TJ Hughes bombshell

TROUBLED times... TJ Hughes in Oldham

Bargain retailer on brink

TJ Hughes is the latest Spindles Town Square store to hit financial troubles.

The discount retailer, one of the “anchor” tenants of the shopping centre, is on the brink of appointing an administrator.

The once-thriving Liverpool-based chain, which has 57 outlets and more than 4,000 staff, has filed an intention to appoint an administrator, although the firm is declining to comment on the reports.

This is devastating news for the management at Oldham’s premier town centre shopping mall, coming hard on the news of JJB Sports closure two weeks ago.

TJ Hughes, which was acquired by private equity firm Endless in March, has found trading difficult following the loss of credit insurance.

Like-for-like sales are reportedly 19 per cent down, with suppliers having lost faith in the business model.

Reports suggest Endless, which has already ploughed £9million into the business, needs to inject a further £30million to ensure TJs is still trading by the peak September period.

The homewares sector has suffered heavy sales declines in recent weeks as nervous consumers put off purchases of big–ticket items such as fridges and televisions.

This sector has also been hit by January’s rise in VAT to 20 per cent and the decline in the housing market, which is discouraging people from improving their homes. Reports also surfaced this morning surrounding Sheffield-based chocolate specialists Thorntons, which also has a unit in Spindles.

It looks set to announce a store closure programme later today.

The group will close at least 120 outlets over the next three years as leases expire, while it will also consider the future of an additional 60 shops over the same period.

This will leave Thorntons with around 180 to 200 company-owned stores, although in the majority of locations it hopes franchisees will open outlets.

There was further gloom for the retail sector when fashion retailer Jane Norman, which has a concession in Debenhams Oldham, announced it was in administration, putting 1,600 jobs at risk.