New signage proposed for the Tenby branch of Woolworths was turned down by the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority last week.
The national High Street chain was seeking to replace the existing signs at Tenby with an internally illuminated fascia sign across the entrance doors.
However, development control officer Mrs. Cathy Milner was disappointed by the proposal.
She explained that the sign was in the retail firm's latest 'house style' and missed "an opportunity to greatly enhance the front elevation" of the listed building within the heart of Tenby's conservation area.
She felt "a much higher standard of signage" was required for such a sensitive location rather than the proposed aluminium fascia panel with internally illuminated acrylic letters.
"I would have thought by now that national multiples like this accepted that if they had a listed building in a conservation area within the National Park, they would come up with something better than their standard house style," she commented.
She felt such a sign was "clearly unacceptable in this location" and would have a "detrimental impact on the character and appearance of the building and the conservation area."
"The company needs to acknowledge what it has got in Tenby," Mrs. Milner continued. "The shop front is not a thing of great beauty in this location either!"
Clr. Tom Sinclair agreed that multi-national companies should "be sympathetic to the location of their stores," particularly as this application was in a conservation area.
Planning officer Mr. John Griffiths said that other national and multi-national stores in Tenby did act more sympathetically to the environment.
"It is the case today that most big firms have two different designs of signage, one standard and one for conservation areas.
"It's often the case that they will try and see if they can get away with the standard design first!"