Five more Vergo Retail stores close

TROUBLED Liverpool-based department store chain Vergo Retail has shut five further stores and a further 10 will close this week unless a buyer is found.

Administrators from the Manchester office of corporate recovery firm MCR have said that they remain ‘in negotiations’ to keep the remaining 10 stores open.

The five stores which shut on last Saturday were: Clacton department store, Clacton homeware, Felixstowe homestore, Great Yarmouth department store; and Joplings, in Sunderland.

The recent closures mean that a total of 482 employees have now been made redundant with a total of nine stores shutting.

Vergo’s flagship Lewis’s store in Liverpool shut its doors for the last time in May following the company’s administration.

Sarah Bell, joint administrator and partner at MCR, said the closure of the five stores last Saturday was inevitable following a lack of any suitable offers.

She said: “Since the administration began we have worked hard to secure a purchase of the Vergo business. 

“However, given the tough economic climate and the financial challenges hitting the UK’s retail industry, certain Vergo stores can no longer be sustained.

“I must reiterate that negotiations are still in progress on a number of stores still operating and can not rule out a sale of the stores until all avenues have been exhausted.

“We encourage any interested parties to come forward urgently.”

Vergo Retail went into administration on Friday, May 7.