Four shops in Carmarthen’s Greyfriars Shopping Centre are advertising for new staff, bucking the national trend in the current financial market.

Computer store Game, which is reporting excellent trade despite the recession, is looking for two new staff, a senior sales person and a deputy manager and has already had good response after only a few days advertising.

The vacancies have been posted on Greyfriars’ own website which Game’s acting manager Tom Mallon said had generated about ten percent of the responses and other applications were the result of cards in the town’s JobCentre.

He said most of the applications had been for the position in sales rather than the more

specialised and experienced deputy manager’s role but there had been an encouraging response to that too.

He said he was unable to give precise figures as applications were still arriving and the company is still assessing the CVs.

Mr Mallon said: “We seem to be doing extremely well and I think computer and computer games stores generally are experiencing similar success because people always want their children to be happy and computer games are keeping them occupied and out of mischief.”

The Card Factory, also in Greyfriars, is advertising for a sales assistant and men’s fashion store Officers Club has been looking for a part-time sales assistant.

Michelle Waters, manager of fashion retailer TK Maxx, is seeking a team leader to support the assistant manager and although looking for someone with previous retail experience and commercial awareness to take the role as a management supervisor, she is confident of a good response.

Greyfriars, centre manager John Nash said the signs of more store recruitment is encouraging not only for the shopping centre but for Carmarthen generally, with the prospect of more jobs becoming available, albeit in small numbers.

“It’s certainly an improvement on activities before Christmas and even a few months ago and everyone is delighted.

“We will be monitoring the situation closely over the next few weeks and months and we must all hope that the trend continues for the good of the local economy.”