Shops closing at Reading Station - Spring 2026

[whole diary]

[bobm]

It has become a common sight on High Streets to see empty retail units so it is perhaps no surprise to come across the same at railway stations.

In the last couple of weeks a branch of Boots and a Hotel Chocolat have shut on the overbridge at Reading Station

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A third unit next door closed earlier

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Meanwhile near the ticket office Marks & Spencer has not only closed - it has been demolished!

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[eightonedee]

This is something of an inconvenience for me. Mrs 81D is rather fond of Hotel Chocolat's products,  especially their truffles, so it was very useful to be able to take a short train journey to Reading to buy an appreciated gift for any appropriate occasion!

[grahame]

Perhaps it's just me ... but my use of UK^▸ (United Kingdom) station buffets and and convenience stores has plummeted over the years.  I feel they have gone upmarket, and additionally a second layer to that their price differential to other places offering a similar product is great - a yawning gap.   The Bite card used to give me a feeling of loyalty.

I will still be pushed over the threshold to actually buy at some - but I still have to bite (my tongue) at one that's not too far from home when changing trains.  "Would you like a small or large coffee" and my answer, if I'm being honest, you be "I would like a large one, but you only sell small and medium [which you describe as large...]".

Taking a flask "with", find an outlet off station premises, risking a trolley that visits before we're too close to destination ... not brilliant alternatives, but the way I do it.

Perhaps other travellers share my logic for being far less of a buffet / station outlet customer than in the past?

[bobm]

Perhaps my use of them is summed up by a word you used in your first line - convenience.

I often visit them towards the end of my journey to pick something to take home and so save a special diversion on the way home.

[IndustryInsider]

For several years there were two Boots stores on Reading station.  Now there are none.  Presumably down to extortionate rental prices from Network Rail as the Boots on the transfer deck was always busy?  The chocolate shop less so!