Express & Star

Blow to Black Country shoppers with HMV and Debenhams set for closures

High street shoppers have been dealt a huge blow with two popular stores set to close in the Black Country.

Published

Negotiations are underway to shut HMV doors in Merry Hill shopping centre, Dudley - which only reopened in February after closing weeks earlier.

Meanwhile Debenhams at Wolverhampton's Mander Centre is set to finally close on Saturday. It follows a winding down operation which began in November where products were discounted by 70 per cent.

HMV announced it is looking to close 10 stores across the country after paying "extortionate" business rates in certain locations. Alongside the Merry Hill store, there are plans to close the Birmingham Bullring store too.

The HMV Vault, another Birmingham store, which opened in October, will not be affected. The music company has announced three stores will close later this month, but none will be in the West Midlands or Staffordshire.

In a statement, the company said: "There are currently 10 stores where negotiations with landlords are ongoing and we are hopeful of securing new deals,

"The closures are no reflection on our superb staff and where we are not able to come to a new agreement or relocate staff within the business elsewhere, unfortunately this does mean some of our staff will lose their jobs."

The Merry Hill store closed on February 5 but then reopened in a shock move on February 23.

The store's staff launched a new initiative to drive up business and promote local bands - but company bosses have not been persuaded by that.

The initiative saw artists get given space to perform live music alongside space to sell their CDs.

Reacting to the HMV's possible closure, Ninder Johal, board member of the Black Country Local Enterprise Partnership, said: "Whilst the news is disappointing, we shouldn't be totally surprised by this.

"The music industry was one of the first to be disrupted by the rise of technology. People are now buying products by streaming.

"HMV has been fighting a losing battle over two decades. This is nature taking course."

The HMV statement suggested the company has issues with the cost of business rates at Merry Hill shopping centre. Asked about this, Mr Johal continued: "I think business rates have been a problem for years.

"For a long time, we have called for a reform on business rates that need to be relevant with today's society."

The last bargains at Debenhams we will be getting picked up this week by opportunistic shoppers.

It will not be all doom and gloom for the high street in Wolverhampton though, as House of Fraser will replace Debenhams at the unit.