Debenhams stores are likely to reopen for a short period after lockdown for a huge stock clearance sale, to help with the stock liquidation process, before closing for good.
Currently, all non-essential shops are closed in Wales in line with the coronavirus lockdown rules, but it is thought that Debenhams will reopen temporarily on 12th April, when all ‘non-essential’ retail reopens in Wales.
A £55 million deal with online retailer Boohoo was announced in January this year, which will see the department store relaunch as an online-only operation later this year. The agreement does not include the Debenhams’ stores – all of which will close after nearly 250 years of trading – putting 12,000 jobs at risk.
The company recently confirmed six shops, including London’s Oxford Street Store, would not reopen once coronavirus lockdown restrictions lifted. Shops in Portsmouth, Staines, Harrogate, Weymouth and Worcester will also close permanently and won’t reopen.
Boohoo chief executive John Lyttle said: “The acquisition of the Debenhams brand is an important development for the Group, as we seek to capture incremental growth opportunities arising from the accelerating shift to online retail.”
Debenhams made approximately £400m in online revenues in its most recent financial year to 31 August 2020. Boohoo said the Debenhams website receives 300m visits a year, making it a top 10 retail website in the UK by traffic.
But Guy Elliott, Senior Vice President at Publicis Sapient, has stated that if brands like Debenhams want to remain successful in the future, they must embrace a “clicks and mortar” approach to business.
He told BusinessLive: “I think it’s disappointing and short-sighted that the recent acquisitions of legacy high street brands by digital-native retailers are without some store presence.
“Whilst it’s not a major issue for them now to not have acquired the assets, it’s a bad long-term decision.
“Online and physical retail commerce will reach an equilibrium – although exactly when is to be confirmed – growth will no longer come from channel shift as we have seen during the pandemic, but from the usual overall economic and spending growth.
“Eventually, an online retailer’s growth will be constrained by retail growth in their specific geography and their path to growth will largely be through the combination of physical stores and digital presence.”
He added: “People will always want to shop in the physical world. People love to shop.
“To go into stores, see, touch and feel the products and that will never change.”
