OUT OF FASHION
Legendary department chain announces exact date it will close doors to ‘huge’ branch forever
Another major clothing chain is strongly tipped to replace the 'huge' branch
A LEGENDARY department chain has revealed the exact date it will close its doors on a "huge" branch for good.
House of Fraser is pulling down the shutters on another shop after closing various sites over the past few months.
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The popular clothing retailer recently confirmed it would be shutting its Bluewater branch after 25 years of service.
The department store is operated out of large unit which occupies two floors in the shopping centre.
House of Fraser confirmed that they will be offering shoppers a 20 per cent discount to empty the store, which is set to shut on November 27.
Despite the major loss, another large clothing chain is set to replace the retailer at Bluewater, according to Kent Online.
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Next is strongly tipped to take over the unit once House of Fraser closes their store for good.
The popular clothing chain recently announced that it has raised its annual profit outlook for the second time in less than two months.
The Kent Invicta Chamber of Commerce warned that the departure of House of Fraser could negatively impact other traders who benefit from the foot traffic generated by such a large store.
Chief Executive Tudor Price said: “Customers may stop returning once they realise the anchor store is no longer there.”
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Shoppers are gutted after learning of the popular branch's pending closure.
Hundreds have taken to Facebook to vent their frustrations.
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"No!! No more clothes and bags" cried one user.
Another commented: "I feel sorry for the staff."
While a third said: "End of an era."
However, several customers were happy that House of Fraser would no longer have a unit in the shopping centre.
A former employer wrote: "Good worked there for years horrible place."
And this user added: "No one goes shopping anymore, it's all online, knock it down and build some very much needed social housing."
More House of Fraser closures
House of Fraser was saved from collapse by billionaire businessman Mike Ashley back in 2018.
But while the deal saved the chain's 59 stores and 17,000 workers who were facing the axe many more stores have closed in recent years and only 28 department stores remain.
Over the past few months, the chain has shuttered several of the once-iconic department stores.
A string of shops shut in 2023, including in Birmingham, Cardiff and Guildford.
Shoppers were rushing to closing down sales as the branches prepared to shut for good.
Last autumn, Frasers Group chief executive, Michael Murray, described House of Fraser as a "broken business" and said it is likely to "diminish".
Mr Murray added that the group's strategy was to break away from the traditional operating model of operating department stores.
He told : "We’ve completely changed the operating model.
"It was mostly concession, the stores were way too big, and they were under-invested.
"Our future vision is that House of Fraser will diminish and Frasers will grow."
What else is happening to Frasers Group chains?
It's not just House of Fraser shops shutting, other Frasers Group chains have been decreasing their store numbers too.
A Sports Direct branch in Stroud, Gloucestershire, will be pulling the shutters down for good at the end of March.
Sports Direct also shuttered its branch in the Central Six Retail Park, Coventry, at the end of January.
The Flannels site in Market Place Shopping Centre, Bolton, pulled down its shutters for the final time in the new year.
It also shut its site in Bradford in January despite only opening back in October.
Designer clothing chain Choice has pulled the shutters down on one of its stores in Bromley.
It's not all bad news though as the firm has opened several sites recently.
Frasers Group has already started opening "new concept" stores.
The concept stores hold various Frasers brands like Sports Direct, Flannels, and beauty halls as well as products from USC, Jack Wills and GAME.
In September, it cut the ribbon on the latest of its new department stores combining popular brands like Sports Direct and Game in Norwich.
There are plans to open two further sites in Blackpool and Sheffield.
The group also announced it will be taking over the former John Lewis site at Queensgate Shopping Centre, Peterborough.
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It is set to open a new branch of sportswear shop in The Precinct in Coventry.
The firm has acquired Compton House on Liverpool's famous Church Street and is set to open a flagship Sports Direct.
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.
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