Nigel Pearce, of Taunton Chamber of Commerce, reacts to store closure

As the crisis in the high street continues to bite, a business leader in the county town says retailers are surviving rather than thriving.

Nigel Pearce, president of Taunton Chamber of Commerce, has called for people to work together to attract people into the town and prevent further shop closures.

Mr Pearce was speaking as it emerged novelty toy Hawkin’s Bazaar and Warren James jewellers, both in the Orchard Shopping Centre, Ann Summers, in Fore Street, and Tony Pryce Sports, in East Street, were closing down.

The bombshell withdrawals from Taunton come after clothing firm Next announced last month that it was quitting the town in May as its store is no longer profitable.

The boss of family firm Tony Pryce Sports spoke of his sadness that it is shutting after 35 years in Taunton town centre.

The store launched a closing down sale on Saturday, three months before it ceases trading.

The store, in East Street, is no longer viable due to the downturn in high street trading as more and more customers turn to internet shopping.

Four full-time and three part-time staff will lose their jobs when the store’s shutters come down for the final time on April 26.

Managing director Adrian Giblett, son-in-law of the company founder Tony Pryce, who still lives in Taunton, said: “It’s a sad day.

“We’ve had a lot of really good customers.

“But the way the high street is, trying to have a profitable shop with rents and business rates is quite difficult.”

Mr Pryce originally set up the business in Minehead, where he opened his first shop in 1978.

He then opened a store in Bridge Street, Taunton, in 1985, later moving to The Bridge and more recently to its current premises in East Street.

The Tony Pryce business was taken over by H. Young Holdings, owners of the Animal brand, in 2011

The company put the 13 Tony Pryce shops across the South West up for sale about four years ago.

After failing to find a buyeit was decided to close each shop as the leases ran out. Taunton is the last surviving store.

“Taunton has always been one of our better stores, along with Exeter and Minehead,” said Mr Giblett.

“But now they’re all closed.

“It was historically a profitable shop for us.

“We launched our closing down sale on Saturday and it was pretty busy at the weekend.

“I’d like to thank our many loyal customers in Taunton who helped us build the business up over the years.”

Hawkin’s Bazaar is holding an ‘everything must go’ sale with 50 per cent off original prices.

It is among the 20 stores across the country that will all close after the company went into administration last Thursday.

Administrators say the shop is no longer accepting returns for refunds.

A statement in the window says: “However, you can exchange your goods...within 14 days of the original purchase to the value of your original purchase. After this date, there are no exchanges.”

Customers can no longer buy gift cards, but any already bought will be honoured.

Hawkin’s Bazaar, which is based in Norwich, employs a total of 177 people.

Tom Straw, a partner at the administrators, Moorfields Advisory, said the toy trade had suffered a challenging Christmas due to online competition.

He told The Guardian: “Hawkin’s Bazaar is a retail brand with a strong heritage both on the high street and online.

“Unfortunately, despite making changes to appeal to the shift in modern buying patterns, the retailer still struggled to compete with online retailers such as Amazon.”

The closure date for Hawkin’s Bazaar is unknown.

Ann Summers, which sells women’s underwear, fancy dress outfits and bedroom toys, is offering 75 per cent off items ahead of closing down.

The company has not responded to the County Gazette’s request for a comment.

Cut-price jeweller also failed to respond when we approached its head office for a comment.

Posters in the shop windows are advertising a clearance sale ahead of the store closing down.

Referring to the latest bad news for the town centre, Taunton Chamber of Trade president Mr Pearce tod the County Gazette: “The closure of these shops and the associated loss of people’s jobs is very sad.

“We all know the pressures on our retailers and this is another example of how fragile the situation between survival and closure can be.

“The fact that we use the word survive rather than thrive is perhaps a reflection on how difficult things are.

“The town centre is important to us all, and despite these closures Taunton still has much to offer.

“But we all need to work together to build on this to make it a destination that people want to visit.

“If together we can achieve this then perhaps further closures can be avoided.”

There are a number of vacant shop premises around the town centre, although Taunton is seen as faring better than some towns in other areas of the country.

Efforts have been made to attract more visitors into the town with special initiatives such as the ice rink sited on Castle Green over Christmas and the New Year.

And the Cricket World Cup last summer helped bring thousands of people to the area while putting Taunton on the international stage.

Regeneration of Coal Orchard, currently underway, and plans to develop Firepool, with work expected to start by Christmas, are important projects to increase Taunton’s appeal following criticism that it had slipped behind other South West destinations.