The fourth bargain-basement shop in Ipswich town centre opened this morning.
Around 100 people queued to be one of the first customers at Poundworld, which has opened in the former River Island unit opposite McDonald’s in Tavern Street and created 30 jobs.
The news was revealed by the Star last week and sparked a fierce debate about the future of the high street. It was claimed work must be stepped up to attract leading brands.
But Azir Uddin, assistant manager of Poundworld in Ipswich, said there is a clear demand for discount retail shops.
He said: “The discount retail sector is thriving at the moment and the queues this morning showed that.
“To a certain extent, there is still a bit of stigma with shopping at these types of shops, but we want that stigma to go away. And in fact, people are attracted to us because you get value for money, especially compared to other high street shops, and when you are on your lunch break in town you can come here and pick up all your little household goods.
“The shop has created another 30 jobs for the town and we have put in a lot of hard work behind the scenes.”
Mary Neal, 60, of Derwent Road, Ipswich, was one of the first shoppers to arrive and queued for an hour before the store opened at 10am.
She said: “I love my pound shops. They are cheaper than supermarkets and have lots of different things. I’m not surprised all these people have come down to queue up.
“The more pound shops in the town, the better.”
Eighteen-year-old Chelsea Maloney, of Marigold Avenue, Ipswich, was another early-morning customer willing to queue up.
She said: “It’s new and different to the other pound shops and I’m interested to see what their product range is compared to others. It looks like a big shop.
“These shops are good for a lot of people who can’t afford to shop anywhere else. I also think they will do well as people like to change where they do their shopping.”
Abi Crane, 24, of Woodbridge, said: “I was visiting the town for another reason but decided to see what they have on offer. They have got a prime location and at least it is not an empty shop any more – there are far too many empty shops in the town.
“But I think the town centre has been going on the up for the last couple of years. There is a lot of variety now which is nice to see.”
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