MYSTERY surrounds an award-winning city centre store after it closed its doors to customers without warning.

The Japanese Shop, in Coppergate Walk, has been closed since Friday last week following a sale which saw all prices slashed by half.

The apparent closure of the popular store comes shortly after the business topped the Retailer of the Year category in The Press Business Awards 2008.

Owner Jez Willard has so far made no announcement on the future of the business but, in a Press article in December, he spoke of the difficulties he was facing in importing goods due to the plunging value of the pound.

He said: “I have been experiencing a 40 per cent price increase in the exchange rate between sterling and the yen.

“Until a few months ago the pound was worth 250 yen – now it is worth 146 yen.”

Mr Willard went on to describe the situation for businesses like his as “an economic tsunami”.

Tony Cherry, chairman of the Yorkshire and Humber Federation of Small Businesses confirmed that times were hard for businesses which relied on imports.

He said: “We are finding that the cost of importing items is now more expensive than they were just a few months ago.

“That is, of course, in line with the visible effects of the credit crunch.

“The reverse of that is that our members who export are doing very, very well. It’s quite a mixed economy out there.

“What it does prove is that we haven’t been a very strong manufacturing nation.

“The UK is being hit the hardest and unfortunately Yorkshire and Humberside is particularly badly affected because we have concentrated on service industries.”

Debbie O’Donnell, the manager of the Coppergate Centre, said she did not know what the circumstances were behind the closure but confirmed that the shop had not been open since Friday last week.