More than 20 big name retailers will not reopen for business at a popular Aberdeen shopping precinct as the city continues to be “battered” by the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Bosses at the Bon Accord and St Nicolas Centre, situated in the heart of the Granite City, have seen big high street brands such as Topshop, Dorothy Perkins, Warehouse, River Island and Laura Ashley all shut up shop since March last year.
It comes as retail giant John Lewis announced it would permanently close its 200,000-square-foot store after 32 years in the busy shopping centre – with the loss of up to 265 jobs.
In recent days, the Disney store, which has operated within its Bon Accord retail unit since 1997, also announced it would not reopen.
Russell Borthwick, chief executive of Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce, last night warned that Aberdeen city centre was at a “critical point” and urged shoppers to “get out and about” after the lifting of restrictions.
He said: “Recent weeks have seen a number of bad retail-related news days for the north-east.
“Our regional narrative, our talent attraction and retention story is being significantly weakened.
“Not just by the loss of big brand names, which is in itself totemic, but by the message this sends out and subsequent decisions that could now be made by other retailers and investors.
“Successful cities are a finely balanced eco-system of retail, culture, hospitality, residential and offices with people at their heart.
“If any of them are out of balance then the others are likely to fail.”
The closure of John Lewis prompted the Press and Journal to launch its Save Our Shops campaign last month.
A city taskforce made up of local authority officials, business leaders and commerce chiefs has also held crisis talks with the high street giant in an effort to keep the brand in the north-east.
Adrian Watson, chief executive of Aberdeen Inspired, described the news of the Bon Accord store closures as “stark” and called for a ministerial response within government.
“Everyone keeps turning to blame someone else for the demise of the high street, but we’ve all got a part to play in this – these businesses support thousands of jobs for people in the city and shire”, he said.
Scottish Conservative Liam Kerr, who met with John Lewis bosses last week, said: “The Bon Accord Centre has been absolutely battered by the pandemic and it’s devastating to see.
“The closure of the Disney store as well as John Lewis in recent weeks highlights the alarming situation that our city centre faces.
“There needs to be specific Aberdeen support from the Scottish Government to get traders through this difficult spell before more closures occur.”
SNP candidate for Aberdeen Central at next month’s election, Kevin Stewart, added: “The pandemic has taken a profound toll on our city centre which has accelerated many long term trends already at play.”
Aberdeen City Council co-leader Douglas Lumsden – a member of the taskforce – said the public have a “responsibility” to protect businesses in the city centre.
He said: “There’s a responsibility on everyone. People can’t complain about shops closing if they buy everything online.
“We need to try and support the high street and the best way of doing that is spending your money in shops rather than online.”
