Date confirmed for Lidl's closure in Bournemouth town centre

Lidl is to close its doors in Richmond Gardens Shopping Centre for the final time on Friday, October 7. 

The closure marks the end of the town centre’s only supermarket, with only a Tesco convenience store remaining in The Square. 

Bosses of the budget supermarket stated they had struggled to come to “more agreeable” lease terms with the landlord of the shopping centre complex. 

Lidl in Richmond Gardens Shopping Centre (Image: NQ)

In a letter given to staff seen by the Echo, Lidl said turnover not recovering to pre-pandemic levels and neighbouring Wilko’s closure earlier in the year as reasons for the decision to shut shop. 

The letter added larger scale investment was needed to modernise the store and an 'unreliable' stock lift resulted in the utilisation of the neighbouring property access, which is no longer possible as the store is empty. 

As reported, one ex-employee of Lidl, who left the store recently and asked to remain anonymous, said there was “a lot of sadness” among staff. 

Read more: Shop owners react to closure of Lidl in Bournemouth centre

Read more: Lidl's former Bournemouth unit put on market for lease

He said: “I think all the staff knew it was coming. Quite a few have already handed their notices in or asked to transfer to a new store.” 

Despite the closure, a Lidl spokesperson said Bournemouth town centre remained on its desired site requirements list 

They also confirmed staff were given the opportunity to relocate to other stores. Lidl has additional stores in Wimborne Road in Winton, Poole Road in Branksome and Christchurch Road in Boscombe, Holdenhurst Road. 

Richmond Gardens Shopping Centre suffered a major blow in February when Wilko left the premises. 

Existing traders say footfall has been significantly lower as shoppers have less reason to visit the area – and they say it is affecting their profits.