A WELL-loved Swindon costume shop has announced it is to close after 30 years of trading.

Skywalkers, on Faringdon Road, will shut its doors on January 31 next year – with costume fans in with the chance of bagging themselves a bargain. The shop houses an estimated 17,000 theatrical and fancy dress costumes in six rooms.

Owner Luke Kaye said that dwindling sales – caused by more people buying costumes online – had forced the closure.

Luke, 49, who is known to hundreds as “Luke Skywalker” said: “It’s bad. This has been my life for 30 years. But there’s just nobody coming into the shops now. Last year was bad, but this year is worse.

“Everybody is buying on Amazon and Ebay. I think for me personally, Swindon is just going to become a ghost town.”

He was at pains to stress it was the business climate, rather than his landlord, that was at fault.

Luke said: “I couldn’t have asked for a better landlord. He’s brought down the rent for me, but it still won’t work out if nobody’s coming in.

“I’ve had to get rid of all the staff. It’s just me, my mum and auntie.”

But the costume king isn’t nervous about making mum redundant. “Mum’s over 70 now. She wants to retire.”

Luke – a regular at the Swindon Comic Con – began the business over three decades ago.

He said: “I started dressing up as part of my disco act. I dressed as a storm trooper; 35 years ago nobody had seen the storm trooper costumes.”

A film studio approached Luke to borrow his costumes. “I didn’t want to hire them, so I gave them a silly price of a thousand pounds a day. They said, ‘We want them.’”

Luke, who earlier this year appealed for support after thousands of pounds was snatched in a burglary, said: “I have got some really rare pieces.” They include the Luke Skywalker Empire Strikes Back X-Wing fighter flight suit.

Over the coming months, Luke is looking to “thin out” his stock – with costume fans in with the chance of grabbing a bargain.

He said: “We’ve got 17,000 costumes. I’m not going to give my entire stock away for £5.

“But instead of buying a cheap package costume for £20, come and see if you can get something amazing for £30.”

Not all the costumes would be sold, Luke said. And the closure of the shop would not affect his events business, which supports weddings, parties and other events.

For more, visit: www.skywalkers.co.uk or call 01793 488338.