A BELOVED department store is about to shut it’s doors for good, but there’s still time to pick up a bargain or two.
The shop had been a go to for residents to buy home, electric and fashion essentials for the past three years.
Beales in Southport is holding a “everything must go sale” before it shuts its doors on Saturday, 7 September – that’s in less than two weeks’ time.
In a Facebook post, Beales wrote: “It’s the last few weeks of our closing down sale. Everything is priced to clear with 1000s of items now £10 or under.”
Locals express their disappointment at the shop’s closure, with one person writing: “What a sad day another Big Store Closing.”
Another person wrote: “Used to be such a good department store.”
One person added: “That’s sad another shop closing.”
Someone else commented: “Another one bites the dust.”
Beales is selling a huge range of items in it’s closing down sale across garden, homeware, furniture, clothing and more.
For example, you can buy towels from towels for £1.80, gloves, sportswear and t-shirts for £10, a kitchen bin for £5.99 and an outdoor table and chairs set for just £69.99.
You can also purchase a Tower microwave for £69.99, a stainless steel cutlery set for £129.00 or a a duvet cover set for £33.60.
The store also housed several local businesses including Remedy at Beales, Baby Love, Lucy Lou’s Boutique, Plaza Cards and more.
Lucy Lou’s Boutique owners Gill and Lucy Harper posted a video saying: “Unfortunately we are bring you a little bit of sad news.
“Beales store on Lord Street is closing in September. It does have a closing down sale on at the moment.
“We are staying there until September.
“Obviously this is completely out of our control. We are obviously gutted the store is closing and that Lord Street is losing another high street store.
“We are sad but we are turning it into a positive.
“It is going to give us more time to focus more time on our Churchtown branch and our Penwortham branch and of course our website.
“We are still here, don’t worry, we are staying in Beales on Lord Street until around September time so you can still shop there.
“We just want to thank everyone who has shopped at our Beales concession while it is there and while it is still there and thank you for all your support.”
RETAILERS have been feeling the squeeze since the pandemic, while shoppers are cutting back on spending due to the soaring cost of living crisis.
High energy costs and a move to shopping online after the pandemic are also taking a toll, and many high street shops have struggled to keep going.
The high street has seen a whole raft of closures over the past year, and more are coming.
The number of jobs lost in British retail dropped last year, but 120,000 people still lost their employment, figures have suggested.
Figures from the Centre for Retail Research revealed that 10,494 shops closed for the last time during 2023, and 119,405 jobs were lost in the sector.
It was fewer shops than had been lost for several years, and a reduction from 151,641 jobs lost in 2022.
The centre’s director, Professor Joshua Bamfield, said the improvement is “less bad” than good.
Although there were some big-name losses from the high street, including Wilko, many large companies had already gone bust before 2022, the centre said, such as Topshop owner Arcadia, Jessops and Debenhams.
“The cost-of-living crisis, inflation and increases in interest rates have led many consumers to tighten their belts, reducing retail spend,” Prof Bamfield said.
“Retailers themselves have suffered increasing energy and occupancy costs, staff shortages and falling demand that have made rebuilding profits after extensive store closures during the pandemic exceptionally difficult.”
Alongside Wilko, which employed around 12,000 people when it collapsed, 2023’s biggest failures included Paperchase, Cath Kidston, Planet Organic and Tile Giant.
The Centre for Retail Research said most stores were closed because companies were trying to reorganise and cut costs rather than the business failing.
However, experts have warned there will likely be more failures this year as consumers keep their belts tight and borrowing costs soar for businesses.
The Body Shop and Ted Baker are the biggest names to have already collapsed into administration this year.
The Beales department store building had been home to a department store for the past 135 years, with the building carrying signs saying ‘Beales, formerly Broadbents & Boothroyds’.
It follows a string of closures in and around Southport.
Argos confirmed the closure of its store in the Meols Cop retail park in Merseyside,
Sainsbury’s, who owns Argos, confirmed the news to The Sun.
And Poundland in Ellesmere Port closed on February 11.
A spokesperson for the discount store said: “The Ellesmere Port store sadly hasn’t met our trading expectations despite all our efforts.
“While we know how disappointing this will be to colleagues, we expect to be able to find roles for them at nearby stores such as Bromborough and Chester.“
