A North East fashion store has announced it is closing down.
Andersons, a country clothing store on Sadler Street in Durham, will close but its footwear store in Durham’s indoor market will remain open.
It’s a further blow to the retail sector in the City Centre after it was announced last week that Marks and Spencers plan to shut their Silver Street Store.
The store will close and focus on online shopping. Marks and Spencer will close in April in order to focus on online shopping.
CEO of Durham Business Group, Alison Gittins, said:
“It’s sad news that this store closing as I personally shop in Durham. The staff in this shop are very friendly and it’s a very popular store. There are more people heading towards the retail parks so not a lot of people will go to the city centres.”
It is also been revealed that East on Silver Street faces an uncertain future after the company went into administration.
A spokesperson for the Durham store said: “We have gone into administration but we will still be trading in store.” They cannot confirm whether this store will close yet.
The retailer will close the Silver Street store and will encourage using the Click & Collect service.
Labour MP for the City of Durham, Roberta Blackman Woods, has very recently attended meetings about the closure of the M&S shop on Silver Street, Durham.
She said: “Durham Council has contributed and worked very hard towards keeping the Silver Street store open and ensuring that the other stores do well.”
Head of Region for the North East of England’s M&S, Lindsay Austin, has been involved in several roles in M&S in the North East stores.
She said: “Closing our store in Durham city centre is not a decision we have taken lightly. We value the loyalty of our customers in the area and know that some of them will be disappointed by the news. I’m pleased our colleagues from the store will be staying with us and we are committed to delivering the very best of M&S for our customers from nearby stores.”
Over 40 colleagues who work at the shop will now be moving to continue working with M&S at nearby stores. Staff will be relocating to other stores in the Arniston Centre, Bishop Auckland, Washington Galleries, Gateshead Team Valley, Sunderland and the Metro Centre.