Weymouth shop Chalbury Gifts closes in town centre

Chalbury Dorset Gifts and Hampers, on St Mary Street, will close on Saturday, October 28, after 10 years in the town centre.

A sign on the shop window informed customers of the shop's closure (Image: Tom Lawrence)

Owner Luke Mansell also owns Chalbury Food and Wine on Chalbury Corner, Preston, and has made the decision to devote more time to that store.

He said: "I have owned the shop in Weymouth town centre for 10 years and the shop in Preston for 20 years and I am bored of juggling two shops because I cannot be in two places at once.

“We are not closing the shop because it failed, I just don’t want the trouble of owning two shops, the shop was still making money.

Luke Mansell also owns Chalbury Food and Wine in Preston (Image: Tom Lawrence)

“I have been thinking about this for about two years and I wanted someone to take it on.

“The shop still got profit, it is not because it failed, it would have closed years ago if it had.

“In business, you have to give up when the time is right.

"We have had a good 10 years and I need to concentrate on my other business interests now."

The departure of the shop comes just a week after Wilko closed its doors for the last time on Westham Road.

In 2023, St Mary Street has seen Barclays, McDonald's and Naughty Fork Desserts close down, alongside the sudden closure of The Golden Lion pub and Marks and Spencer announcing a move away in the future.

Mr Mansell added: “It is incredibly hard for shops, it is very difficult to do well when you can get everything online.

The Weymouth shop sells locally sourced cakes, wines, ciders and Christmas hampers (Image: Tom Lawrence)The Weymouth shop sells locally sourced cakes, wines, ciders and Christmas hampers (Image: Tom Lawrence)The Weymouth shop sells locally sourced cakes, wines, ciders and Christmas hampers (Image: Tom Lawrence)

“Weymouth is still a fantastic town centre and you can make money."

Jon Davis, 39, from Swindon, said he visited the shop every year whenever he came down to Weymouth.

He said: "It is such a shame as we love going into the shop every year, it will be missed.

"The staff are so friendly and it offered a range of products you couldn’t get in other shops in Weymouth, we always made sure we would call into the shop on our holidays.”

Mr Mansell gave thanks to the customers who supported his shop over the years, including many tourists and holidaymakers who often returned year on year and has encouraged them to visit him at his Preston-based shop.

He said: “We were very well supported through the years and we are very grateful to our loyal customers, locals and holidaymakers.

“We can still offer everything in our store on Chalbury Corner in Preston if they want to come and visit us."