Debenhams closing lots of stores

[StealthPolarBear]

Including the one near us. How awful :(

I actually see m&s going soon to be honest. Certainly some of them.

Wow - crossed posts with you Pascha - I hadn't heard of anything happening with M&S, it was just an instinct I have.

I'm surprised that Walsall isn't on the list, although I wonder if the closure of M&S helped keep it open seeing as there's a distinct lack of department stores in the town? It's always seems too far out of the main shopping area though.

The one in Wolverhampton hasn't been open for very long has it, 18 months or so? No idea what can fill that space.

I wonder if the rental costs have a lot to do with which stores are closing. I looked up my local one (which is closing) & the rental, per annum, is £777,000.

@sunlov. m&s store closures announced earlier this year
Ours is due to close next week.

They were meant to be doing something with the Walsall one to increase footfall as its in that other shopping area with not much in there but that was a few years ago when they built all those shops down there before BHS and M&S went

No idea Re Wolves, there's already so much empty space downstairs

I'm surprised that Walsall isn't on the list, although I wonder if the closure of M&S helped keep it open seeing as there's a distinct lack of department stores in the town?

I'm guessing there will be a brief boost for other stores and await (like the fist cuckoo of spring) a slew of news stories about the "revival of the high street" (you have to wonder who benefits from stories like this. See also: revival of PC sales, and the more recent: revival of smartphone sales ...)

The one in Wolverhampton hasn't been open for very long has it, 18 months or so?

I wonder if there was a break clause that made it a good business decision ?

No idea what can fill that space.

Aye, there's the rub. Even the units in the Redditch Kingfisher which have been filled, haven't used all the space. Primark only uses one of the 3 floors Alders had ...

@magimedi certainly House of Fraiser dude only kept open stores where councils negotiated rent

Doesn’t surprise me mine is going- it’s rubbish and looks grotty. Not sure what will go in it’s place though. A John Lewis would do well but don’t think there are many retailers that can manage a large space now.

Ooh Wolverhampton is getting a matalan

There’s already a Matalan in Wolverhampton, near Halfords
The one opening in the shopping centre will probably not generate any new jobs, just the movement of staff fro. One to the other
I’ve also heard that B&M are opening a store in the Mander Centre. Again, there’s a store along Bilston Road, next to Dunhelm, this will just be a case if moving people from one store to another.
Very sad for the town overall

Wigan isn't closing yeah.

It wouldn’t shock me if that wasn’t in the next round of closures

Yeah I meant the new one.
Tbh I'd be surprised if thry have enough in one store to fully staff two unless there was a serious risk of job cuts at the original store

Three near me going

Some of those were on the hit list 20+ years ago - too large for the market and physically constrained from modernisation. A few have been subsequent developments which opened just as a recession or austerity bit or at same time as out of town developments. I would imagine the next tranche are only remaining open due to deals with landlords (who themselves would struggle to relet).

Waves to stealth and iggy I’m a Stockton lass. I knew when you described going there after swimming where you were from. My Df used to work there back when it had the food hall.

We have two Debenhams within a couple of miles of each other. One is on the list for closing. And about fifty feet away from it across the precinct is a John Lewis..... which his also closing!

Stealth Stockton could do with filling it with a primark it would bring so many people back to the town.

The selection of stores to close will be to do with the lease terms. A sites lease might have a massive penalty to break it before the end of the term. Sometimes it is cheaper to keep a store open 20 years and pay staff than break a lease. This why you end up with run down stores not being repaired. They don't make money but the company can't exit.

Some might let you break the lease and exit, but will charge you a fee until they get someone to fill the void. In the current high street it's hard to fill large stores, so it can end up costing fortune.

Well the Stockton store doesn't surprise me because it's an absolute shambles.

That's one more town without decent loos, mind.

And yeah, Stockton M&S went last year, around the same time as the darlo one.

I’m not surprised Southport is in the list. Horrible shop and i would imagine the location would mean high rates

Businesses have complained about the level of rates on Lord St for years. They argued that lower rates would mean fewer empty shops. The Debenhams is horrible though, so it's not a surprise.

@Sirzy Southport is one of my nearest Debenhams. It's going to be such an eyesore when it closes, same as the empty BHS (aside from random companies selling Christmas decs that move in occasionally). I always think the inside of Debenhams has looked exactly the same since it opened, just gradually more tatty.

The selection of stores to close will be to do with the lease terms. A sites lease might have a massive penalty to break it before the end of the term. Sometimes it is cheaper to keep a store open 20 years and pay staff than break a lease.

There is a school of thought that any company signing a 20 year lease since 2000 pretty much had it coming. Especially if it was justified with the phrase "We're Debenhams ..."

It's been rubbish for years. I used to shop there a bit before dcs but never go in now. It's dated, scruffy and a mess. I never find anything I want to buy for me or the dcs.