Matalan in Ware Road

Matalan have opened a large store in Hertford's Ware Road next to Focus Do-It-All.

The chain is the UK's sixth largest clothing chain and has more than 100 outlets throughout the country. Matalan is a British company formed in 1985 by market trader John Hargeaves and was floated on the stock exchange in 1998. The company sells quality clothing, including well-known names, at low prices sourced directly from manufacturers and sold through out-of-town stores with low overheads. A lifetime membership costs £1, and includes catalogues and preview nights.

Swagger In To Honey Lane

A new clothes shop named Swagger is to open next Friday in Honey Lane, in premises formerly occupied by hippy shop Unikorn.

The Yellow Phone Shop in Fore Street has closed after the premises were re-possessed this week.

The shop was one of three in the town selling mobile phones and accessories. A fourth in Bircherley Green closed in October 2000. It is thought that the shop suffered from a poor location, away from the central shopping areas of Maidenhead Street and Bircherley Green. Retail outlets in Fore Street have been in decline for many years, replaced by restaurants, estate agents and other services.