Gift shop in UK market town closes after 26 years following ‘worst Christmas ever’ as owner bemoans loss of ‘heartbeat’
A HIGH-STREET staple in a market town has closed its doors for good after more than a quarter of a century.
Residents are devastated as a beloved gift shop has departed the town centre.
After a magical 26 year stint on Castle Street, High Wycombe, Ruby Moon will close its doors for good.
Tragically, the store’s final day was on Easter Sunday, April 20.
The shop’s closure was announced by its married owners, Matt and Claire Moon.
Informing the shop’s crestfallen customers via Facebook, the couple wrote on Sunday: “After 26 unforgettable years, today Ruby Moon opens its doors for the very last time.
“This final day is bittersweet. We’re filled with gratitude for the support, love, and community you’ve given us over the years.
“You’ve helped make Ruby Moon more than just a shop — you’ve made it a home, a haven, and a heartbeat of High Wycombe’s alternative scene.
“Thank you for everything. We’ll carry your kindness and connection with us always.”
The shop had fallen on hard times over the past year, with co-owner Matt citing ‘the cost-of-living crisis’ as a major factor in making it unprofitable.
Against this backdrop, the shop suffered a burglary in November last year, and their ‘worst Christmas on record’ which proved to be the final nail in the shop’s coffin.
Speaking in February, co–owner Matt insisted the decision to close the shop “was not made lightly.”
He added: “We have seen footfall completely drop off since 2021, and I have no misapprehension that it’s down to websites like Temu, Shein and Amazon.
“People can now go directly, so why would they bother coming here?”
Tributes were quick to pour in from former customers, with one admirer, Tee Kay, saying: “As one door closes others will open.”
Another, Lewis Fallows, added: “Very sad news but still grateful to have met such amazing people.
“This shop was where I got my first necklace.”
Why are retailers closing shops?
EMPTY shops have become an eyesore on many British high streets and are often symbolic of a town centre’s decline.
The Sun’s business editor Ashley Armstrong explains why so many retailers are shutting their doors.
In many cases, retailers are shutting stores because they are no longer the money-makers they once were because of the rise of online shopping.
Falling store sales and rising staff costs have made it even more expensive for shops to stay open.
The British Retail Consortium has predicted that the Treasury’s hike to employer NICs from April 2025, will cost the retail sector £2.3billion.
At the same time, the minimum wage will rise to £12.21 an hour from April, and the minimum wage for people aged 18-20 will rise to £10 an hour, an increase of £1.40.
In some cases, retailers are shutting a store and reopening a new shop at the other end of a high street to reflect how a town has changed.
The problem is that when a big shop closes, footfall falls across the local high street, which puts more shops at risk of closing.
Retail parks are increasingly popular with shoppers, who want to be able to get easy, free parking at a time when local councils have hiked parking charges in towns.
Many retailers including Next and Marks & Spencer have been shutting stores on the high street and taking bigger stores in better-performing retail parks instead.
In some cases, stores have been shut when a retailer goes bust, as in the case of Carpetright, Debenhams, Dorothy Perkins, Paperchase, Ted Baker, The Body Shop, Topshop and Wilko to name a few.
What’s increasingly common is when a chain goes bust a rival retailer or private equity firm snaps up the intellectual property rights so they can own the brand and sell it online.
They may go on to open a handful of stores if there is customer demand, but there are rarely ever as many stores or in the same places.
The Centre for Retail Research (CRR) has warned that around 17,350 retail sites are expected to shut down this year.
Sadly, Ruby Moon seems to be no exception to a growing rule of high-street closures across the UK.
The Centre for Retail Research forecasts that more than 17,000 shops will close this year, resulting in more than 200,000 job losses.
The Centre has found a significant drop in retail spending in recent years, with a sales fall of -4.6% in 2022, -2.8% in 2023 and -0.2% in 2024.
This trend does not look set to improve in the near future, with the Centre forecasting further year-on-year sales cuts by -2.1% this year, and -2.5% in 2026.
The consequences of these findings were evidenced in a House of Lords report, which showed 10,000 UK High Street store closures in 2023.
It concluded that retail’s dominance on the high street “is something of the past,” instead suggesting that the future belongs to food and leisure establishments.
The report said that councils, communities and local businesses needed to work together to create better footfall on high streets.
For example, by making them accessible with better public transport links and additional parking spaces.