Unwins closed
After weeks of boldly trading when they had no stock, I noticed today that Unwins (next to the White Horse Hotel) has closed.
It will be interesting to see what becomes of this particular retail outlet as it is quite large in size and is situated in a prime location in the town. I would hope that it re-opens as an off-licence, otherwise maybe a well known coffee shop like Cafe Nero.
posted by The Cockerel @ 11:23 PM
3 Comments:
Tomorrow is the big day for Unwins! If no buyer is found the Unwins chain, they will offically be in administration and it could take months (and I mean months!) for the units to be occupied. Alternatively, a buyer could buy a selection of the units in the south east (ie. the ones that have the best property value etc.) or the least likely outcome, is that Unwins could be entirely bought out by a rival off-licence etc. From what I gather, off-licences rarely make profits these days. Also, I doubt that the larger of the two Unwins will be a Caffe Nero, Starbucks etc. Mole Valley have placed a ban on shops in Dorking to go to A3 usage (ie. restaurants, establishments that serve food and drink.) UPDATE on shops in Dorking - the nail salon (next to Music 4 U) has closed down. Apparently, they were not paying their rent to their landlord. Patrick Gardeners (estate agent) are moving from South Street to the High Street. They will be occupying the old Halifax estate agent site adjacent to the post office. More shops will be closing in St. Martins Walk in the very near future - combination of higher rents, service charges and the uncertainity with regards to Sainsburys. Alot of the units down there, are looking to relocate to the High Street.
It is a shame when a retail outlet is empty in such a prime position in the town. It is quite a large and offers a lot of scope. I just hope that something worthwhile opens in its place.
From today's Times (Wednesday December 21) - Administrators closed all Unwins stores with the loss of 1,400 jobs
DM Private Equity, the owner of Unwins off-licence chain, plan to sue the company's former owners, auditors and shareholders, it emerged last night after administrators closed down its operations with loss of 1,400 jobs.
The 350-store chain, which fell into adminstartion on Monday night with debts of at least £30 million, does not have enough stock or cash to trade.
The administrators are in discussions with potential buyers for the stores, which are a mix of leasehold and freehold sites, together with its freehold head office in Dartford, Kent.
That is a revised version from the Times business section.
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