Basildon's Eastgate Centre has seen a number of stores exit in last few months.

Retail suffered badly in the pandemic but it's sped up the impact of online shopping.

Debenhams shut back in May and bid farewell to loyal customers on Saturday as the last remaining outlets of the doomed retailer permanently shut.

Online retailer Boohoo brought Debenhams for £55million in January but didn’t buy any of the stores - leading to the final 97 stores closing.

Many shoppers have been left concerned about what will fill the empty shop and the impact losing Debenhams will have on the town centre.

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Then in July it was announced H&M in the centre was shutting down. The chain announced the store was shutting on August 6. This followed the closure of a number of other major shops in Basildon town centre including Marks and Spencer, Debenhams, BHS and TopShop. Residents again raised concerns about the closure.

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Top Shop and Top Man also left earlier this year, leaving another large empty store in the centre after years of trading for youngsters in the borough. The shutters are down and the windows are all covered up after the closure of the store.

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Next bosses also confirmed the Eastgate store closure in July too. A spokesman for Next said the store will be closing but declined to comment on anything further. The confirmation of the closures of Next and H&M came after shoppers reported staff at both shops told them the outlets would be closing.

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Earlier this week, Build-A-Bear became the latest to shut down at a town centre shopping centre. The shop at Basildon's Eastgate Shopping Centre shut down this week after posting a note in the window to inform customers and families. A sign on the window of the store directs customers to Lakeside Shopping Centre for the nearest shop in the area. The sign reads: "Closing down. Your nearest store will be Lakeside Shopping Centre. You can also find us online."

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