A LONG and anxious wait is over for staff at a ladies fashion outlet who have dodged the axe that is set to fall on a number of stores.
Shop assistants and managers at Bonmarche in Nuneaton town centre were delighted to hear that their store will not face closure.
The clothing chain was part of the Peacocks Group, which went into administration last week, but Bonmarche has been bought out of administration by private equity group Sun European Partners (Sun) in a pre-pack deal believed to be worth £10 million.
Shortly after the deal was made, Sun announced plans to close 160 Bonmarche stores and continue to trade from just 230 which would result in around 1,200 job losses.
Until now the future of the Nuneaton employees had been uncertain but during a conference call yesterday they were told that they could reveal they would be saved.
Charmaine Styles, store manager of Bonmarche in Nuneaton, said: “We are delighted to announce that the store is staying open and we are more than happy to accept all new and old customers.We are hoping that the future will be very bright but we need people to keep using us.
“We want to say a big `thank you’ to all of our loyal customers for their support. A lot of people have been very worried about us as people and it is nice to know that so many people care.”
The good news has come as a big relief to the eight employees currently working at the Queens Road store, who were extremely concerned that they could face the chop.
The announcement is also a relief for panicked shoppers, who were worried about spending their gift vouchers and upset that they would lose the place that caters most for their clothing needs.
The Bonmarche store in Castle Street in Hinckley is also believe to have been saved from closure.
