New face at former HMV

A national furniture retailer is setting up shop in a former HMV store in Canterbury.

The Cotswold Company is preparing to take over the two-storey building in Whitefriars shopping centre.

HMV closed its store on the corner of Marlowe Arcade and Castle Street in January after more than 20 years at the 6,000 sq ft site.

The chain - which has been hit hard by the rise of digital streaming - has since relocated to a smaller shop previously occupied by Monsoon in the main precinct, offering much the same products. Cotswold will start fitting out the old unit next week ready for opening. Established in Bourton-onthe-water 25 years ago, the expanding company now has 10 branches, including one in Tunbridge Wells.

It sells a huge range of home accessories and furnishings, including for the garden. Whitefriars manager Mark Stuart says the arrival of the Cotswold Company is a welcome addition to the shopping centre. He also revealed “exciting” new names are negotiating to take on other vacant units - including the former Beaverbrooks jewellery store - with an announcement due within weeks.

Of those already confirmed is a cosmetic clinic claiming to be the best in Europe.

The Therapie Clinic, which has almost 70 branches across the UK, is taking over the former Menkind shop and will open shortly, offering an array of treatments, from Botox to laser hair removal. Elsewhere in the city, Closs and Hamblin stopped trading from its three-storey building in St Margaret’s Street on Tuesday. In a move that has left eight staff members redundant, the firm has cut back the services it offers and the products it sells in Canterbury.

But it has launched a new shop in Marlowe Arcade to retain a presence in the city.

The St Margaret’s Street store is being marketed with an annual rent of £120,000.

The former HMV store in Marlowe Arcade, Canterbury, closed in January

HMV has moved to a smaller store in the main Whitefriars precinct