Which Debenhams stores are closing and why?

Debenhams shop front
The Debenhams on Oxford Street, London, is safe (Picture: Dinendra Haria/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Debenhams have confirmed 19 of their stores will close their doors this month, after the company entered administration last year.

Six stores have already shut this month, while another 13 will close over the following fortnight.

Last year, the retailer named 22 of the 50 ‘worst-performing’ stores that it planned to close down, as part of the company’s new ownership.

What stores will close this month, and what is the reason behind the closures?

Christmas shoppers walk past a sale sign in the window of Debenhams
The closures will be a blow for local high streets (Picture: Andrew Matthews/PA Wire)

Which Debenhams stores are closing?

The stores shutting their doors in January are as follows:

Closing on 15 January:
Chatham, Kent
Great Yarmouth, Norfolk
Slough, Berkshire
Stockton-on-Tees, Co Durham
Welwyn, Herfordshire
Witney, Oxfordshire

Closing on 19 January:
Ashford, Kent
Canterbury, Kent
Eastbourne, East Sussex
Folkestone, Kent
Southport, Merseyside
Southsea, Portsmouth
Wimbledon, London

In addition to this, stores in Altrincham, Birmingham, Kirkcaldy, Walton-on-Thames, Wandsworth and Wolverhampton closed earlier this week, on January 11.

The York, Haverfordwest and Orpington brought down their shutters in December.

There are more closures on the horizon for the high street mainstay, as their rescue plan will see around 50 shops shut across three years.

It has not yet been confirmed what other stores may close.

Shoppers at the Boxing Day sales in Debenhams
Shoppers in Sheffield, which is safe for now (Picture: Giannis Alexopoulos/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Why are Debenhams closing their stores?

When the retail chain went into administration last year, its ownership fell into the hands of lenders including US investment firms, the Bank of England, and Barclays.

The store closures are a result of lender’s plans to put the chain on ‘a stable financial footing’ aimed to ‘ensure the future of the company.’

Debenhams executive chairman Terry Duddy said the chain has a ‘bright future’ but it has to restructure the business in order to ‘save as many stores and jobs as we can.’

A sign outside a closed Mothercare store
Mothercare also closed all its remaining stores this week (Picture: Peter Byrne/PA Wire)

The exact number of jobs at risk is unclear although the January spate of closures will impact 660 jobs.

It’s been a rocky start to the year for the British high street following the closure of Mothercare’s final stores yesterday.

MORE: Which Debenhams shops are shutting as the department store announces 19 closures in Britain?

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source https://metro.co.uk/2020/01/13/debenhams-stores-closing-12049011/
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