Shoppers queue at store to find last-day bargains
HUNDREDS of shoppers flocked to Newcastle city centre to shop in Debenhams for the store’s last day of trading.
Around 200 shoppers were seen queuing in Eldon Square waiting for the store to open yesterday. Eager customers could also be seen outside waiting to buy the last remaining stock and pick up a bargain in the closing-down sales.
The company has stores in Newcastle, Sunderland and Middlesbrough which were all due to close by May 15.
Tony Moore, 59, was one of the shoppers queuing outside the store waiting for it to open.
He said: “We want to go in because it is the last day today. I have been in a few times in the last month or so but other than that I’m going to miss the place.
“I have shopped here for quite a few years and used to get quite a few Christmas presents.
Tony said the store will be a big miss to the city centre, adding: “There is no other big department store. There is John Lewis but that’s just about it.”
Alan Taylor, 66, who lives in the city centre, said the job losses were a devastating blow for the staff.
He added: “It is not the job itself, it is the interacting with customers. I think it is a disgrace, I really do.
“It is getting the country back to normal but the loss of jobs is just horrible.
“I’m a pensioner and like to get out and look around the shops. Debenhams is a fantastic shop but it is all about money.
“It was the same when British Home Stores shut down on Northumberland Street. It has been the heart for all these years and now it is gone. You see so many shops boarded up now.”
The struggling firm, which has been in operation for 242 years, was struggling before the pandemic and shut its Metrocentre outlet last summer.
The brand and website were sold in January – but not the company’s shops.
More than 12,000 jobs were lost overnight through the deal, giving another devastating blow to the UK’S struggling high street.