Footwear shop closure adds to city centre woes

New blow on top of recent departures as staff and customers informed that fashion trainers store will shut down in the first week of October

A popular footwear shop in Dundee will close next week in another retail blow for the city centre.

Staff and customers have been informed that trainer shop Size? in Dundee High Street will stop trading on October 3.

The shop is known for its high-end fashion trainers, with enthusiasts sometimes queueing up overnight for the chance to purchase limited edition shoes by the likes of Nike and Adidas.

The city centre has seen the closure of Zara and DW Sports during Covid19 while Tesco left earlier this year and Edinburgh Woollen Mill is on the brink of closure.

The 2,400 sq ft retail unit is being marketed for let by Westport Properties.

Westport’s commercial property director Fergus McDonald said: “The existing tenant, JD Sports (which owns the Size? retail brand), are vacating mid-October.

“Much of our marketing campaign has been carried out during lockdown and, understandably, this uncertainty meant inquiries that period.

“That being said, this is still one of the most popular retailing pitches in the city centre and it has historically performed well. Hopefully that will continue to be the case.”

Size? and JD Sports did not respond to requests to comment on their plans.

Reporting its results a fortnight ago, JD Sports revealed its profits had slid by two thirds due to costs associated with the shift to online shopping.

Sales fell by 7% from £2.72 billion to £2.54bn in the six months to August 1 despite the closure of stores during lockdown.

However, half-year pre-tax profits fell from £129.9 million to £41.5m as a result of the switch to online shopping.

In 2018, around 25 people camped in the bitter cold all night at Size? ahead of the launch of the Nike Air Atmos Animal Pack trainers.

There were similar queues for the releases of Nike’s Sean Wotherspoon 97 trainers and Adidas Gazelle Milan shoes. were limited during

High Street shop Size? where people once camped out for latest trainers.