More shop closures in Aberystwyth town centre “would not be a surprise”, a councillor has said, as the high street looks set to lose two more businesses in the financial fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.

Edinburgh Woollen Mill has shut its doors, while Lloyds Pharmacy is expected to shut in January.

Edinburgh Woollen Mill’s branch at the top of Great Darkgate Street closed its doors and was cleared out at the weekend, after the firm went into administration.

Aberystwyth county councillor Ceredig Davies said the Lloyds Pharmacy branch on Owain Glyndwr Square would shut in January.

It is understood the branch will close as the company reviews its outlets not attached to doctors’ surgeries in a bid to cut costs, but no reply has been received from the company in response to questions from the Cambrian News.

Cllr Davies said the closures are part of a “national trend” for town centres that is “hitting us here in Aberystwyth”.

Cllr Davies said while high street retail was in the “process of transformation before Covid” due to the internet, the pandemic has “accelerated that process beyond the ability of any high street to change, in the short-term.”

“Decisions taken as to the viability of an Aberystwyth shop will be as a result of national considerations, as many of its shops are multinationals occupying premises owned by property investing bodies,” Cllr Davies added.

“Boardroom decisions taken a long way from Mid Wales will impact the way our town centre will look over the years to come. How local and national governments respond to those changes will determine whether the high street shopping experience will be confined to history.

“I will not be surprised if we see further closures, as one only needs to read the business pages of national newspapers to be aware of the financial problems of long-standing high street chains.”

The Edinburgh Woollen Mill Group, part of entrepreneur Philip Day’s retail empire which also owns Peacocks, Jaeger and Austin Reed, issued a warning last month that it was on the brink of collapse. Edinburgh Woollen Mill has 384 stores across the UK and administrators were brought in last week.

No response to the Aberystwyth store’s closure had been received from Edinburgh Woollen Mill Group at the time of going to press.

Lloyds Pharmacy announced plans earlier this year to close several pharmacies following “increasing financial pressures”.

The company has another Aberystwyth pharmacy, based next door to Padarn Surgery on Penglais Hill.