Walsall Council in crisis talks with Debenhams over future of town store
Council bosses are set to enter crisis talks with Debenhams in a desperate bid to save Walsall’s store.
The department store chain, which has posted annual losses of £500 million, has announced plans to close up to 50 of its UK stores over the next five years in a move that will put 4,000 jobs at risk.
Walsall Council’s leader Mike Bird fears that The Old Square store – which was named as the worst performing Debenhams in the country in 2015 – could be near the top of the hit list.
He told the Express & Star that he plans to speak to Debenhams in the coming weeks regarding the future of the store, which he says is ‘absolutely crucial’ to the success of the town centre.
Debenhams has 166 stores across the country, including stores in Wolverhampton and Dudley.
The firm has had a presence in Walsall since the 1950s when Debenhams bought the Edward Grey department store.
Councillor Bird said: “When you look at the three Debenhams stores across the Black Country, it looks like one of them will have to go.
“I sincerely hope it is not our store, but I don’t think it has been trading well for a long time.
“For us, the way to go forward is to speak to them and ask what we can do as a council.
“We have already been talking to them for a number of years now because of the decline in the shopping offer in The Old Square.
“When they decide which stores to close, we sincerely hope they do not pick Walsall, mainly because it is a magnet to this part of the town.
“Losing it will have serious consequences for Walsall and as a council we will be doing all we can to help them keep it open.”
Debenhams decision to bring in a closure programme came on the same day that the West Midlands Combined Authority launched a new programme to save the Black Country’s struggling high streets.
Walsall will get a share of a funding pot to invest in the regeneration of the St Matthews quarter, which could see new housing, more independent shops leisure facilities.
In recent months the town has been rocked by the decision of Marks and Spencer to close its store.
And the Saddlers Centre – which the council bought last year using a £13.8m loan when it was under Labour control – has seen profits slump, leading Councillor Bird to describe it as ‘a huge white elephant’.
Sergio Bucher, Debenhams chief executive, said the business was ‘taking tough decisions on stores where financial performance is likely to deteriorate over time’ and working with its new finance director to instil ‘rigorous cost discipline’.
