th January. The shop is one of a very small number of shoe shops left in the city centre. The shop manager, Walter Lazorky, who has been running the shop for 30 years blames the stalled Westfield centre for sounding the death knell. He also predicted many more shops could soon follow suit.

The closure of the shoe shop will leave five employees without work. News of the closure comes at a time when the council is supposedly trying to "re-engage" with city centre traders through consultations.

Mr Lazoryk also said that rather than turning the Westfield site into an urban park it should have been made into a car park, which could also have charged a small fee and he believes this would have attracted more shoppers to the area.

Mr Lazoryk said that although the shop had a loyal customer base there was no hope in attracting new customers and therefore the shop was no longer viable. Other stores such as HMV, could soon close as the music retailer has reported disappointing sales over the Christmas period.