Another Brooks Centre store to close in Winchester

1:26pm Monday 19th March 2012 in Winchester

A Winchester clothes store has become the latest victim of the economic climate.

Eton Brown, in the Brooks Shopping Centre, is set to close at the end of the month after two years in business.

Owner Martin Ricketts said this was due to a number of factors including limited footfall and the recession, but did not rule out returning to Winchester if the market improved.

He said they hoped to still be open for the Easter Bank Holiday.

He said: “The Brooks Centre has a limited footfall shall we say and obviously the recession and the rent was coming up for renewal and the new lease being discussed, it was thought that the commercial viability wasn’t there as strong as it could have been.”

Mr Ricketts said although sales at the men’s and women’s clothes store had actually grown by 30 per cent over last year, it still needed more than that to keep it sustainable.

“You expect a certain footfall and certain value to keep the shop going.”

The store, which employs four staff, is one of three with others at Salisbury and Andover, however the store in Salisbury closed last October.

Comments(7)

Shoong says...
1:49pm Mon 19 Mar 12

The Brooks has been an utter disaster from day one.

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maggyxmoo says...
1:30pm Tue 20 Mar 12

Shoong wrote:
The Brooks has been an utter disaster from day one.
I Agree, winchester for shopping is rubbish unless you want a coffee or a mobile phone, brooks needs to be taken away and replaced with a half decent shopping centre with shops that attract the young,old,rich & poor.... Not just coffee shops,phone shops and basically shops that sell a blouse for £120!!!!

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Huey says...
3:21pm Tue 20 Mar 12

The high street has done well to weather the downturn - very few empty units compared to other towns.
But I echo the above statement regarding the Brooks.

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huckit P says...
7:56pm Tue 20 Mar 12

The Brooks is such a cold, uninviting and seemingly desolate place. It is neither welcoming or easily accessible for wheelchair users. Surrounding pavements make for a bone-jarring ride and that's before you get inside. Getting into the car park causes traffic chaos if more than two cars are queuing to get in and on the way out you discover just how expensive it is, especially if you stay 4 hours or longer! Try £15 added to your shopping! And the council wonder why out of town shopping is so popular.

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JoLovegrove says...
1:43pm Wed 21 Mar 12

Who designed this monstrosity? It has been the big white elephant of Winchester for too long now. I remember the day I was told that Winchester was getting a "Shopping Centre" and the disappointment that followed when I saw what they had built! It's never been busy and is quite possibly the most unwelcoming building I've ever set foot in! The Carpark is horrendous...if you have children or are pregnant you have no hope of getting out of your car as the spaces are so small. It's the only place I've ever damaged a car in 16 years of driving.

Something else I find hard to get my head around is how Winchester, a supposedly affluent City has lost shops like the Early Learning Centre and Eton Brown. Compared to other stores these are quite expensive yet Eastleigh has managed to keep it's ELC and Eton Brown continues to trade in Andover...both Towns that we are led to believe to be not so affluent. Shopping in Winchester is an experience, but never a particularly good one!

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cardinalfang says...
9:31am Fri 23 Mar 12

I really don't understand why people don't do their research before opening up shops. Anyone looking at the Brookes must be able to see it's a bad place to set up, only people parking their cars go there. The problem with Eton Brown is that the people who would buy the type of clothes it sells would more likely go to London when they go clothes shopping. If you are spending £100's on clothes, you want to feel good about it and a dingy shopping centre doesn't cut it.

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Desirodave2 says...
3:53pm Fri 23 Mar 12

Those above that say It has shops that sell blouses for £120, have not been in recently. Beales have introduce great new ranges at low prices. Look in Beales before you moan about the shops

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