Closure of Scarborough's Debenhams 'could be devastating'
Scarborough Business Ambassadors says the town centre needs to be remodelled following the news of Debenhams going into liquidation.
Scarborough Business Ambassadors says the town centre needs to be remodelled.
It's been reacting to the news that Debenhams will be wound up if a buyer isn't found.
The retailer is one of the biggest in Scarborough.
Topshop, Topman and Dorothy Perkins are also at risk as its parent company, Arcadia, has also collapsed.
All of them are based at the Brunswick Shopping Centre in Scarborough town centre.
Simon Bull, Director at Scarborough Business Ambassadors, said:
"This could be devastating for Scarborough if Debenhams actually has to close completely; then clearly that puts the Brunswick Centre under considerable pressure. I mean, Debenhams are clearly an anchor tenant so taking that away could be quite awful for the town centre, which is one of our main big stores left.
"If I were in charge of the Brunswick Centre right now, losing all those potential tenants, I would be rather worried for the future of the enterprise at all. I think town centres are struggling enough as it is and part of the problem we have these days is with so much business going online, that doesn't leave the high street with that much to offer.
"You've only got to go around to Beverley, Driffield and places like that, who are thriving in comparison because they're smaller to start with, they have quite an unique offering of bespoke, small retail, often artisan-type products, and without having these big chains, they seem to be far more resilient.
"I think we have to look to try and remodel our bigger town centres, like Scarborough, much more along those kind of lines. I'm afraid town centres like ours at the moment are just too big to survive much into the future. It almost needs a bit of a hatchet job to start with.
"This has been coming our way for a while now with the growth of the internet and internet sales. But what's happened with Covid-19 of course, that's made a big difference on how people are shopping; a sort of equivalent decrease in footfall on the high streets which has led to closures like this one.
"It's going to require some considerable action fairly quickly to do something to remodel the town centre. I mean without that, you've got all sorts of problems of a declining centre that nobody else wants to move into so it's going to require some drastic action fairly quickly I would have thought.
"I think lots of these organisations like ours, people, and the council across the town need to pull together to help get through this; and try and make sure that we can rebuild a strong, vibrant and new model for a town centre."
Sue Anderson Brown, Centre Manager at Brunswick Shopping Centre, said:
"We are saddened at the announcement that Debenhams is set to close. We will be working closely with the retailer over the coming weeks to finalise next steps for its store in Brunswick Shopping Centre and will provide further updates when possible.
"This national news reflects the wider challenges facing retailers across the country. Brunswick Shopping Centre remains a thriving centre with a fantastic retail line-up."
The Centre says Debenhams will be open today as normal, as non-essential retail comes out of lockdown.