AFTER more than a quarter-of-a-century trading in Littlehampton, the well-known Dorothy Perkins store, in High Street will be closing, with a loss of 11 jobs.
The store will be shutting on Saturday, April 28, after its owner, the Arcadia group, announced a massive drop in sales, last year.
Staff at the Littlehampton shop were left visibly shaken by the announcement and were unable to comment.
However, in a public notice at the front of the store, employees from the soon-to-close shop praised all the customers for their loyalty, adding: “We will be continuing to serve you to our very high standard.”
Norman Dingemans, Arun District Council’s cabinet member for economic and cultural development, said: “We are clearly very sad to hear of the closure of the Littlehampton branch of Dorothy Perkins. We have spoken with the Arcadia group who advise us that this is nothing directly to do with Littlehampton but simply a reflection of the current economic climate.
“We do wish the staff in the branch well and would pay particular tribute to the store manager Sue Pearce who has been instrumental in both Shopwatch and the Littlehampton Traders’ Partnership activities.
“As ever, we will be working hard to try to secure a suitable tenant for this key High Street location.”
Aradia, which also owns Top Shop and BHS, are due to close more than 450 stores, whose leases are due to expire in the next three years.
It’s unclear whether the Littlehampton branch is being shut because of this reason as Arcadia was unable to comment about the closure, before the Gazette went to press yesterday morning (Wednesday).
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