A new Clarks shoe shop at the Westgate Centre in Oxford has been welcoming its first customers.

The popular chain's new shop opened on Monday and a member of staff said they had welcomed a steady stream of customers.

She confirmed that Clarks' Cornmarket Street branch would close in September, leaving the Westgate store as the only remaining Clarks trading in the city centre.

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She added: "We will wait until children go back to school at the end of the summer holidays before we close the shop in Cornmarket."

(Image: Andy Ffrench) The footwear chain was founded in 1825 and operated across over 1,400 stores and franchises internationally at its peak but, as of July 2023, the brand had just 320 stores.

Shoppers in Abingdon were shocked in April when Clarks in the Bury Street precinct closed suddenly.

A member of staff said at the time there had not been a lot of notice before the closure.

She added: "This shop was run as a franchise - I have worked for the franchise for at least 20 years and the shop has been open for much longer than that."

The Wallingford Clarks, part of the same franchise, closed at the same time.

Branches in Didcot, Witney and Banbury remain open but the Bicester Village shop closed at the end of 2023.

When the Bicester Village shop closed, a spokesman said: "We have a strong duty of care to all our employees, and we are working closely with the store team as they go through a period of consultation.

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“We thank them all for their dedication in serving our customers over the years.

“We’d like to thank our loyal customers who have shopped with us at our Bicester store, and we’ll be delighted to continue to serve them with our full range of products online and at our nearby Clarks stores in Oxford, Banbury and Witney.”

Other shoe brands at the Westgate Centre include Schuh, Russell & Bromley, Loake, Hobbs and Skechers.

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About the author 

Andy is the Trade and Tourism reporter for the Oxford Mail and you can sign up to his newsletters for free here. 

He joined the team more than 20 years ago and he covers community news across Oxfordshire.

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