Final city Woolies store closes as experts warn of fresh woes

Published on Tuesday 6 January 2009 08:58

THE last remaining Woolworths store in the Capital was today set to close – and retail experts have warned that many more prime sites in the city will lie empty as other chains join the casualty list.

Big W at Milton Link was due to shut for the last time at the end of today's trading, with all 103 members of staff losing their jobs.

The other four Woolworths branches in Edinburgh have already bitten the dust since the massive closure programme started on December 27.

A huge stock clearance sale had even seen customers strip some stores of their shelves and many other fixtures and fixtures.

Woolworths administrator Deloitte was today remaining tight-lipped on what would happen next to the five Edinburgh stores but it is widely expected that they will come on to the open market in the coming weeks – although they may struggle to find new tenants in the current economic climate.

It is expected that Big W may need to be sub-divided into smaller stores as it is thought unlikely that any retailer will be willing to pay the 1.5 million annual rent charged at the site.

Retail experts predict that the sight of empty shop units in the Capital's city centre will become a much more common site in the next six to 12 months as more chains go to the wall.

Niall Macdonald, director of retail at Jones Lang LaSalle in Edinburgh, said: "I think it is inevitable that as more retailers go into administration and buyers can't be found there will be more units becoming available in the city.

"There are a lot of household names that are teetering on the brink at the moment."

He said many retailers were desperately trying to renegotiate leases with their landlords in a bid to survive.

At the Princes Mall Shopping Centre, several units that were created following a recent refurbishment are still empty.

It is a different story at the St James Centre, which currently sits at 98 per cent capacity – although agents admit that could change if there are more failures among national chains.

Stuart Moncur, a partner and head of retail services at Cushman & Wakefield, the joint letting agents for both the St James Centre and Princes Mall, said: "Princes Mall has now been completed, which has led to big units becoming available. There has been interest but there have been offers turned down because the landlords want to get the mix right.

"Edinburgh's exposure is not anywhere near as bad as many other cities in the UK. It is a capital city and retailers will want to have a presence. However, it is going to be business failures that will be the problem rather than chains saying they no longer want to trade in Edinburgh city centre."