HOUSE of Fraser is set to close a much-loved city centre store – and has launched a 20 percent off sale ahead of its departure.
The looming shutdown of Worcester’s branch has left local businesses worried the area could become a ghost town.
House of Fraser is closing its Worcester branch on Chapel Walk[/caption]
Some locals said they only found out the store was closing when they spotted the sale posters plastered across its windows.
“I only noticed this morning,” Kate Fitzer, who works at the nearby jewellery store Ganesha, told Worcester News.
She added: “It’s come as a shock as it’s been there for years and it’s a staple.
“We tend to hear rumours of what’s in trouble but that was a complete shock.”
Local business owners worry that footfall will drop in the city centre once the iconic department store closes in September – a date confirmed on signs in the store’s window.
Fitzer said: “It will be a big loss.
“Every retail unit will worry as it is quite a draw to Worcester.”
Pete Singh, owner of Little Italy Boutique in Chapel Walk, told the local paper: “It’s absolutely terrible.
“I think it’s a big loss. It was a place a lot of people would come into Worcester for.”
While the reason behind the closure remains unknown, Singh said many businesses are struggling as “rates are being raised” and “there’s staff problems”.
“It’s causing everybody a big problem,” he added.
House of Fraser‘s Worcester store was previously at risk of closure when the department store chain entered administration in 2018.
The business was rescued by Sports Direct CEO and billionaire Mike Ashley, who bought the retailer for £90 million.
At the time, the deal saved 59 stores and around 17,000 jobs.
However, many stores have since shut their doors.
House of Fraser is now clutching onto its 23 remaining locations – one of which is the soon-to-close Worcester store.
In October 2022, Frasers Group chief executive, Michael Murray, described House of Fraser as a “broken business” and warned it was likely to “diminish”.
Just weeks ago, House of Fraser closed the doors of its Lincoln High Street site store after 100 years of trading.
In December, it also pulled down the shutters on its Bluewater branch.
RETAIL PAIN IN 2025
The British Retail Consortium predicted that the Treasury’s hike to employer NICs would cost the retail sector £2.3billion.
Research published by the British Chambers of Commerce earlier this year shows that more than half of companies planned to raise prices by early April.
Separately, the Centre for Retail Research (CRR) has also warned that around 17,350 retail sites are expected to shut down this year.
It comes on the back of a tough 2024 when 13,000 shops closed their doors for good, already a 28% increase on the previous year.
Professor Joshua Bamfield, director of the CRR said: “The results for 2024 show that although the outcomes for store closures overall were not as poor as in either 2020 or 2022, they are still disconcerting, with worse set to come in 2025.”
Professor Bamfield has also warned of a bleak outlook for 2025, predicting that as many as 202,000 jobs could be lost in the sector.
“By increasing both the costs of running stores and the costs on each consumer’s household it is highly likely that we will see retail job losses eclipse the height of the pandemic in 2020.”
House of Fraser has launched a 20 percent off sale at its Worcester branch[/caption]
