SHUTTERS DOWN
‘Our town is a disgrace’ say shoppers as Frasers confirms closure of another store
Read on to find all the changes from the Fraser Group
SHOPPERS have been left gutted after Frasers confirmed the closure of yet another store.
The Fraser Group is pulling down the shutters on one of its designer fashion chain stores this summer.
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Tessuti will shut down its anchor store at Belfast's Victoria Square shopping complex - although the exact date it will close is unclear.
A spokesperson from Frasers Group confirmed, saying: “It is with regret that we announce Tessuti Belfast will be closing late Summer.
“We would like to take this opportunity to thank our staff for their hard work and dedication.
“Where possible, we are committed to finding new roles within the Group for staff.”
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The retail brand, which Frasers Group purchased from JD Sports last year, launched its first location in Ireland in Belfast in December 2022.
The designer brand opened at the 12,900 square foot site at William Street entrance to Victoria square after taking over former Topshop unit.
It comes as another blow to the residents after H&M, River Island and outdoorwear retailer Craghoppers have departed from Victoria Square.
Shoppers and locals have already expressed their disappointment at the most recent Frasers Group closure.
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One person said: "No decent shops in city centre. Town is a disgrace."
Another one added: "Not one decent shop in Belfast now - place is a dead beats paradise."
Sauchiehall Street Sports Direct closing down
A third person wrote: "Once their lease runs out, they will all be closing."
Someone else said: "Nothing decent in Belfast now."
It comes as a number of retailers owned by Frasers Group have shuttered stores permanently.
Frasers announced plans to close down a popular fashion chain USC's branch in Stoke-on-Trent this summer.
The firm also shut a USC branch in Stockton-on-Tees in December last year after launching a closing down sale.
And House of Fraser, also owned by Frasers Group, closed its store in Carlisle in May.
Why are retailers closing shops?
EMPTY shops have become an eyesore on many British high streets and are often symbolic of a town centre’s decline.
The Sun's business editor Ashley Armstrong explains why so many retailers are shutting their doors.
In many cases, retailers are shutting stores because they are no longer the money-makers they once were because of the rise of online shopping.
Falling store sales and rising staff costs have made it even more expensive for shops to stay open. In some cases, retailers are shutting a store and reopening a new shop at the other end of a high street to reflect how a town has changed.
The problem is that when a big shop closes, footfall falls across the local high street, which puts more shops at risk of closing.
Retail parks are increasingly popular with shoppers, who want to be able to get easy, free parking at a time when local councils have hiked parking charges in towns.
Many retailers including Next and Marks & Spencer have been shutting stores on the high street and taking bigger stores in better-performing retail parks instead.
Boss Stuart Machin recently said that when it relocated a tired store in Chesterfield to a new big store in a retail park half a mile away, its sales in the area rose by 103 per cent.
In some cases, stores have been shut when a retailer goes bust, as in the case of Wilko, Debenhams Topshop, Dorothy Perkins and Paperchase to name a few.
What’s increasingly common is when a chain goes bust a rival retailer or private equity firm snaps up the intellectual property rights so they can own the brand and sell it online.
They may go on to open a handful of stores if there is customer demand, but there are rarely ever as many stores or in the same places.
A Flannels site - also under Frasers - in Bolton, closed for the final time in the new year.
And MatchesFashion - an online fashion website - fell into administration in March this year before shutting down forever in June.
But they have opened new stores across the UK as well.
Shoppers have been visiting their "new concept" stores which sell brands from across the group including Sports Direct and Jack Wills.
Last September, it cut the ribbon on one of the stores in Norwich and has since opened two more of the stores in Blackpool and Sheffield.
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Plus, it has plans to open one of the concept stores in a former John Lewis site at Queensgate Shopping Centre, Peterborough by the end of 2025.
The firm also took on the famous Compton House in Liverpool earlier this year and will reopen the site as its flagship Sports Direct branch.
What does Frasers Group own?
MIKE Ashley's Frasers Group owns dozens of high street and online brands, here is the full list.
- House of Fraser
- Sports Direct
- Flannels
- Evans Cycles
- Everlast Gyms
- Everlast
- Game
- Frasers
- I saw it first
- Gieves and Hawkes
- Jack Wills
- Slazenger
- Studio
- Sofa.com
- USA Pro
- USC
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