New clothes shop to open in Co-op Grand Marché

New clothes shop to open in Co-op Grand Marché

Budget fashion chain Peacocks, which has hundreds of outlets around the UK, is currently advertising for staff for the new shop, which is due to open in April.

It will be located on the ground floor of the supermarket and the section which sells TVs, household appliances and white goods will close – a decision that is being blamed on declining sales.

The jobs of four delivery drivers working within that department are currently at risk. Other staff working within the department will be redeployed, according to Mark Cox, acting chief executive of the Channel Islands Co-operative Society.

‘From March, The Channel Islands Co-operative Society will no longer sell white and brown good appliances in their Jersey Grand Marché stores,’ he said. ‘This decision has been made due to the decline in market share and limited access to source product.

‘The space in Grand Marché St Helier will be taken over by fashion retailer Peacocks. The society expects the new concession to be in place by April. The children’s toy section will remain in place.’

He added: ‘We have entered a 30-day consultation period with colleagues and there are four delivery drivers who are at risk of redundancy. We will make every effort to retain those colleagues at risk. Those colleagues who currently work in the non-food section of Grand Marché St Helier will be redeployed at the society. We are making these changes as the non-food areas of our stores have not met the financial targets that we would have expected.

‘As a member-owned co-operative, we have a responsibility to those members to make decisions for the long-term stability of the society. I sincerely hope that we can find alternative roles within the society that are acceptable
to those valued colleagues who are affected by this change.’

Peacocks, which began as Peacock’s Penny Bazaars in 1884, was bought out of administration in early 2012 by the Edinburgh Woollen Mill Group, which bought the struggling Austin Reed four years later.

The news of Peacock’s imminent arrival in Jersey comes 2½years after homeware brand Dunelm opened on the first floor of Grand Marché.

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