Future of another Downpatrick retail store looks uncertain

“IT'S not looking good,” is how one member of staff at the Bon Marche store on Market Street, Downpatrick, described the situation as they waited to hear if their store would be among those set to close, writes Anne O'Hare.

Bonmarche, the fashion chain which was part of the collapsed Peacocks Group, was sold this week in a deal that will lead to 1,400 job losses and 160 store closures across the UK.

Private equity firm Sun European Partners, which also owns Jacques Vert brands, has bought the women's clothing retailer out of administration.

Downpatrick may be facing further job loses this week. 

However, staff based at the Market Street store are being told later this week if their store is to be one of the 160 stores set for closure. These outlets are expected to shut in the near future. The company said it was too early to release a list of sites to be closed.

Bonmarche, which has traded in Downpatrick for many years, was part of the Peacocks Group, which last week collapsed into administration under its £750 million debt mountain in the biggest retail failure since Woolworths.

SDLP South Down MP Margaret Ritchie remained anxious over the news and said she has written to ministers to ask them to act fast to sustain and create jobs in the town centre retail sector.

She said: "With the administrators being called in to Peacocks and Bon Marché, and with job cuts in the Ulster Bank, one has to ask where the decline in our town centres will stop.

"I do recognise the financial difficulties faced by the country as a whole and businesses in particular, but the economy can only recover if it grows and it can only grow if we have a buoyant retail sector, selling goods and services to the public.

"I have therefore written to the Ministers for Enterprise Trade and Investment and Social Development in the Northern Ireland Executive and have also written to the UK Treasury asking them to urgently outline plans for how they plan to sustain and create jobs in the retail sector.

"Government must play it's part in keeping our town centres vibrant and stimulating the local as well as the regional economies.”

Ms Ritchie added she looks forward to a swift response.