Fashion store to close down in Inverness

A LONG-TERM tenant at Eastgate Shopping Centre is renewing its commitment to the venue with a new deal, but the centre is also set to lose the local branch of troubled retailer USC.

The firm has been bought out of administration three times since 2008, the last time in 2015, with debts of £30.5 million.

Although the Inverness store had remained trading on special terms, the tenancy has now been cancelled after it requested to stay in the Eastgate on a nil rent basis.

Centre manager Jackie Cuddy said it was always sad to lose a retailer, but she was hopeful another tenant would soon be found to take over the vacant unit.

The news followed the loss to the city of another trader as the Inverness city centre branch of well-known hairdresser chain Toni & Guy also closed.

The salon in Bridge Street closed without warning recently, with a spokeswoman for the firm blaming high rents.

“We are aware that the business served the community for a long time at the location – hence the closure being a last resort,” she said. But on a more positive note, clothing retailer H&M has agreed a new 15-year lease for its large site within the Eastgate Centre, and also plans to refit the branch early in the new year.

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