Perth is facing a double retail blow with two chain stores likely to pull out of the central shopping zone.
The Fair City is set to lose Paperchase, the stationery brand which has a branch on the High Street, after the company announced it is “on the brink” of administration.
Bin lorry on fire in Perth City Centre
The firm has filed a notice to appoint administrators, a move that will give it breathing space from its creditors while it works out a rescue plan.
There is a Paperchase outlet midway along Perth High Street. The company has 127 stores and about 1500 employees.
A second lockdown in November in some UK cities wiped away a crucial period for the firm, which makes just under half its sales from pre-Christmas card and gift purchases.
Paperchase said: “The cumulative effects of lockdown one, lockdown two - at the start of the Christmas shopping period - and now the current restrictions have put unbearable strain on retail businesses across the country.”
The company went through an insolvency process, known as a Company Voluntary Arrangement or CVA, almost two years ago to cut costs.
The chain now has just a week to find a solution.
Respiratory professor warns of need for COVID treatment as well as vaccine
“Out of lockdown we’ve traded well, but as the country faces further restrictions for some months to come, we have to find a sustainable future for Paperchase,” the spokesperson added.
Meanwhile the household and kitchenware supplier Lakeland has announced it will leave its large site in Perth in St John Street.
Lakeland will slash four branches. Ipswich closes this month, Cardiff and Epson Surrey are next and then the doors of the Perth outlet will close in May.
Planners take dim view of lamppost proposal at Perthshire shooting estate
Lakeland was founded in 1964 in Windermere, Cumbria, and has almost 70 shops across the UK.
Confirming the closures “with regret”, the company said it was “very proud of our store teams” and would be supporting them.
“The experience our customers receive in our retail stores remains integral to our ethos to deliver exceptional customer service and wherever there are opportunities to trade profitably, we will seek to agree, renew and extend leases with landlords,” Lakeland said in a statement.
The Perth store sits side by side with the now empty Beales department store, so its departure will leave that side of the pedestrianised street with little activity to draw customers to the independent shops that share the location.
A string of high-profile retailers dotted around Perth have hit trouble in the past year including Debenhams, Topshop and Edinburgh Woollen Mills.
