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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Business
Ruby Flanagan

House of Fraser closing shops across UK – is your nearest branch shutting for good?

House of Fraser is set to close more stores across the UK as it continues to battle with declining sales.

The high street department store is expected to close its Cardiff site after it recently launched a major clearance sale.

The store, located inside the Howells Building, is currently displaying “closing down – extra 20% off” signs as well as selling store furniture, mannequins, and store decorations.

House of Fraser, which opened on St Mary Street as Howells in 1867, will shut in March according to signs outside the building.

The departure from the Welsh capital will see the retailer close its last remaining store in Wales.

The group's Birmingham site is also expected to be at risk of closure after it was converted into an outlet store.

The top three floors of the Birmingham Corporation Street site have now been closed and all prices are being discounted by a further 20% at the tills.

According to reports by BirminghamLive, there are a series of portable heaters in use to keep the air warm on the lower floors and the message is that "all stock must go".

No official announcements have been made by House of Fraser.

In recent months the department store has closed a number of stores, including in Leeds and Huddersfield with its High Wycombe branch also earmarked for closure.

Fraser Group, which owns House of Fraser, has also temporarily closed its Norwich store which it plans to reopen in autumn of this year following its refurbishment.

In December last year, Fraser Group agreed to buy a string of fashion brands from the leisurewear retailer JD Sports.

These included the Tessuti, Scotts, Choice, Giulio and Cricket brands.

House of Fraser was saved from collapse by Sports Direct owner Mike Ashley back in 2018 in a £90m pre-pack administration deal which saved the chain's 59 stores and 17,000 workers.

After the purchase, the new House of Fraser owner said he wanted to turn the 174-year-old retailer into the “Harrods of the high street”.

However, since then, the department store has become well known for its prolonged sales and numerous store closures with Mike Ashley admitting to Forbes in 2019 that buying the department store was a "mistake".

House of Fraser currently has around 30 sites left in the UK which is almost half what it had when it was saved.

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