Perth and Kinross Council has offered an optimistic view of the state of the city’s retail shops, in the wake of several closing down or being forced into half-price sales.
The Courier can reveal that upmarket clothes shop Austin Reed, located on St John Street, will close its doors after spending around 40 years in the Fair City.
It is the latest blow to hit the city, with the Black Market coffee shop and Crabtree and Evelyn also falling on hard times and closing up.
A spokeswoman for Austin Reed has confirmed the Perth shop will close its doors.
She said: “The company announces that two of its subsidiaries, Austin Reed Ltd and Country Casuals Ltd, have put proposals to the landlords of a limited number of the UK stores in their portfolio with a view to reducing the number of loss-making stores and improving the underlying profitability of the group.
“The move is part of wider efforts to return the group to profitability.
“Following the strategic review, it has been decided that it is no longer viable to operate 31 stores (22 Country Casuals and nine Austin Reed stores).”
Nick Hollingworth, chief executive of Austin Reed Group, said: “The decision to close some stores was not taken lightly but we cannot continue to operate those within our portfolio that are loss-making.
“We will work closely with the staff in the affected stores to explore redeployment opportunities.”
Councillor John Kellas, convener of Perth and Kinross Council’s enterprise and infrastructure committee, said the local authority is saddened to see some local shops closing but stressed that new businesses are coming to the city.
“Perth and Kinross Council substantially invests in Perth city centre and it is with regret that we are seeing the closure of some shops,” he said.
“The council’s business gateway team is available to anyone who feels they would benefit from the advice and expertise they can offer to help support local business.
“While we have recently felt the disappointment of some large retailers choosing to not build new stores in Perth, we are still seeing new businesses opening in the city, which is encouraging as it shows that Perth is a city where opportunities exist.”
A council spokesperson added: “We have seen a number of independent and national chains invest in Perth over the past year, with 12 new businesses opening in Perth city centre in the three months from October to December.
“The vacancy rate for the city centre was 7.42% in December, well below the Scottish national average. Footfall for December was just over 387,000, which was a 2.75% increase on last year.
“Our recently launched ambassador programme invites leaders from industry locally to work closely with us to promote the city and to discuss opportunities for development.”