Ethel Austin is latest recession victim but better news for town centre
Budget fashion store Ethel Austin has become the latest shop to close in West Ealing.
The group, which has 276 stores throughout the UK called in administrators after high-street stores had the worst January sales for 15 years.
The British Retail Consortium blamed the coldest winter for two decades and a return to full VAT.
Administrators MCR SAY the credit crunch as well as the cold snap was responsible for the collapse of the company.
Geoff Bouchier of MCR said: “There is no doubt in our mind that the onset of the global economic crisis has hit the retail sector particularly hard.
''This has been compounded by poor trading conditions in January attributed to the adverse weather conditions, which severely restricted the company’s cash flow.''
Whilst West Ealing continues to suffer recent figures have also revealed that one in 10 shops in Ealing Town Centre were empty in December 2009 - twice as many as in 2008.
The Local Data Company (LDC) report showed that of more than 10 per cent of the 425 shops in the centre were now standing vacant.
On a more positive note Ealing Broadway Shopping Centre has confirmed that the New Look chain will be opening a branch in the centre in June. The fashion store has taken 12,143 sq ft on a ten year lease.
March 1st, 2010
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