Menswear firm says: ‘It suits us to move out’
Town centre store to close after 59 years
ONE of Rochdale’s best known independent shops is to move out of the town centre.
Denis Hope menswear is to close down its Drake Street store and open up a new branch in Norden village.
It brings to an end almost 60 years of the firm trading in the town centre.
Opened in 1959 by the late Denis Hope, who died aged 89 in 2011, the shop was one of the first in the area to sell brand such as Henry Lloyd, Lacoste and Aquascutum.
The new store will open some time in September on Edenfield Road, three doors down from sister shop Hope womenswear, which opened in 2015.
Manager Oliver Hope, Denis’s grandson, said: “The new store will open in September in line with the new autumn/ winter ranges coming out.
“It will be business as usual on Drake Street until then.”
Denis Hope is the latest in a number of wellknown stores to move away from Drake Street in recent years.
Last month Shelly B’s cafe relocated to Royton, with owner Shelly Buxton taking a swipe at the how Drake Street, once Rochdale’s premier shopping destination, had declined.
Earlier this year Butterworth Jewellers, which had been trading on Drake Street since 1903, also closed.
But there are plans to revitalise the road.
Last September it was announced £1.5m would be spent revitalising some of the most historic and prominent buildings, after Rochdale was announced as one of just eight Heritage Action Zones across the country.
It could mean Drake Street is in line for a £500,000 Historic England grant, backed up by £1m of council money. The cash would be used to give facelifts to some of Drake Street’s most prominent buildings, including the old Fashion Corner department store and the former Rochdale Observer offices.
Speaking at the time Oliver Hope, said: “We would welcome anything that sees some money spent on the street because it is horrendous at the moment.
“Five years ago I would have said the street couldn’t get any worse, but it has.
“Drake Street is the main gateway to the town, people come to see us and they can’t believe what they are driving through.
“It’s just takeaways and buildings that are falling down.”