Wellingborough wool and knitting shop closes its doors after 10 years of trading, blaming ‘decreased footfall since the pandemic’ as the reason behind it

JanKnits in Park Road, Wellingborough will close its doors after declining to renew the lease on the building, ending a decade of trading in the town.

The decision comes as a result of fewer customers since Covid-19 changed shopping habits, a familiar but nonetheless disappointing reality of post-pandemic life.

Janet Brown, owner of the shop, said: “Since the pandemic footfall has dropped right off, overheads are rising quite alarmingly, electricity prices have more than doubled, rent is up, and in the cost of living crisis I just don’t think people can now afford to come and spend on non-essentials.

“I’d like to thank them [customers] for their support over the past 10 years and I will miss them, and I’m very sorry that I’m going.

"I shall be sad to see it go, but the bottom line is that it’s costing me money to keep it open and I just can’t afford to carry that on.”

Janet opened the shop after retiring from the health service, and said the journey has been ‘fantastic’. The decision to close means that she will retire once again.

The store’s ‘farewell sale’ began on April 4, giving people the opportunity to buy products such as knitting yarns and patterns, crochet yarns and patterns, and knitting pins at a discounted rate. A closing date is yet to be confirmed, though Janet ‘tentatively’ gives the end of June as a rough estimate as the lease expires in July.

On the topic of the store’s potential future in a different location, Janet simply added: “No, that will be the finish of the business.”

The closure comes not long after the Northants Telegraph conducted a study into the prosperity of Wellingborough town centre, which recorded that 16.4 per cent of units in the Wellingborough town centre are currently vacant.

JanKnits’ fate is a grim reminder that more has to be done to ensure Wellingborough is a welcoming and fruitful place to shop.

There is currently no news about what business will occupy the space in the future, but it certainly has big shoes to fill.