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07
May
Harrogate and Ripon stores brace as national retailer announces closures
Staff at TG Jones, the rebranded former WHSmith chain, will be holding their breath this evening, as the company announces which of its stores are to close first.
The retailer’s owner, London-based private equity firm Modella Capital, has said it intends to close up to 150 of its 480 stores, and the first eight will be revealed tonight. Staff have been told to expect redundancies.
The company has branches in Harrogate’s Victoria Shopping Centre and in Ripon’s Market Place, as well as in Thirsk, Ilkley, Skipton, York and Leeds.
The Harrogate branch also hosts the town's main Post Office.
Modella launched its restructuring plan yesterday (Wednesday) in an attempt to revive the struggling retail business, which it bought last year for £40 million. The deal included the high-street stores, but not the WHSmith name, which was retained by the vendor and can still be seen in the hospital and airport concessions, which tend to be more lucrative locations.
TG Jones in Ripon
Modella originally said it planned to open hundreds of Toys R Us and Hobbycraft concessions in TG Jones stores, and expand the chain.
But it has now blamed its economic straits on a challenging business climate and also on being “forced” to ditch the WHSmith name. It said this “negatively impacted consumer awareness, despite the fact that the proposition has improved”.
Modella also bought chains including Hobbycraft, Claire’s Accessories and The Original Factory Shop, but Hobbycraft has been put up for sale, and the other two have collapsed into administration.
Modella said it had received support for its restructuring plan, which will be heard in court in June, both from the Post Office, which operates counters in many TG Jones shops – including the one in Harrogate – and Toys R Us, which has in-store concessions.
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