Pulp & Circumstance's Dockyard store has shut its doors for the last time, with owner Kristi Grayston citing slow trade as the reason behind the move.

Ms Grayston, who also runs stores in Hamilton and LF Wade International Airport, said the cruise ship passengers visiting the West End had not proved to be the right market for the business and it was now a matter of cutting their losses.

But she did not rule out the possibility of opening another store or expanding the enterprise if business picks up again in the future.

"Dockyard is a lovely venue and we really believed that it would eventually become a place of critical mass for locals and tourists alike," she said.

"From one point of view it seems to be just cruise ship passengers, but that is not our market and we cannot sustain it.

"But I still believe that Dockyard could be a great centre of critical mass in the future."

The store opened in the Clocktower Mall at the end of 2005, but by Ms Grayton's own admission, it had never been particularly successful and the time was right to close that part of the venture and focus her energies elsewhere.

However, she said that while her store had not succeeded in that area, others were geared towards that market which had done well from it.

"We always had a five-year plan, but that is not going to happen now," she said.

"It was not an easy decision to make, but I think it was the right decision for us."