Debenhams: Final closure dates for NI stores confirmed

Northern Ireland's remaining Debenhams stores will shut for the final time later in May after the company confirmed closure dates.

The store in Ballymena, County Antrim, will be the next to shut up shop - it will cease to trade on 12 May.

On 15 May Debenhams shops will close in Belfast's Castlecourt shopping centre, Newry's Quays shopping centre and Rushmere shopping centre in Craigavon.

They are among the final 49 Debenhams set to shut across the UK this month.

Some 12,000 workers in total are losing their jobs after efforts rescue the ailing store chain failed at the end of last year.

The business can trace its roots back 242 years to when one of its founders opened a drapers store in London.

Debenhams grew to become the UK's largest department store chain by the 1950s, but in recent years it has struggled to compete in a fast-changing retail landscape.

The site of the former Debenhams in the Foyleside centre in Londonderry has been bought by Mike Ashley's Frasers Group.

It will reopen as a Frasers store, but no date for this has been confirmed.

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Debenhams' Northern Ireland stores had been in lockdown for the first four months 2020 due to Covid restrictions, but they were allowed to reopen along with other non-essential shops on 30 April.

In a statement announcing closure dates for its remaining UK stores, a company spokesperson said: "Over the next 10 days, Debenhams will close its doors on the high street for the final time in its 242-year history.

"Our sincere thanks go out to all of our colleagues and customers who have joined us on this journey."