THE owners of a village shop and post office that has served the community of Llanfair Clydogau for 150 years have confirmed it is to close next month.

Alec Wallbank Pilcher took over the store in October 2021, and says he’s done ‘everything’ he could to keep it open and has no regrets taking it over for the last couple of years.

He told the Cambrian News: “We’re very happy that we managed to keep it open a couple more years after the previous owner left, we’ve done everything we can to keep it going, we don’t regret taking over the place and trying.”

Although the store was never the place ‘where someone would make their millions,’ the owners managed to break even and occasionally make a profit, but the financial situation in recent months has meant costs outweigh returns.

Mr Wallbank Pilcher added: “It’s always been a small shop that’s broken even at best.

“It was never going to be the place where someone would make their millions, but we’ve managed to break even and make a small profit in some months - rising costs have meant we’re not breaking even.

“With the latest financial crisis and the drop in footfall, our costs have gone up and one is overtaking the other. We’re just putting money into the business rather than making any.

“Closing down wasn’t something we wanted to have to do, we bought the place because it gave us the opportunity to live the lifestyle we wanted, we’ve got a young child and it has allowed me to be here with him and work the shop.”

The post office is the only shop in the village, and has become a social place for residents to meet up with each other and catch up.

Mr Wallbank Pilcher said: “It’s a very small and lovely village, I think the shop will be missed a lot. There’s a core group of locals who have used it consistently since it opened and they’ll miss it a lot. It’s more than just the shop, it’s got a social element to it as well, especially since we opened the cafe here which is a good meeting place where people come and see people they haven’t seen for a while and socialise. It is something that’s going to be missed.

Despite the closure, Mr Wallbank Pilcher and his family ‘won’t be disappearing’ and plan to stay active in the community. He said:

“Everyone is very close, and having the shop has allowed us to integrate into the community, we couldn’t have done it so quickly without the shop so we’ve been very lucky in that respect.

“We’re not disappearing, we’re still going to be here and we’re still going to be active in the community.”