Assurances over future of Fife Poundstretcher store

Concerns were expressed over the shop in Crossgate after news broke that its sister outlet in Kirkcaldy High Street is set to close after an agreement over the future of its lease which is due to run out could not be agreed.

However, on Thursday a spokesman for Poundstretcher said that the news on the Cupar store was good.

“We just renewed the lease on our Cupar shop last year, so the future of the store is secure,” he said.

“We are happy to assure our customers that there are no plans to close it.”

The large shop in Crossgate has been in the town for some 60 years and is seen as one of the mainstays of the town centre.

Nine full and part-time staff in Kirkcaldy are facing redundancy, but the company has said it will do its best to relocate them to other stores where possible.

The shop is due to close at some point in the coming weeks, although an exact date has yet to be confirmed.

The Cupar branch of Poundstretcher occupies a prominent position in the centre of town, occupying premises that once housed the ill-fated Woolworth’s.

‘Woolies’ closed in 2008 amid emotional scenes after more than half-a-century in the town and the premises were taken over by Pound-Mart. Just eight months later, Pound-Mart moved to Dundee and the store became one of the first ‘Alworths’ in the country. That, too, failed and Poundstretcher moved in.