Rhodri wrote:The Landlord was on Radio Wales this morning and that is what was said.
It may well be the case that Howells were turning a profit at the moment but the building needed serious spending and I suspect the freeholder was unwilling to invest on behalf of a parlous tenant and the tenant themself was unable to.
The situation wasn't quite the same when David Morgan's closed but there are a few parallels. Morgans too was profitable right to the end but, unlike HoF, the company still owned the freehold of the building. When an unsolicited offer came in for the site that equated to multiple decades of profits, closure was the only rational decision.
I felt for the Morgans staff then and I feel for the Howellls staff now. I'm not worried about the future of the site though as I'm sure it will attract huge interest.
For what it's worth, my best guess is that the art-deco block on St. Mary Street will become a hotel while the rest will be a mixed use development with retail, residential and office all in the mix.
I'm not sure what the current status is but until relatively recently the Howells estate was larger than just the current store and included the building currently housing Waterstones as well as the Borough pub.