Department store Hoopers closes
Last updated at 18:39, Saturday, 25 August 2012
Saturday was the final day that department store Hoopers traded in Carlisle.
Shoppers had a last chance to bag bargains in the final hours of what was billed as a “goodbye sale” in their Castle Street premises, with massive reductions on many lines.
News of the final day came on Friday as negotiations with a potential buyer for the building continue. It is understood that talks between Hoopers and prominent Cumbrian businessman Philip Day about the purchase of the building are at an advanced stage.
Hoopers opened in the city six years ago in the building formerly home to the family-owned Bulloughs department store. The company’s decision to pull out of Carlisle has been blamed on trading conditions that left it facing six-figure losses.
Closure was announced in May, but the store remained open while talks with the building’s potential purchaser have progressed.
Hope remains that the building will be retained as a department store and that Mr Day’s bid will be successful. The retail tycoon, of Edmond Castle, Hayton, is chairman of the Edinburgh Woollen Mill Group.
His plan for Hoopers is to include Peacocks, Jane Norman, Ponden Home and James Pringle brands in the store along with a number of partner concessions in men’s and women’s wear lines across a full price range and age profile. Edinburgh Woollen Mill in Carlisle will stay in English Street.
First published at 10:51, Saturday, 25 August 2012
Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk
Well, let's hope EWM don't get it and turn it into another shortbread shop. That would be the ultimate insult for a building of such character.
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As shop has ceased trading looks like bad news for staff. Does EWM have to take on staff when shop no longer a going concern?
Very surprised that there have been no updates at what must be a very worrying time for staff
Posted by Phil on 11 September 2012 at 14:17