Shoppers’ fears over Belfast store’s future
WITH the future of up to five Debenhams stores in doubt in Northern Ireland, the Belfast Telegraph spoke to shoppers on the street to hear their views.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, they blamed Debenhams’ woes on a shift to online retailing — although some admitted that they preferred internet shopping themselves.
Peter Ives (76), who was with his wife Emily (79), make the 17mile trip down from Carrickfergus by train once a week.
Peter said: “As we were coming out of the shop we were saying this place is normally chock-a-block with people, you are falling over people coming out of the door. But not today and not any other day recently really.”
Mr Ives, who moved to Northern Ireland from England in 1965, added: “We shop online, yes we do. But I don’t buy clothes or shoes because the hassle of them not fitting and sending them back is a pain.
“Other than that, electrical or whatever, it’s always online.” Emily said: “He’s always on Amazon and some of the American sites.”
Customer service worker, Claire Baker (36, left), said: “It wouldbeabigloss to the city centre as I shop in Debenhams. But I do shop online to be fair.
“I think it would be a shame if it closed as it’s good to get some things in real life, you know, to see something that I know I can get in my size.
“It’s not good for the people whose jobs are at risk. I wouldn’t like it to happen to myself.”
Isobel Morrison (62, right), who works for an accounting firm in Belfast, said: “There is a real problem here, especially having to go all the way around Primark to get to the bank on my lunch break. Something needs to be sorted out very quickly. The town’s just on a bit of a downer at the minute.”
Sitting on a bench outside Debenhams, Tracey Graham (46), from Belfast said: “All the shops are emptying here. It’s not just Debenhams. All the rows are the same. It’s about time the council was doing something about all these shops — after all they’re getting big bucks from them.”