A major sports and outdoor essentials store is pulling out of Bolton Town Centre to move five miles up the road.

Decathlon on the Bolton Shopping Park in Trinity Street is closing tomorrow in a move that sees Bolton Town Centre lose yet another major retailer.

Previous stores which have shut up shop in the town centre include fashion store Zara and Herons Food. 

The new Decathlon store will open at the Middlebrook Retail Park.

The new store will open on Thursday, April 14.

Ross Farrington, Decathlon’s North of England Leader, said: “This is a really exciting moment for us, and one that has been in the pipeline for quite a while.

“Our new store will offer an unrivalled shopping experience for customers, with a broader range of sports products and services in a more accessible format.” 

“The location of the Middlebook store is particularly important as we’re sitting on the M61 motorway connecting us to major urban areas such as Bolton, Preston and of course Manchester.

“Decathlon’s mission is to help make sport more accessible to the UK, and this store marks the next step in that journey for us.”

Horwich seems to have become a hotspot for new stores in recent weeks as Aldi announced their plans to open up next to the beehive roundabout.

New services at the store include - a workshops on servicing and repairing bikes, kayaks and fitness equipment.

Products from the Second Life collection, an initiative which sees Decathlon repair sports equipment so that they can be reused by customers and reduce waste, will be available at a discounted price - benefitting shoppers and the planet at the same time. 

Decathlon’s range of Ecodesign products will also be available in the Middlebrook store.