A customer who waited over an hour for a Swindon pharmacy to open late says the branch feels “forgotten about”.

The shopper was one of a queue of people waiting for the Swindon Parade Superdrug to open at 10.30am - only for this to be delayed till noon.

He felt this was the latest in a pattern of decline following the opening of a bigger branch in Greenbridge Retail Park.

They said: “In a town where a shiny new Superdrug has recently opened this one seems to be struggling and forgotten about.(Image: Public submission)

“The shop is never clean, always with leaves on the floor and empty shelves.”

Would-be customers were allegedly told that “the staff just haven’t shown up for work and no one knows where they all are” as the promised opening time was pushed back twice.

He said: “Not having enough staff to open is pretty poor. You would think they’d have a backup such as an extra manager to cover the advertised opening time.

“At least we now know there’s probably just no staff to actually clean the shop.”

(Image: Public submission)

Superdrug opened a large new store in the old Wilko site in Greenbridge in June, staffed by 30 employees, and the overall company recorded record sales the next month.

Superdrug’s sales surged 11.8% to £1.5bn during 2023 after it opened 14 new stores and refitted 45 existing branches as part of an ongoing expansion plan.

Some stores have been modernised with enhanced shop fronts, upgraded Wi-Fi, widened aisles and improved internal signage.The new Greenbridge store (Image: Newsquest)

But customers queuing on The Parade agreed that “this shop has gone downhill and wouldn’t be surprised if it closes permanently soon”.

The staff did turn up, and opened the store at 11.50am - a delay caused by staff illness.

A Superdrug spokesperson said: “On Sunday 22nd September unfortunately two team members were unwell. 

“Other members from the team were called in as soon as possible to ensure we could trade. 

“This meant that the store opened later than scheduled at 11.50am but all customers were notified and this was an isolated incident. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.”