Dundee’s shopping district has been dealt a blow after electrical retailer Currys confirmed it is to move out of the Murraygate later this year.
That means the city centre will lose a decades-old shopping institution and unless another tenant can be found will be left with a large, empty store at its heart.
Owner Dixons Retail has confirmed there will be no job losses because the 10 or so workers will all be offered posts elsewhere. Currys also has a presence at the Kingsway West Retail Park.
The announcement is another setback for the city after firms including Moben and Dolphin, Thorntons and TJ Hughes announced that they were entering administration and restructuring last week.
The Dundee branch of fashion store Jane Norman was only saved when the Edinburgh Woollen Mill bought it although the shop in Perth’s St John’s Shopping Centre was allowed to go under.
A spokeswoman for Dixons Retail said the firm had announced that it was to close 77 city centre stores in 2008.
“I can confirm that we are planning to close the Currys Digital store in Dundee in October,” she said. “All staff in Currys Digital Dundee will be offered opportunities elsewhere in the company.
“This closure is in line with our renewal and transformation strategy which was announced in May 2008 when our chief executive John Browett announced that we would be reviewing all our high street stores as the leases came up for renewal.
“We have invested heavily in Dundee with the opening of a Currys and PC World megastore in the Kingsway centre last year.”