A discount department store chain snapped up by a private equity firm in February has announced the closure of further three shops this year.
The Original Factory Shop, which sells everything from shoes and garden benches to perfume and kitchen roll, has already announced a number of store closures in recent months.
But this week the retailer announced plans to close its shops in three more locations, dealing a fresh blow to shoppers wanting to buy their everyday items in person in shops rather than online.
The retail sector is being hammered by higher wages and employer national insurance contributions announced, resulting in a large number of job losses and even more empty shops on Britain’s ailing high streets.
The Original Factory Shop was founded by the Black family in 1969, with its first shop opening in Keighley. It has 178 shops across Britain.
The chain was a hit and former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher visited its shop in Keighley in 1970.
Closures: The Original Factory Shop has unveiled more store closures
However, the chain, which employs around 2,000 people, fell on tough times and saw sales and profit dwindle.
It was acquired by private equity firm Duke Street in 2007, before being acquired by Modella Capital this year.
After Modella got on board, it swiftly drew up plans to to renegotiate rents at 88 of the company’s 178 stores.
The proposals were contained in a company voluntary arrangement (CVA), which is a last-ditch restructuring process, launched in April.
Since then, the retailer has announced a number of store closures, resulting in an unknown number of job losses.
This week it was announced that three further The Original Factory Shop stores will close. The affected stores are located Caldicot, Wales, Market Drayton, Shropshire, and Nairn in Scotland.
All three shops affected have announced significant discounts of up to 70 per cent in-store as they prepare to close.
In a Facebook post this month, the chain’s Market Drayton shop said: ‘We are sorry to let you know… this store is closing. Thank you to our wonderful customers and store colleagues for your support throughout our time here in the local community.’
One Facebook user responded: ‘Gutted for you guys, will definitely miss shopping with you. Good Luck with your future plans’.
On top of the three store closures affecting Caldicot, Market Drayton and Nairn, four other The Original Factory Shop store closures were unveiled last month.
The chain’s store in Staveley, Cheshire, shut for good on 12 July, while sites in Caernarfon and Bridlington were shuttered for the final time on 20 July. The group’s shop in Cupar, Fife, also closed for good on 27 July.
Twenty-two of the retailer’s shops have shut or are set to close this year and it is possible that further closures could be on the cards.
The Original Factory Shop previously told The Press and Journal that a ‘number of loss-making stores would have to close’ during the restructuring.
The Daily Mail contacted The Original Factory Shop for comment.
Modella restructurings
Modella, the private equity business which acquired The Original Factory Shop this year, is known to launch sweeping restructurings after snapping up struggling businesses.
Having purchased Hobbycraft in August last year, Modella launched an overhaul of the business in April.
This week it emerged that Hobbycraft is set to close nine further stores this month and in September as part of an ongoing rationalisation of its estate. Nine other stores have already shut.
Hobbycraft confirmed this week that its shops in Bromborough, Southport, and Stratford-upon-Avon will stop trading this month, while its Wigan, Maidenhead, Chichester, Stafford, Kings Lynn and Crayford locations will close in September.
Modella also now owns the high-street arm of WH Smith.
WH Smith agreed to sell its 480 high street shops to Modella in a £76million deal, ending 233 years of high-street history.
Modella is rebranding WH Smith under the name TG Jones. It remains unclear how the chain’s store portfolio could be altered in the future.
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