A LONG-STANDING shop which has been trading in York for 137 years has closed its doors for the final time.

Burgins Perfumery, on the corner of St Helen’s Square and Coney Street, has been a fixture in the city since 1880.

The business shut on Sunday, with the owner Hanus Wolf saying the shop was no longer financially viable.

Mr Wolf, who took over the shop in 2011, says he has had to make five members of staff redundant.

He explained: "Shortly after buying the business, the face of trading in York city centre changed. Major national competitor chains began to trade on Coney Street, the closure of Lendal Bridge and opening of Vangarde Shopping Park, all had devastating effects on businesses, especially small ones, like Burgins.

York Press:

"However, the most damaging effect on business has been the change in people’s shopping habits. Buying online is de riguer, where the desire for the cheapest, fastest purchase at the click of a button is seen as the norm."

He says this decline in footfall has made trading "exceptionally difficult" with ever-increasing costs but constantly decreasing revenue.

"Burgins Perfumery has been unable to sustain the decline in sales," he added.

Mr Wolf says he is "very sad" to close the business.

This year, Burgins suffered its worst May and June trading since 2009, Mr Wolf says.

He claims plans to erect scaffolding outside the business was the final straw in a series of setbacks.

He said: "The landlord said he was going to erect scaffolding for the next two months, which would have obscured me. These are the two busiest months in the summer for me with tourists and visitors coming in. I anticipated my takings would have been affected very badly."

Burgins is the latest in a number of long-standing York businesses to close in recent years. Leather specialist Robson & Cooper, in Lendal, founded in 1840, shut in 2014, while Cox's Leather Shop, which opened in Shambles in 1921, also closed in 2014. Renowned York shop Mulberry Hall, in Stonegate, ceased trading last year after nearly 60 years in the city's historic heart.