The name has been synonymous with Bournemouth since 1881, but the administrators KPMG who were brought in to save the department store chain on 20th January this year, have confirmed the Bournemouth store is one of 12 to close.
The closure comes after the department store chain reported losses of £3.1m for its last financial year despite the efforts of the focused management team to turn round the 23 high street stores across the UK.
Beales was established by John Elmes Beale when he opened a store, initially known as a Fancy Fair and Oriental House, on Old Christchurch Road in Bournemouth, Dorset. The company was run by the Beale family during the 20th century; Bennett Beale took over from his father, then by his John’s grandson Frank. Frank Beale trained at Macy’s in New York before returning to lead the company. In the 1980s Nigel Beale, grandson of the company’s founder, led the company. Beales claims to be the first department store in the world to feature a live Father Christmas character, dating back to 1885.
It is understood that Beales had wanted to secure rent reductions with landlords and was in negotiations with potential investors before KPMG were appointed.
“There is currently no intention to implement closure plans for the remaining 11 stores, which will all continue to operate as usual until an outcome with regards to a sale of the business is clarified,” said KPMG.
Speaking about the overall state of the high street, Dorset Chamber chief executive Ian Girling said: “For some time now the high street has been hit by a perfect storm of changing consumer tastes and habits, the rise of online shopping and longstanding problems with business rates.
“The sluggish economy, falling town centre footfall, out of town shopping and issues surrounding town centre antisocial behaviour, homelessness and begging problems have all also had a part to play.
“Many retailers have displayed great resilience, innovation and entrepreneurialism to adapt and keep the high street alive. However the high street needs greater support if it is to survive.
“The face of retail is undoubtedly changing as we see different types of experiential businesses emerge and grow, such as tattooists, barbers and coffee shops. The high street is going through huge change.”
Mr Girling is set to write to Chancellor Sajid Javid and Dorset MPs but is also drafting in support from the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC).
Dorset Chamber, with more than 700 members representing 37,000 employees, has offered support to Beales through the British Chambers of Commerce, which has been campaigning on business rates at a national level.
For more on the crisis on the high street, see here: www.dorsetchamber.co.uk/crisis-on-the-high-street/
For more information on Dorset Chamber visit www.dorsetchamber.co.uk
The full list of closures are:
- Bedford
- Bournemouth
- Hexham
- Keighley
- Mansfield
- Peterborough
- Perth
- Spalding
- Tonbridge
- Wisbech
- Worthing
- Yeovil