North End Road Hit by Peacocks Closure
Blight continues on Fulham's shopping street
North End Road has been hit by yet another store closure, as the Fulham branch of Peacocks became one of 244 branches to be closed by new owners Edinburgh Woollen Mill, who bought the collapsed chain out of administration last month.
This means that a large area of the western side of the road is now empty and boarded up, following recent closure of WH Smith and the departure of two other stores, Bon Marche and a Clarks shoe store last year.
It also means the loss of dozens of local jobs. Another branch of the Peacocks chain, within the West 12 Centre in Shepherd's Bush has also closed down.
Last month, shoppers were shocked by the demise of UNION Market, Fulham's upmarket grocery store on the site of the former Fulham Broadway tube station, and we have also lost a number of pubs and restaurants, including My Dining Room in Farm Lane and coffee shop The Shed in Walham Grove.
Over on Kings Road, Spanish restaurant La Rueda is currently closed and the Morrison Bar remains boarded up.
However there is some good news. Two new branches of "little Waitrose" convenience stores are set to open, each providing around 40 new jobs. The first, in Fulham Palace Road launches on March 20 and the second, in Parsons Green is due in summer.
It was also announced last week that Fulham Town Hall had been sold by Hammersmith and Fulham Council to American leisure and retail group Dorey Ventures.
The company, which owns Maclaren, the children’s product brand is promising to create a "quintessentially British lifestyle emporium", which will include a restaurant plus a flagship Maclaren showroom and a number of boutique shops, some showcasing Dory’s Laser Performance sailing dinghies and Albert Thurston brands.
March 2, 2012
March 2, 2012
