An independent retailer who pleaded with people to support high street shops has decided enough is enough.
Tim Hudson had tried for months to keep his cycle shop going in the face of mounting pressure from online competition and changing shopping habits.
BusinessLive reported his heartfelt plea on Thursday for people to shop local.
But on Friday morning 鈥渃losed鈥 signs appeared in the window of his shop Future Cycles, in Leicester鈥檚 Market Street.
Mr Hudson said: 鈥淲e are shut.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been on the cards for a long time and we tried to fight it off but it鈥檚 been bad for the last 18 months.
鈥淲e used to employ 10 people and it鈥檚 just gone down. There was another chap working here, but he鈥檚 found new work.
鈥淚鈥檓 an industrial engineer by trade - I will find something.鈥
The closure means that of the 35 units along the pedestrianised shopping street, 14 are now empty.
It is a similar picture to shopping streets up and down the country.
Future Cycles had operated as a social enterprise selling 鈥渧intage and pre-loved bikes鈥, and carrying out servicing and repairs. It moved to Market Street three years ago.
Mr Hudson had made headlines when he revealed that on a typical day only a handful of customers would come through the door.
He said maybe it was just a case of reminding people that independents needed their support.
He said: 鈥淥n a typical day I might be here from 8am, and probably have six people through the door all day.
鈥淚f you walk outside and turn left, there鈥檚 a string of shut units that once included a pub, a hairdressers and a Morrisons Local.鈥
He didn鈥檛 blame the city council or the city as a whole, which was doing relatively well compared to many other places.
He said: 鈥淲e were in the St Martin鈥檚 shopping precinct for six years and started out at the start of the recession 鈥 and business was better then.
鈥淭hey say 10,000 jobs have been lost in retail already this year, and I think the internet has had an impact, but there has also been a change in mood.
鈥淲ages have gone up, but people have not been spending. We get people coming in for second hand bikes with a budget of 拢30 鈥 we sell tyres for 拢30. People don鈥檛 even want to spend 拢5 on an inner tube.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a culmination of lots of things. I think the fact that we have been dithering around [with Brexit] for so long has made people less inclined to spend.
鈥淏ut it鈥檚 not just the internet, or Brexit, or austerity, rather it鈥檚 a combination of all those things.
鈥淭here are days when we struggle to get into double figures. Some Saturdays we might take 拢30 all day 鈥 that鈥檚 in a city with a population of 330,000 people. How can that be the case?
鈥淚鈥檓 not criticising Leicester City Council or the city鈥檚 Business Improvement District, because I don鈥檛 think the problems are all things that they can address.
鈥淚t needs a change in attitude.鈥
Leicester Mayor Sir Peter Soulsby said in some ways the shop was a victim of the growing number of cycle shops and repair services opening elsewhere.
"I am sorry to see shops struggling. I had heard that he was considering his future," he said.
"The number of vacant premises within the city are at a low level compared to other cities.
"What happens, of course, is the popularity of shopping streets tend to rise and fall over time.鈥
"What we are continuing to do is invest heavily to make things happen in that area, and bring in footfall.
"We have already enabled the development of the former New Walk Centre site and have exciting plans for Pilot House in King Street, and we are supporting work on the former Fenwick store.
"It's a fact that high street trading, in general, is changing dramatically.
"Making sure we have a mix of businesses in our city centre is important if we are to enable retail remains at the heart of it.
"The city will continue to change. That is the only prediction I will make."
