TROUBLED furniture chain Land of Leather is to close 33 stores – including its Wrexham site.
Administrators Deloitte said it had started closing down sales at the 30 UK and three Irish outlets. Five jobs are being lost at Wrexham.
Lee Manning, joint administrator, said: “While we are making every effort to sell Land of Leather as a going concern, it is apparent that interested parties will not buy all of the 109 stores.”
He said administrators hoped some of the affected staff could be relocated.
Customers who have outstanding purchases at any stores set to close will be either transferred to another Land of Leather nearby or dealt with by the group’s head office.
“We have begun discounting the stock in those stores with a view to winding down,” Mr Manning said. “However, we continue to talk to prospective buyers for the business, and all other stores remain open and available for purchase as a going concern.”
The Kent-based company was forced to appoint administrators after efforts to secure additional funding and sell the business failed.
A slump in demand for “big-ticket” goods as consumers look to cut spending and house prices tumble, crippled the firm.
The group was also hit by the weakness of the pound. It bought two-fifths of its stock in the Far East in dollars, and was hit as sterling slumped against both the dollar and the euro.
