A SECOND shop has shut in just two months at a Dorchester shopping arcade.

Workers at health food chain Julian Graves in the Tudor Arcade are facing an uncertain future after it was announced that their shop will be closing tomorrow.

Manager Laura Allcorn said that five jobs in total will be lost at the store.

She said: “The company is doing everything they can to help us.”

She paid tribute to her workers saying: “They have done a great job. We have a wonderful team and it will be genuinely sad to be losing them because we get on so well.”

Other businesses in the arcade said it is a shame that another shop was shutting after the recent closure of the Town Mill Bakery.

Crystals worker Katie Potter said: “It will be sad to see them go.”

Eureka worker Andy Burton agreed.

He said: “How long will it be closed now? It will be sad to see them go.”

Gilded Teapot owner Jo Davies said: “It’s really sad.”

The closure comes after The Town Mill Bakery shut its doors on September 5.

Speaking at the time owner Clive Cobb said that ‘greed has closed this place’.

Mr Cobb said that an increase in rent of 61 per cent and business rates of 53 per cent had caused them to close.

But a spokes-man for Julian Graves denied rents were to blame.

He said: “As part of the ongoing integration of the Julian Graves business into the NBTY Europe estate, the Julian Graves store in Dorchester will close on October 29.

“We have offered alternative positions within the group to staff affected.” It is not known if any of those staff will take up any of these positions.

NBTY Europe is the parent company for leading health store chains including Julian Graves and Holland and Barrett.

Project director for the Dorchester BID (Business Improvement District) Phil Gordon said it is a shame the store is closing but said prospects in the town are still good for businesses.

He said: “It’s always very disappointing when a business has to close for whatever reason.

“However, both the Town Mill Bakery and Julian Graves stores are in one of the most prime locations in Dorchester. “I don’t think they will be closed for long.”

He added: “You can’t get much primer. Whoever goes into the shops will want to be in there before the run up to the Olympics, possibly before Christmas.

“We are actually in the process of seeing two or three new stores opening in the town. We’re still ‘business positive’ and have more shops open.

“You can’t get away from the fact it’s sad but we have new shops arriving quicker than they are going.”