THE owner of a popular independent gift shop in Hereford which is set to close next month says footfall has decreased since the city's new development opened.

Expressions, based on Broad Street, will close its doors for good from the end of August after owners, mum and daughter, Caroline Preedy and Charlotte Bufton, made a decision not to renew the store's lease.

They are set to continue trading online but say a combination of reasons contributed to the decision to move out of Hereford city centre after almost five years.

“The first four years were fantastic but we have definitely noticed a difference since the new [Old Market] development opened,” she said.

"I think the last 12 months it's been a steady drop. At Christmas we all used to enjoy the late night opening but now the shops are open late there every night so that novelty has gone.”

She added that although she thinks the new Odeon cinema and restaurants have been great for young people around the county, it would have been beneficial if support that is now on offer from the Hereford BID project was available around two years ago before the development opened.

Having already established successful Rotherwas-based Express Bathrooms, Expressions opened on Broad Street in September 2010.

It was originally set to sell furniture as a satellite store but the gift side took off so well that it pushed the business in a different direction.

People have travelled from far and wide to buy the shop's Jelly Cat soft toys and Scottish comedian Kevin Bridges recently visited while he was in Hereford.

Expressions plans to push forward its successful online business, operating from the Rotherwas site.

"We are selling country wide and looking to expand into the USA as we are getting a lot of hits from there on our website. They just like the traditional British type products,” she said.

"We have loved our time here in the shop and we have got the most fantastic customers and every day we are getting people saying they are going to miss us."

She added that the business was grateful for the support it has received from staff and customers.