A MAJOR outdoor retailer with over 70 shops has confirmed that it will pull down the shutters on a “fantastic branch” for good within hours.
Black Outdoors revealed that its branch in Leicester will close for the final time on September 21.
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Hannah Jones, manager at the Leicester High Street shop, wrote on Facebook: “Well it’s official!
“It comes with a heavy heart to say our store on Leicester High Street will be closing with the proposed date of 21st September.
“Please come in for some fantastic deals and say goodbye and good luck to my amazing team.
“Leicester Blacks it’s been a pleasure.”
Devastated shoppers reacted to the news on social media and expressed their love for their local branch.
One person said: “I’m so sorry Hannah. I have so many good memories with you there.”
Another added: “So sad you put everything into building your store and team.
“Wishing you every success with what the future will bring. New roads and success for the future.”
A former employee also commented: “Oh my god? My first ever job -end of an era.”
While a fourth replied: “So so sorry Hannah you’ve put so much hard work into this.
“Sending best wishes to you all for future adventures.”
The Sun has approached Blacks Outdoors for a comment.
Blacks began life on the banks of the River Clyde in Greenock, a shipbuilding town 20 miles west of Glasgow in 1861.
By 1928, fuelled by growing demand for its products, Blacks began expanding its footprint by opening its first English premises in London.
The chain specialises in selling and renting camping equipment and climbing and mountaineering supplies.
Blacks Outdoors bought the Outdoor Group, which included Millets and Free Spirit, in November 1999 for £51 million.
At the time, Blacks had 42 stores and a 40% share in the Fila UK Ltd sportswear firm.
In December 2011, the group was put up for sale.
Blacks entered a “pre-pack” administration for only four hours, to allow the new owner JD Sports to take the business forward debt-free
The brand shut its Tamworth site for refurbishments at the end of last year.
Whilst the Tamworth closure is not linked to the Leicester site closing its doors, the news comes after another outdoor brand has said farewell to Leicester locals.
Read more on the Scottish Sun
It comes after shoppers were left devastated as a major high-street retailer gears up to close one of its branches.
And a “ghost town” store of a high street giant will close forever in a huge blow to thousands of shoppers.
Why are retailers closing shops?
EMPTY shops have become an eyesore on many British high streets and are often symbolic of a town centre’s decline.
The Sun’s business editor Ashley Armstrong explains why so many retailers are shutting their doors.
In many cases, retailers are shutting stores because they are no longer the money-makers they once were because of the rise of online shopping.
Falling store sales and rising staff costs have made it even more expensive for shops to stay open. In some cases, retailers are shutting a store and reopening a new shop at the other end of a high street to reflect how a town has changed.
The problem is that when a big shop closes, footfall falls across the local high street, which puts more shops at risk of closing.
Retail parks are increasingly popular with shoppers, who want to be able to get easy, free parking at a time when local councils have hiked parking charges in towns.
Many retailers including Next and Marks & Spencer have been shutting stores on the high street and taking bigger stores in better-performing retail parks instead.
Boss Stuart Machin recently said that when it relocated a tired store in Chesterfield to a new big store in a retail park half a mile away, its sales in the area rose by 103 per cent.
In some cases, stores have been shut when a retailer goes bust, as in the case of Wilko, Debenhams Topshop, Dorothy Perkins and Paperchase to name a few.
What’s increasingly common is when a chain goes bust a rival retailer or private equity firm snaps up the intellectual property rights so they can own the brand and sell it online.
They may go on to open a handful of stores if there is customer demand, but there are rarely ever as many stores or in the same places.
