Shoppers react to plans to shut 50 Debenhams stores
DEPARTMENT STORE CHAIN HAS 166 BRANCHES
With the Albion Square development designed to give the city’s dwindling shopping offering a much-needed boost, Hull City Council can do without losing another big name.
However, the authority must act quickly and put in place some sort of contingency plan so that we are not left with another empty store.
There’s no doubt our High Street is facing tough challenges with more and more shoppers preferring to do their business online, however, last year’s City of Culture was proof that people still want to come into the city if the offering is enticing.
SHOPPERS have spoken of their upset after high-street giant Debenhams announced it would be shutting 50 of its stores.
The department store chain, which is more than 200 years old and has 166 branches nationwide, was originally meant to be closing just ten outlets, but now has announced 40 more will be shut.
Debenhams, which has branches in Prospect Street, Hull, and Flemingate, Beverley, are preparing to reveal a record £500m loss. Its survival plan will affect around 4,000 jobs, although it has not revealed which stores are closing yet.
Shoppers in the city centre have said they hope Hull will not be one of those being shut given the imminent closure of the city’s House of Fraser.
Joyce Davis, from Hull, said: “I do sometimes go to Debenhams, I’ve been in today. If it goes, there will be no big shops left.
“It is OK for people who shop online, but for those who don’t, there will be no where for them to go. It is such a shame, but I do shop out of town a lot we go to Beverley, Sheffield and Leeds.”
Lindsey Morris was shopping with her daughter, Eleanor. She said: “I have used click and collect with Debenhams and it is good and I like to nip in. I like to go into the shops and have a look around, whereas if you shop online you have to send things back.
“The way things are getting down here, it is all online shopping.”
Another woman, who did not want to be named, said it would be “a shame” for the shop in Prospect Street to close.
She said: “I go in every week and usually buy something every time and I get my clothes from there too. At Christmas, that is where I get things that I need for me. If it closes, where will we shop?”
Mr and Mrs Smith, of Kingswood, said: “It’s a shame if it does close. We like to go in and have a little look around and see what there is to buy. We don’t really shop online it’s more hassle if you need to send something back.
“We’re from Kingswood so we have a lot out there, but we do like to come and have a look around town and you can get some really nice things in Debenhams.
“The shops are all closing down, it is a shame.
“I went to American Golf the other day, I didn’t even know it had closed. They’re all going now it is such a shame.”