People sobbing and floral tributes as Swansea M&S shuts for good

As Swansea's M&S Oxford Street store closed its doors for the final time on Saturday devastated customers paid one final visit to the store they've been coming to for decades. The flagship Swansea store shut for good on May 30 after announcing it would close in February and hundreds stopped at the store to lay flowers, leave messages, take pictures, and have a quiet moment to themselves in scenes more akin to a funeral than a shop closure. For many the end of an era proved an emotional one, with some visibly crying. The closure will no doubt leave a sizeable hole in Swansea city centre which has, like many places, seen a number of notable closures in recent years. One woman who was particularly tearful took a moment to share how much M&S in Swansea had meant to her and her family, while a man said it felt as though things were going "from bad to worse" in the city as the reality of the high street giant's closure sunk in. Those hoping to shop in M&S in Swansea will now have to venture further out of town to the M&S Foodhalls in the Mumbles and Fforestfach. Anyone wanting to shop in their clothing and home departments will need to go even further to Llanelli. Never miss a Swansea story by signing up to our newsletter here . Helen Shulver, 65, became emotional about the closure on Saturday afternoon as she explained why she felt so fondly about the chain. Helen recalled it being a particular favourite of her late mother. "I lost my mother Betty about nine years ago," she said. "We're from Neath and my mother always shopped in the Neath Marks and Spencer - in fact I'd go as far to say that she worshipped at the altar that was Marks and Spencer, particularly the sale. "One thing I'm really grateful for is that she didn't see it close in Neath because she always said: 'Oh if Marks goes from Neath that's the end of the town.' "It's sad to see Marks closing because it's been so popular for so many years with so many people. There's still one but it's out of reach for so many people. Thank you Marks and Spencer for all the years that you have spent here." She added: "I feel really quite emotional that they're closing because it has meant a lot to a lot of people. We're quite quiet as a nation, we don't usually show our emotions, but these people have been there for us, they've been reliable, they've been good value and just so good as shopkeepers. They are going to be missed." Many other shoppers echoed Helen's concerns about the other nearby M&S stores being much harder to access on the outskirts of the city. Delyth Landeg, 63, regularly comes to the store to do her food shopping. She said: "I'm very disappointed. I used to come here with my mother and father, so it's really sad. There's no smiles or nothing [sic] in there today, it's awful. "I think it's nice to come out rather than doing internet shopping all the time. There is one in Fforestfach but it is a bit awkward to get there on the bus." For 76-year-old Christine Stokes, who has celiac disease, the store has proved a lifeline. Christine and her daughter Beverly, 44, regularly travel from Ystradgynlais to the Oxford Street store to access the shop's range of gluten-free food. Beverly explained that few shops boast a range of allergen-friendly food and said it would be much harder to go to the Llanelli and Fforestfach stores using public transport. Beverly said: "We've been in there now and we've bought a load of meat pies, cakes, all those different things. As we're far away it's convenient as it's the one that's closest to us. There's not a closer one from where we live, so it's a bit of a gutter. Swansea hasn't really got many shops left." Several other people thought the closure represented a wider decline in decent shops in the centre. "Swansea went downhill a long time ago and now it's getting worse," said one shopper. Jackie Wade, 78, had just come out of M&S having purchased some food, and a jumper for her grandson. She comes to the shop two or three times a week and has been coming since her now 50-year-old sons were children. She said: "I'm going to miss Marks and Spencer so much. For all these years I've been buying clothes and food here every week. We're going to really miss this, there's nothing else like it in town. All the good shops are closing down. "We've been really dreading the closure of this place because I've been coming here since my boys were little and now they're in their 50s. Where else is there to go now? Nowhere." Lawrence Cascarini, 86, was born in a shop above Swansea High Street in 1939, struggled to remember a time when the retailer didn't have a presence in the city. He recalled: "We've always had a Marks. I've been in the army, I've come out, and it's always been here. "I think that we ought to go back to the days of Lipton's, Marks and Spencer, and all the other old stores rather than everybody buying online." Another regular customer, 63-year-old Jim Maggs, said it felt like things were going from bad to worse in Swansea. "It breaks my heart to see it," he added. Jim's sister has worked in the shop for 25 years and he said he'd hoped a staff-customer consortium could've been set-up to keep a similar style shop in the city centre. "I'd like to have seen a workers' cooperative set up," he said. "You could give them free rent, reduce business rates for a few years, employ the M&S staff and management, open the café, and sell electronics and furniture as well." Around 92 staff members worked at the city centre store prior to its closure on Saturday. They were told about plans to shut in February when the hugely popular retailer said it was no longer viable to keep the store open, saying it had underperformed over a long period of time. At the time, regional manager Richard Owen did not rule out a future "full-line store" in the city. He said they would "actively look" for a suitable location. Meanwhile, Janine Thomas, 54, opted to take redundancy after a five-year stint on Oxford Street. As she reflected on the closure, Janine did not underestimate the impact it would have on regular customers who would often come in just to speak to people. She said: "I've got mixed emotions at the minute but I think it's going to have a huge impact on Swansea itself. It was the last department store in Swansea and now there won't be one left. "I do feel sad for the customers because for some this is the only place they can come to talk and they don't see anybody else so they won't be coming out and talking to people anymore. I think it's very sad for them. "There are customers who come in, know us by name and ask us for us specifically. They've even bought us gifts because they're so sad they won't be seeing us again. "There are a lot of old people who come in here nearly every day - they do their shopping, they have a chat with us and they class us as family. Many have come back in today crying because they don't know what they're going to do with themselves." But not everyone in Swansea appeared to be so sad. Frank Camille, 40, said he found M&S too expensive and instead prefers to shop more locally. "We don't shop in Marks and Spencer. It's a bit expensive. It's £10 for four strawberries. I tend to shop in all the local places like the market. I don't go to any of the big chains."