House of Fraser in Leamington: What staff have told us about the imminent closure of the department store

Staff of House of Fraser in Leamington are said to be devastated by the imminent closure of the store which was announced to them last week.

A member of staff, who wanted to remain anonymous, has told the Courier and Weekly News that they and colleagues at the store in The Parade were told about the closure last Tuesday and that it was due to the landlord having sold the building.

They have been told that the store is likely to close in early January.

One said: "Everyone is in shock and upset.

"We had heard the rumours for years but the store was making a profit."

Another worker said everyone is "extremely devastated" by the closure, while another added that Leamington is losing an "icon of the town".

Video games retailer GAME had moved from its Leamington branch from the Royal Priors shopping centre and into a large section of the second floor of the department store about three weeks ago.

A staff member said: "We were really looking forward to seeing what we could do with all this space but now everything is up in the air.

"I'm not sure if we will still have a shop in Leamington after this, we will find out in the next few days."

House of Fraser, then called Rackhams, opened its store in place of an Army & Navy branch in Leamington in 1976.

The company has had some troubled times in recent years and talk of the Leamington store closing and the building being redeveloped has been rife.

In 2018, Warwick and Leamington MP Matt Western called on Mike Ashley, CEO of Sports Direct, to meet with him urgently to discuss the possibility of keeping the Leamington branch open, after the company was purchased for £90 million by the tycoon.

And in May 2020, plans to convert the building into a gym and cinema were dropped in favour of new proposals to have retail units and offices at the site instead.At that time, developers said they expected House of Fraser to close that year.

Mr Western has again contacted Mike Ashley to discuss the imminent closure and is awaiting a response from the businessman.