A national greetings card retailer has expressed an interest in moving into a town centre unit which has sat empty for six years.
Cards Direct Retail, which has 65 stores across the UK, is eyeing up the former Yorkshire Bank building on Greengate Street, in Stafford.
The firm has submitted a planning application to Stafford Borough Council seeking permission to remove the existing bank shopfront and install a new retail one.
Yorkshire Bank closed in Stafford in 2018. The building is located within the Stafford (Town Centre) Conservation Area and its front elevation is linked to the adjacent McDonald’s restaurant.
A heritage statement submitted with the plans reads: “It is recognised that the overall building offers little merit to the conservation area.
“The adjacent “McDonald’s” shopfront was refurbished and improved in recent years and the proposal for Number 52 seeks to mimic the main details of the “McDonald’s” refurbishment. This refurbishment will seek to improve the overall streetscene as well as the shopfront itself.”
Family-owned Cards Direct Retail sells greetings cards, gifts, gift packaging, balloons and partyware and is said to have been voted in the Top 100 Most Loved Retails Brands in the UK.
Currently, its only Staffordshire store is in Tamworth.
Why do we want or need another card shop on the high street? We already have WH Smith, Clintons, and Card Factory.