House of Fraser to close Solihull store
House of Fraser is set to close its Solihull department store as the retail giant continues to reduce the size of its estate.
The store on Mell Square will shut on 28 August.
This follows the recent news that House of Fraser will be closing its Guildford branch in September.
Since its rescue from administration in August 2018, House of Fraser’s store estate has declined by almost half from 59 to 31. The retailer had closed eight stores in first four months of 2023.
Frasers Group boss Michael Murray recently described the department store model as “broken”. He said that the historical store sizes of 150,000 sq ft or larger are now considered too large, leading to insufficient investment in the past. The group is now aiming for stores of around 50,000 sq ft or smaller.
The group is also switching its focus to other brands within the business such as Flannels and Sports Direct.
Last month, the company reported an increase in profits for the year ending April 30, with adjusted pre-tax profit reaching £478.1m, up from £339.8m the previous year. This performance fell within the forecast range of £450m to £500m.