West Bromwich's Mecca Bingo closes after 13 years

A staff member confirmed the branch closed last Sunday on the 'Mecca Bingo West Bromwich' Facebook page.

Councillors have described the store as a loss to the area which operated in West Bromwich for 13 years.

And customers and staff paid tribute to the venue on Facebook saying it would be 'greatly missed'.

Bingo bosses said they 'did not take the decision to close the store lightly'.

A Mecca Bingo spokesman said: "We never take the decision to close a club lightly. Our West Bromwich site has been underperforming for several years and, despite our best efforts, we haven't been able to make any improvement.

"Added to this, the site is not suitable for many of the upgrades we want to carry out. We have tried many different solutions but unfortunately the site is no longer economically viable."

They added: "Mecca West Bromwich has 24 employees in total. For the majority of employees that wanted to stay with Rank, we have found new roles within the group either in other Mecca Bingo clubs, Grosvenor casinos or G casinos."

A staff member said on Facebook: "We want to thank all of our customers for coming along and having fun with us. Also a massive thanks to the team for always being there and giving it their all."

Customers left more than dozen comments paying tribute to the store on Facebook.

Carole Ann Shephard said: "Goodbye Mecca and good luck to all the staff and management, and thank you for all the fun and entertainment over the years I have been coming. You are truly wonderful staff and will be greatly missed."

Kelly Horton added: "I had the honour of calling the 'bingo' on the last night. You could tell how much the customers loved the club and especially the team. You should all be extremely proud of yourself."

Councillor Bawa Dhallu, for West Bromwich Central ward, said he had not heard of the store's closure before said it was 'sad' to see the Mecca Bingo go.

He said: "It was a really popular place and really sad to see it go. I hadn't heard anything about it's closure. We want to attract people and businesses into West Bromwich, we don't want to be leaving space empty."

Mecca Bingo still operate a site in Oldbury, located on Halesowen Street, around three and a half miles from the former West Bromwich site.