‘Big impact!’ South Holland District Council vows to support staff after Spalding’s Coneys department store closes

The shock closure of a flagship Spalding store will have a ‘big impact’ on the town.

South Holland District Council leader Nick Worth says the authority will look to fill the void left by department store Coneys, after it ceased trading earlier this week.

“Obviously, it has a big impact on the town centre, being an important department store,” Coun Worth said.

“It’s really disappointing. It’s a tough time for the retail industry.

“Clearly they’re not getting enough people in there to make it viable. That’s a sign of the times at the moment.”

Shoppers were met with signs in the Coneys window on Monday morning announcing arrangements were being made to place Spalding Apparel, the company which ran the store, into liquidation.

“All possible avenues have been explored to save the business and keep the store open, but due to significant increases in costs and declining sales it was decided that there was no option but to close this store,” the statement added.

Coun Worth believes that beleagured town centres can bounce back, but admits these are tough times for the retail industry.

“The people who do well tend to be independent stores, but this is an independent store,” he said.

“It does make you worry a little bit about where it’s going.

“The cost of electricity and buying in the goods has increased considerably. And that top-end you’re buying expensive goods, and can people afford it?

“It’s not a great time but we’ll do whatever we can to help where we can and if we can get somebody into there we will do.”

The future of department stores was also questioned by Coun Worth, who asked ‘are they a thing of the past?’

Coneys – which took over the site from Hills in 2020 – and nearby Beales have both closed, a trend which can be seen both locally and nationally.

John Lewis in Peterborough and Debenhams in King’s Lynn have both closed in recent years while Boston’s Oldrids department store shut after more than 100 years of trading.

The site was replaced by another independent department store Rebos, which is now attempting to diversify by introducing soft play for children and expanding its cafeteria options.

Many town centre shopkeepers we spoke to believes the out-of-town Springfields Outlet centre has played its part in taking footfall from the town centre.

However, Coun Worth believes there should be an opportunity for the two areas to complement one another.

He added: “Springfields is a very different market altogether and I dare say they have challenges as well as we do.

“Springfields has been there a long time now and the challenge, certainly for me, is that you get the best part of two million people a year going there – and if you can bring a small proportion of that into the town centre then that can make a difference in footfall

“At the moment people are not spending on the high-end, high price goods, where if you go to Springfields it tends to be discounted and more affordable.”

Coun Worth also vowed to help work with staff tio find alternative employment.

“Our first concern is for the staff working there as it’s quite a shock to them,” the leader continued.

“As a council we will certainly be willing to work with the staff to see if we can find alternative employment for them. We work quite closely with the Job Centre when these things happen.”