‘Last few days’ as doomed department store prepares to close

After more than 180 years Palmers in Great Yarmouth will shut 'mid-March' administrators say Picture: Liz Coates (Image: Archant)

It means the landmark shop facing Great Yarmouth's Market Place has just weeks left to trade.

A spokesman for KPMG which is handling the process confirmed the timescale as "mid-March", adding: "The precise closure date for each store will vary, depending on trading performance and other factors encountered during the closure process - so we're unable to confirm an exact closure date for Great Yarmouth for now.

"During the next few weeks, and while talks with potential purchasers of the business remain ongoing, we'll continue to run closing down sales in order to sell the remaining stock."

MORE: Mourning the loss of Palmers - but we're all to blame for not using these stores anymorePeople who have grown up with the store have been sharing their upset saying its closure will have a devastating effect on the town centre already reeling from a series of retail blows.

Staff at doomed department store Palmers are being invited to an event aimed at helping them back into work Picture: Linkedin (Image: Archant)

It is understood the store employs some 70 full and part-time staff who are being helped to find new jobs and to navigate the benefits system at a special event being hosted in-store today (Thursday February, 27) by Jobcentre Plus and Great Yarmouth Borough Council.

The chain collapsed into administration putting some 1,000 jobs at risk at the end of last month.

Palmers avoided a first round of closures and hopes were high a buyer could be found.

However, it was announced a week ago (February 18) that the final 11 stores would close too.

Palmers department store in Great Yarmouth offering a 20% discount at its Christmas Party.A busy perfume counter.Picture: James Bass (Image: Archant Norfolk © 2014)

At the time the administrators said it expected the stores to trade for around eight weeks while they staged closing down sales.

New signs in the windows proclaim the 'last few days' of the closing down sale with all fixtures and fittings now up for grabs too.

Inside prices have been slashed by up to 70pc.

Palmers in Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft were taken over by Beales in 2018, in what was hailed a lifeline move.

The store has stood proudly overlooking the town's market place since 1837, growing from a small draper's shop to a chain employing 400 staff with a turnover of £40m.