- The Observer
52 11.08.19 Retail
Cheap hoodies, shabby shops:
House of Fraser one year on
E
mpty beauty coun-
ters, acres of discount
sportswear and stores
in need of repair.
One year after Sports
Direct b ought House
of Fraser out of administration,
many of the shops now have entire
fl oors that look more like branches
of Mike Ashley’s pile-it-high sports-
wear outlets than an upmarket
department store.
When Ashley bought the chain for
£90m in the wake of its collapse in
August last year, he outlined a plan
to create the “ Harrods of the high
street ” and expected to keep about 47
of the 59 stores open. Last month he
admitted the chain was losing more
than £1m a week , said he expected to
close more stores in the year aheadand conceded that its problems were
“nothing short of terminal”.
The chain now has 53 branches,
and there are plans to turn at least
fi ve into “Frasers” – a more upmarket
department store akin to the Flannels
designerwear chain, also owned by
Ashley. Sites in Belfast, Bluewater in
Kent and Meadowhall in Sheffi eld
as well as the existing Frasers in
Glasgow are all tagged for conversion.
House of Fraser’s struggles mir-
ror those of the wider high street. A
net 2,481 stores disappeared from
Britain’s biggest high streets last year- a rate of 16 closures a day – and at
least 75,000 retail jobs have been lost
since early 2018.
Department stores are key fi xtures
in the retail environment. They are
often the cornerstone of high streets
and shopping malls, accounting for
tens of thousands of jobs and large
amounts of fl oor space. If the British
high street is to survive, the likes of
House of Fraser need to succeed.
But further closures are now on
the way at House of Fraser, and many
will leave gaping holes in local high
streets. Hull closed earlier this month,
Altrincham and Lakeside, Thurrock,
are expected to be redeveloped and
four or fi ve more are expected to pull
used to be home to brands includ-
ing House of Fraser’s now discontin-
ued own labels Therapy, Maison de
Nimes and Linea.
Sir Philip Green’s Arcadia – the
owner of Miss Selfridge, Topshop,
Dorothy Perkins and Wallis – has
pulled its brands from House of
Fraser’s online store and moved out
of a third of its concessions. These
brands were once major suppliers
to House of Fraser – and were owed
more than £1m when the chain col-
lapsed a year ago.
In Epsom, where the store could
close after Christmas, it is a similar
story. There are empty beauty coun-
ters and acres of sportswear fi lling
spaces once used by former House of
Fraser own labels and brands includ-
ing Jacques Vert and Eastex.
“It’s going to close isn’t it?” says
Sylvia Hewes, a shopper in the aptly
named Ashley Centre in Epsom, where
House of Fraser is a tenant. “I still like
it – they always have handbag bar-
gains. They recently told us they are
not allowed to order new stock when
we brought back a shirt that was the
wrong size. It will defi nitely disappear.
It’s a shame, as it will ruin Epsom.”
Like many landlords across
the country, those in Epsom andCamberley are already consider-
ing their options for new tenants or
redevelopment.
Camberley is still struggling to
adapt after the 2016 closure of its
B HS – the upper fl oors of which are
currently being turned into flats.
Shopping centre The Square – where
the House of Fraser store is a tenant- is owned by the local Surrey Heath
borough council.
Kevin White, a partner at prop-
erty consultancy Montagu Evans,
which advises the council, says the
local authority would like to keep the
store, but is also considering alterna-
tive uses of the site. “We want House
of Fraser to have a sustainable future
in Camberley,” he says. “It has been
an important part of the town for a
long time and supports many peo-
ple’s employment.
“We also need to think about
the town centre’s long-term pur-
pose though, and are reviewing the
opportunities to get best value from
the retail spaces, including alterna-
tive uses that will sustain economic
growth and development .”
Ashley’s vision for the future of
House of Fraser includes, it seems,
plenty of his own labels, where he can
be sure of supplies, and higher prof-
The House of
Fraser store
in Camberley,
Surrey, which
is likely to
face closure.
Photographs by
Alicia Canter/
the Observerdown the shutters once Christmas is
out of the way. As many as 20 more
could go in the following 18 months
as Ashley scrambles to carve out a
profi table business.
Two sites likely to be on the clo-
sure list are Camberley and Epsom
in Surrey. When the Observer visited
last week, both seemed to be braced
for the worst. In Camberley one esca-
lator is broken , and yellow and black
hazard tape decorates the fl oor.
The beauty hall is depleted, with
several counters empty. Perfume
stocks are running low, with some
major brands, including Chanel and
John Paul Gaultier, unavailable. The
Clarins counter is unstaffed and an
assistant apologises for the lack of
stock available on the Guerlain stand.
About half of the top fl oor, where
the furniture and carpets depart-
ments used to be, is fi lled with dis-
counted men’s sportswear. Racks of
Lonsdale tracksuit bottoms, Karrimor
outdoor wear and SoulCal jackets – all
brands owned by Sports Direct – sit
alongside Lee Cooper jeans and Pierre
Cardin tops, some carrying Sports
Direct’s gaudy Mega Value discount
price tags. There is more discount
sportswear downstairs on the wom-
enswear fl oor, fi lling spaces whichMike Ashley claimed
great ambitions for
the store chain, but its
image has slipped
from smart to dowdyi n just 1 2 mont hs,
writes Sarah ButlerПОДГОТОВИЛАГРУППА"What's News"
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