Emotional scenes as last Debenhams stores close
Debenhams closed its doors yesterday for the final time after almost 250 years on the high street. Staff preparing for their last day in the venerable department store said they would be in tears when the last of the company’s 118 shops shut for the final time.
The chain can trace its roots back to a drapers store opened on London’s Wigmore Street in 1778 by William Clark, selling fabrics, bonnets and parasols. When Clarke went into partnership with William Debenham in 1813, the company name was changed to Clark & Debenham. It was at one time the largest department store group in the UK, owning 84 companies and 100 stores in 1950.
With shopping increasingly moving to online combined with the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, the chain has struggled in recent years and last year filed for administration three times.
In January the company was bought for £55m by online giant Boohoo. In total, 12,000 jobs were lost overnight as bosses revealed they were planning to take it to an online-only brand, rivalling the likes of John Lewis. The purchase excluded all of the 118 physical stores owned by the company.
Earlier this month, 97 of these stores reopened in an attempt to shift millions of pounds worth of stock as part of the liquidation process. Only 28 opened their doors yesterday, including shops in Manchester, Liverpool, Bromley, Exeter and Colchester, and they closed for the final time yesterday evening. Lastminute shoppers were able to pick up discounts of up to 80 per cent.
Other well-known high street brands including Laura Ashley, the Edinburgh Woollen Mill, Oasis and Warehouse have also all slid into insolvency since March. Boohoo has also purchased Oasis and Warehouse to add to its Debenhams takeover.
Nicola Rice, 35, told The Mirror she had worked in the Sheffield city centre store since she had left school. She admitted: “I’m going to cry when the shutters come down.”