The new owner of House of Fraser has confirmed that Altrincham department store Rackhams is to stay open after all.
The Stamford Quarter store had been earmarked for closure in early 2019 as part of the terms of a rescue plan.
But Sports Direct billionaire Mike Ashley, who bought the troubled retailer out of administration for £90m in August, has confirmed this morning that Rackhams is one of 15 House of Fraser stores that will now stay open – saving 45 jobs at the store, which has been a fixture of the Altrincham high street for decades.
It’s understood Ashley struck a deal with the landlord to dramatically cut the rent on the property in order to safeguard its future.
He said: “We’ve shown what we can achieve on the British high street when we work together with landlords.
“I would like to thank those landlords who have helped us to rescue approximately 3,500 jobs at the stores we have saved to date.”
He said he was disappointed with the “small number of greedy landlords” who had refused to cut their rents, and said that as a result its stores in Edinburgh, Hull and Swindon would be closing.
The other House of Fraser stores saved are Aylesbury, Birkenhead, Camberley, Carlisle, Darlington, Doncaster, Grimsby, High Wycombe, Lincoln, London (Oxford Street), Middlesbrough, Plymouth, Skipton, Telford, Huddersfield, Leeds, Maidstone, Solihull and Sutton Coldfield.
