Hospice set to close down its charity shops
HALTON Haven hospice will not be reopening its charity shops in Runcorn and Frodsham.
The move followed a complete wipeout of revenues at the store during the coronavirus pandemic lockdown.
Other factors include the already-dwindling level of income at the Runcorn shop because of low footfall.
A statement from the hospice on social media said the drop in revenue had also led the landlord of the Frodsham store to realise the store will have to be repurposed.
Karen Eden, Halton Haven’s director of income generation, said the parting was ‘amicable’ and that the landlord remained ‘a friend’ of the hospice.
She said the Frodsham store had been ‘held very dearly’ by hospice staff.
Both stores had to close – apparently temporarily – because of the lockdown but will now not be reopening.
They were mainly run by volunteers and the hospice has redeployed staff.
The haven’s Widnes furniture store on Widnes Road and its ‘0-Teens’ shop on Queens Avenue are open again, and talks are now under way over opening a shop at Runcorn Shopping City in the near future.
She said shoppers still seem ‘scared’ of returning in numbers.
Commenting on the impact of coronavirus on the already-struggling Runcorn store, Karen said: “The Runcorn shop in the Old Town, it was the death knell.
“We had already identified the footfall had dropped so dramatically we were hardly making anything.
“That was already a concern to us prior to lockdown.”
On the Frodsham store, she said: “We’ve had a great relationship with the landlord, he’s a friend of the hospice.
“He’s taken stock like many people and decided he’d like his lease back to repurpose it.
“That has come to a close albeit, amicably.”
Discussing the potential Shopping City store, she said: “We’re crossing the Ts and dotting the Is.
“We haven’t announced it yet.
“We were hoping for that opportunity.
“We’re hoping it will give us some footfall in Runcorn which is really important to us.”
Appealing to landlords with potentially suitable store premises, she said: “If there are any landlords that want to speak to use about premises that would be a marvellous help, especially at the Frodsham end.”