In November, it was confirmed that the store would close on December 31, with a closing down sale to be held for its final month.
It comes as the discount retailer closes a number of its stores across the country, including several in Sussex.
For its final day, I headed down to see what was left and bid a final farewell to the once popular city centre shop.
Shelves which were once full of stock were entirely bare (Image: NQ)
With previous days having seen queues of people looking to get their hands on a bargain, I was prepared for it to be very empty and I wasn’t proven wrong.
The store was practically bare minus a couple of odd shelves stacked with a handful of Christmas cards, birthday balloons, and the odd unwanted pieces of seasonal décor.
The only fully stocked section was the batteries – which weren’t actually included in the closing down discounts.
The odd remaining items on the shelves included Christmas decorations and cards (Image: NQ)
The fridges as you enter, once rammed with food and drink, were entirely empty, the stairs to the second floor had been blocked off, and members of staff were seen taking down the shelves as soon as the final products were purchased.
I truly feel for the staff, it’s not the way you want to end the year. Although, despite the sad circumstances, they all seemed in good spirits as they waved goodbye and served customers for the final time.
To mark the shop’s last day, it was offering an additional 50% off discounted items. Many items were priced at 10p and some even as low as 4p and 5p.
I managed to pick up a couple of packs of Christmas cards and a birthday balloon, costing me a mere 15 pence for all three things.
Many items were priced between 5p to 10p (Image: NQ)
When packing away my purchases outside the store, many passers-by could be heard exclaiming their sadness at the closure.
I spoke with one customer, who wished to remain anonymous, who said: “It’s a shame to see it go. The store is now more or less empty, at least we still have Primark next door.”
Several people commented on its closure reflecting on the changing high street scene, with many customers moving to online shopping and the competition this brings.
“So much of the stock was no longer a pound anyway. People shop online more and more. Things have changed,” another customer commented.
“It is still sad to see it go though.”
A similar response was shared on social media, with many offering their thoughts to staff members and reflecting on Brighton’s high street offering.
Pat Goode wrote: “I used this store often. I will miss it. I hope the staff find other work soon. You will be missed.”
Phil Ayling added: “Silly move. Always a busy store and the staff seem genuinely shocked by it. Nothing close by for residents now.”
The store joins others in Sussex which have closed or are due to close (Image: NQ)
The closure follows others in Sussex including the Horsham store which closed in August and the Hailsham store in November.
More recently, the Worthing store shut on December 6 and the Bexhill store has been given a closing date of January 5.
The store in London Road, Brighton, was among locations originally identified and was planned to close in October but this remains open.
Poundland said it still expects to operate a network of around 650-700 stores compared to around 800 at the beginning of the restructuring programme, as leases expire or landlords exercise any option to serve notice.
Brighton is fortunate that the London Road store is continuing to trade, however with recent news that the unit is on the market its future seems perhaps slightly uncertain.
But for now, we can only hope the closure will mark new beginnings for both the staff and the retail space in 2026.
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