A ONCE-POPULAR department store is set to mark the end of an era and close its doors for good on Friday.

Havens, in Hamlet Court Road, Westcliff, will be shutting completely this week after more than 100 years of trading.

The 1920s building is set to be transformed into a community centre for the over 50s.

Nigel Havens, who runs the store with his brothers Paul and Graham, said: “It is a bittersweet moment. As a family we have traded on Hamlet Court Road since 1901 and from the current site built by my grandfather, since 1920.

“Over the course of that time we have seen many changes in the retail landscape.

“The consumer has changed the way they shop and as such the face of the High Street needs to change too, giving people the reason to venture back.

“This will be driven by community projects and leisure use in turn creating the footfall that small independent retailers need to survive.

“As a family we are so pleased with the outcome and that Age Concern will start that process with a community centre providing so many facilities and opportunities for local people.

“We are also pleased that as part of the arrangement our online shop will continue to operate from the top floor sending goods around the UK and indeed the world.

“We will also provide a click and collect service for locals as well as a personal local delivery service.

“So it is sad that the store is closing but business cannot and should not resist change. This change comes with the blessing of the Havens family.”

Havens was founded in 1901 and has been run by successive generations ever since. The family built the current store in 1920 and it was further developed in 1935 to become the eye-catching building it is now.

The business was established as a specialist retailer of china tableware, crystal glass and as a gift shop.

Last year it was revealed the store would slowly be closed down.