British department store giant House of Fraser will lose another brick-and-mortar site next week bringing its branch portfolio down to just 32.
It comes two years after its former rival Debenhams left British high streets and moved exclusively online.
The House of Fraser brand, which specialisesin fashion, beauty and accessories has confirmed its Solihull branch is closing on Monday, August 28.
Loyal customers will see the Mell Square location disappear after weeks of “closing down” signs plaguing the windows.
It marks the loss of one of the retailer’s landmark stores, known for its sizeable building and unmissable branding on the multi-storey building.
According to Birmingham Live, the branch no longer resembles a working site and is now plagued by “empty floors and vast spaces” where display units once stood.
House of Fraser has almost halved in size going from 59 to 31 stores after it was bought out of administration by Frasers in 2018.
The parent company of the department store owns other major brand names including Sports Direct, Flannels and Jack Wills.
Eight House of Fraser sites have disappeared from high streets already this year, with at least one more to follow after August.
Michael Murray, the chief executive of Frasers, explained that the group’s department store portfolio was “continually under review”, meaning more sites are at risk.
Currently, the only planned closure to follow Solihull is the Guildford site on the high street – one of the biggest stores in the area, measuring approximately 185,000 square feet.
Customers had more than one month’s notice of the closure and still have time to shop before the site locks its doors for good on Saturday, September 30.
As reported by the Farnham Herald, the store started putting up “closing down” signs during business hours on Tuesday, August 1 while customers were still shopping in-store.
The signs advertised a 20 percent off clearance sale as the store counts down the days until it will cease trading.
