Fleetwood’s iconic Harbour Lights Amusements to ‘close its doors for good after 40 years’

The owners of the iconic Harbour Lights Amusements in Fleetwood have announced the attraction will close for good later this year.

The arcade on The Esplanade will shut for the last time on Sunday, April 14.

The owners say the decision was made 'with deep sadness', and have thanked customers and staff who have helped with their successes over the last 40 years.

In a statement on Facebook, Harbour Lights Amusements said:

"With deep sadness, we announce tonight that Harbour Lights Amusements will be closing its doors for good after 40 years and more. Despite our best efforts, including temporarily closing the arcade in late 2018 and reopening in early 2019 with a more equipped space, surviving the COVID era, and maintaining our position as the cheapest arcade in the North West, factors like the energy and cost of living crises have led us to re-evaluate our opening times.

"Considering school timetables, it became apparent that we would have been closed more often than open, which greatly upset us given our part-time nature and the corresponding wages.

‘’After consulting with our team, we believe it's only fair to announce that Sunday 14th April 2024 will mark our final day of trading.

"We will, of course, honour any outstanding tickets between our Friday opening and to the date of closure. As a family-run arcade, this decision brings immense sadness not only to us but also to our loyal customers, both young and old, and to all former and current staff members.

"We kindly ask everyone to share this message with their family and friends so they are aware of our closure and have the opportunity to redeem any saved redemption tickets before our final day of trading. Thank you for your support throughout the years.

"Regarding the future of the arcade premises once we vacate, we will explore renting out the space and hope to attract something positive for our beautiful esplanade."

Owner, Lee Stefani added: ‘’ To see all your lovely heart felt messages and posts means the absolute world to us.

‘’I can’t put into words the amount of love and satisfaction it gave us over them years to see generations of the same families come & visit.

‘’To some customers who have visited it may have looked busy and to us it probably was but not every day and when we are working two days a week in low season it’s demoralising especially as my own family are working full time , and as both Mike and myself have a few more working years to go it was only fair to be honest that we throw in the towel with a date plan in mind and not into a forced liquidation.’’