The Swindon shops we've loved and lost and what could replace them

Last year House of Fraser and Yours Clothing closed and others like Game or River Island made the decision to relocate somewhere smaller, or abandon the town centre altogether.

Game moved into the upstairs of Sports Direct, its old unit is now a Taco Bell, and River Island moved to a bigger unit at the Orbital with its town centre unit now the home of a community-led Swindon hub.

These closures and moves were spurred on during the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns, which also saw the closures of Debenhams and Sainsburys in the previous year.

But over the years the town has seen many of its beloved flagship stores close their doors, leaving a hole in the hearts and minds of the public who loved shopping there.

Here are the stores that Adver readers loved and lost in Swindon.

The people in the town have a lot of love for its old department stores and it seems the most-loved of them all was McIlroys.

The popular department store was a fixture of Regent Street for 123 years, selling everything from furniture and furnishing to buttons, until it announced its closure in 1998.

Despite being closed for almost quarter of a decade the iconic store is still clearly missed by many in the town with it featuring most often among the hundreds of replies The Adver received from readers answering which stores they missed.

Debbie Ely said: “McIlroys - really enjoyed working there.”

The store’s closure led to the loss of 183 jobs and was blamed on growing competition from Debenhams, House of Fraser and the Designer Outlet Village.

Ironically, Debenhams and House of Fraser have now followed in McIlroy’s footsteps. Despite closing more recently they were both also frequently mentioned by people who would like to see them return.

They weren’t the only department stores that people miss though, as British Home Stores also received a few mentions. The store went into liquidation in 2016.

Peggy Ault said: “British Home Stores , it had so much and good quality - it was the end for me.”

Clothing shops were also among the stores that people missed, such as Monsoon which left the town centre in 2015 to focus solely on its Outlet Village store.

Arcadia stores Topman/Topshop, Dorothy Perkins Miss Selfridge, Wallis and Evans were also all mentioned.

Most of them closed in June 2019 when Arcadia made a deal with creditors, but Topshop/Topman stayed open until the next year when it was closed in January.

Another big high street store that people wished would return is Woolworths.

In 2018, 200 Woolworths stores in the UK closed, taking the Regent store with them and leaving many Swindon shoppers disappointed.

Cassie Mullen said: “Still miss Woolworths.”

There were a number of other big stores mentioned.

The absence of the Disney Store is still felt despite its closure in 2015 with the nearest store now in Milton Keynes or Cardiff.

Another popular store aimed towards children people talked about was, of course, Toys R Us.

Despite the retailer confirming in December 2017 that Swindon wouldn’t be one of the stores it was planning to close, the store was still shut in 2018 after the chain failed to find a buyer to pull it out of trouble. This meant that all 100 of the firm’s stores shut.

Beatties model shop, Devon Savouries, Chelsea Girl before it became River Island, Greenbridge’s Mothercare and Maplin, Borders book shop, Rymans, Mannington’s John Lewis and Paper Chase were among other stores named.

Empty units in Swindon town centre

While there are many empty units in the town centre and elsewhere around Swindon they are slowly starting to get filled.

The new Regent Circus development suffered a string of closures but things have picked up with the Boom Battle Bar, Funky Grill and Dough&Co moving in.

Greenbridge retail park is set to get a new Smyths toy store, a Cancer Research Superstore and new South American restaurant Fiesta De Cuba.

Two new supermarkets and fast-food giants Taco Bell have also taken up residence in Swindon town’s centre.

But what else would the people of Swindon like to see come to the town?

In the town centre many wanted to see a replacement for Sainsburys and Morrisons after both big supermarkets closed.

Martha Ellen said: “Any kind of supermarket thanks.”

Another popular suggestion was a bigger Primark. There is a Primark already in Swindon but it’s fairly small compared to some of the nearby stores, so people would like to see a larger one.

Kimberley Hale: “A huuuuuuuge Primark with FREE parking.”

Grace Clarke added: “A huge Primark a supermarket can replace the old Primark.”

As well as Primark there was another popular big brand that the people of Swindon would love to see come here and that was Ikea.

The nearest stores for the Swedish brand are either Reading or Bristol.

Emily Parkin said: “Hell yes Ikea, even just a mini version.”

Others were more entertainment-minded, moving away from retail and towards things like concert venues, bowling complexes and even museums.

Neil Stevens: “Indoor live music venue."

Sara Foofar Dommett: “A Music venue so we get some bands here.”

Jon Arnold: “Bingo hall/casino/bowling.”

Sophie Cooke: “A museum would be nice, something with a bit of cultural appeal, not just phone shops and Poundlands.”

Dave Vincent Grainger said: “An arts gallery and museum to live with the library and MECA.”

Terry Dickinson said: “An indoor clay pigeon shooting range, or a roller disco!”

There were also many calls for a large leisure centre to fill the void left by the closure of Oasis, particularly when it comes to finding somewhere to swim that isn’t in a gym or a hotel.

Other wishes included an indoor market, although a new street market is set to come to Wharf Green soon.

An arcade to go with the cinema and even a youth centre of some kind to give the town’s young somewhere to go, were also suggested.