YORK city centre has lost many of its big brand stores in recent years and now we can add another - TK Maxx.
The discount retailer - which first opened in Coney Street in 2010 selling designer womenswear at reduced prices - is bowing out of the city centre to make way for a Hard Rock Cafe.
The loss of TK Maxx to York city centre - there will still be a store at Monks Cross's main retail park - follows on the heels of other departures from Coney Street including BHS, Dorothy Perkins, Wallis, River Island, Warehouse, and Office.
There was quite a fanfare when TK Maxx first opened in Coney Street, almost exactly 12 years ago, taking over the former Boots store. It was a real boon for the city centre at the time because the Boots store had lain empty since July 2008, when the chemists moved to the former Woolworths store on the other side of the road.
Our archive has photos of when the Coney Street TK Maxx store first opened - and our story from the time records how excited shoppers queued round the block to be among the first customers, and claim a £10 voucher that was being handed out to the first 500 people across the door.
We also took a photographer along for a photoshoot to show off the TK Maxx autumn selections. At the time of opening, the shop only sold women's clothes and accessories.
The exit of TK Maxx from the city centre is the latest chapter of the company's story in York.
It first opened in York at Monks Cross - next to Sainsbury's, way back in the year 2000.
The Press were invited to mark this occasion with a photoshoot showing off some of TK Maxx's bargains - all clothes were heavily discounted, which was part of its USP.
This pricing policy was echoed in its sister store, HomeSense, which sold goods for the home and garden and opened at the Foss Islands retail park, near Morrisons. Ground Force presenter Tommy Walsh was at the store for the opening ceremony back in 2010, as our photos here today recall.
Both the HomeSense store at Foss Islands and the TK Maxx store near Sainsbury's at Monks Cross closed in 2020, merging into a combined unit at the main Monks Cross retail park in the former Outfit unit.
What York shops do you miss? Share your memories in our Facebook group, Why We Love York - Memories.
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