Deansgate House of Fraser store to close in January

House of Fraser's Deansgate store

Iconic Manchester department store Kendals is to close in three months, putting at least 160 jobs at risk.

The new owner of the House of Fraser store chain confirmed the closure of the 180-year-old site this afternoon.

But already, a ‘Save Kendal’s’ campaign has been launched.

Doors at the store on Deansgate remained closed past the usual opening time this morning. A sign on the doors read: “Due to unforeseen circumstances the store will not open until 10.30am. We apologise for any inconvenience this will cause.”

This was in order to tell staff that the store is set to close on January 28.

Kendal’s is a victim of the battle between new House of Fraser owner Mike Ashley, who also owns the Sports Direct chain, and House of Fraser landlords.

Mr Ashley bought House of Fraser out of administration for £90m in August.

Last month Mr Ashley revealed he had managed to strike deals with a range of landlords of House of Fraser sites to save at least 15 stores from imminent closure, in a move that secured 3,500 jobs.

These included the Birkenhead, Altrincham, and Carlisle outlets.

When Mr Ashley acquired House of Fraser in August he said he hoped to save around 47 of their 59 outlets, including its flagship site on Manchester’s Deansgate.

But today the owner confirmed the site is scheduled to close.

It is believed the annual rent for the Deansgate store is around £4.36m.

Talks to renegotiate that figure appear to have failed, resulting in the decision to close the store.

In a statement earlier today a spokesman from House of Fraser said: “We have suggested various options to the landlord that would have enabled us to save the store in Manchester. Sadly, these have been declined.

“We are now in consultation with staff about the fact that the store faces closure in the New Year.”

Manchester councillors William Jeavons and Pat Karney have now launched the #SaveKendals campaign after visiting the store and speaking to staff, some of whom were said to be very emotional.

Cllr Jeavons said: “It’s shocking news. From our point of view we want to save Kendal’s. It’s jobs, it’s the economy, it’s the history of Manchester.

“As an incomer to the city I realise what a strength of feeling there is about Kendal’s and quite rightly so.

“We are going to launch a Save Kendal’s campaign – we want to speak to Sports Direct and if the issue is about rent, we will also need to speak to the landlord.”

Around 160 staff are believed to be directly employed by House of Fraser at the Deansgate store, but there are many more working on concessions within the site.

House of Fraser owner Mike Ashley dismissed all the senior management at House of Fraser on October 2, as he sought to turn the ailing store chain around.

In September Mr Ashley blamed “greedy landlords” for store closures.

He said: “I am disappointed that in my opinion a small number of greedy landlords still refuse to be reasonable.”

It is understood he was demanding low, or in some cases, zero rents.

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