# Wildings

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{{Short description|Welsh department store group}}
thumb|190px|Wildings, Commercial Street, Newport
'''Wildings''' was a retail company with its main [department store](/source/department_store) based in [Newport](/source/Newport%2C_Wales), [Wales](/source/Wales), which closed in 2019 after 144 years of trading.

==Background==
The first Wildings shop was opened in 1874 by Alfred Wilding, a 21-year-old hatter from [Newport](/source/Newport%2C_Shropshire), [Shropshire](/source/Shropshire).<ref name="Argus closes for good">{{cite news|author=Tomos Povey |url=https://www.southwalesargus.co.uk/news/17370476.newports-oldest-department-store-wildings-closes-doors-for-good/ |title=Newport's oldest department store Wildings closes doors for good |work=[South Wales Argus](/source/South_Wales_Argus) |date=19 January 2019 |access-date=22 September 2019 }}</ref> By the mid 1970s there were 14 branches of Wildings<ref name="Argus closes for good" /> across [South Wales](/source/South_Wales). By the 1990s only the Newport store remained, though in 1997 Wildings acquired an existing department store business in Commerce House, [Thornbury](/source/Thornbury%2C_Gloucestershire), [Gloucestershire](/source/Gloucestershire). Wildings substantially reduced the size of its Thornbury shop in 2017.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thornburyroots.co.uk/high-street/14-high-street/ |title=14 High Street - Commerce House |website=Thornbury Roots |access-date=25 September 2019 }}</ref>

The flagship Newport store had been trading from its site on [Commercial Street, Newport](/source/Commercial_Street%2C_Newport) since 1931.<ref name="WO massive downsize">{{cite news|author=Joshua Knapman |url=https://www.walesonline.co.uk/whats-on/shopping/theres-massive-downsizing-sale-iconic-12006678 |title=There's a massive downsizing sale at iconic Newport department store Wildings |work=[Wales Online](/source/Wales_Online) |date=11 October 2016 |access-date=22 September 2019 }}</ref> It underwent a major £140,000 refurbishment in 2014.<ref name="WO massive downsize" /> Wildings Group also ran the Rossiters shops in [Bath](/source/Bath%2C_Somerset) and [Cardiff](/source/Cardiff).<ref name="WO massive downsize" /> Wildings Ltd is now a small property company with interests in Bath, Newport and Thornbury.

==Closure==
In October 2016 the Newport store closed two floors of its shop, discontinuing its menswear clothing and women's lingerie sections. 14 staff lost their jobs.<ref name="WO massive downsize" /> In August 2018 the store announced it would close completely, laying off the 23 staff. A closing-down sale began in October 2018.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-45125457 |title=Newport department store Wildings to close after 144 years |work=[BBC News](/source/BBC_News) |date=9 August 2018 |access-date=22 September 2019 }}</ref> The Newport store was finally closed on 19 January 2019.<ref name="Argus closes for good" />

In October 2023, a police raid at the premises identified a large-scale cannabis factory which had been established across three floors of the building. As at April 2026 the property remains vacant.<ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/ng-interactive/2026/apr/16/wilding-newport-wales-grand-department-store-became-illicit-cannabis-farm 
|first=Sam|last=Wollaston|title=Wildings in Newport, Wales: the grand department store which became an illicit cannabis factory|work=[The Guardian](/source/The_Guardian)|date=16 April 2026|access-date=17 April 2026}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

Category:Shopping in Newport, Wales
Category:Retail companies established in 1874
Category:Defunct department stores of the United Kingdom

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Wildings](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wildings) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wildings?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.