Fenwick will close its five-storey Central London department store after more than a century of trading
One of London’s most iconic department stores will shut its doors for the final time in 2024. In a statement this week, the company said it is going to sell the site to fund ‘significant investment’ in its online channels.
In the same release Simon Calver, Fenwick’s chairman, said the sale had ‘been a difficult decision for the Fenwick family’ who opened the store in 1891.
The fashion and cosmetics retailer saw operating losses sit at £45m due to the closure of its shops due to Covid-19. Figures have bounced back, with gross sales for 2022 sitting at £240.2m, a 71% increase on the previous year. And, its losses dropped to £18.2m.
Despite this performance, the statement continues: ‘Amid the turbulent economic environment, fresh capital investment is required in order to return the business to profitable growth.’
It has been reported that the Bond Street store makes fewer than half the sales of bigger Fenwick stores. It has been noted that this is most likely due to the fact that the West End store doesn’t have menswear or homeware departments.
The Newcastle-based retailer will continue to trade out of eight remaining store in the UK, including its Newcastle, York, Brent Cross, Colchester and Kingston locations.
The Bond St building has been bought by Lazari Investment for an approximate cost of £430m. The company has said that, on top of online investments, the funds from the sale will go towards making major developments at its Newcastle and Kingston branches.
