The owner of the iconic Jenners building in Edinburgh has promised that it will remain a department store.
The move came after Frasers Group said it would end trading at the store on 3 May, with 200 job losses.
The building is owned by Danish billionaire Anders Holch Povlsen, who is also a major landowner in Scotland, through his company AAA United.
‘Despite the global pandemic, numerous lockdowns and the turbulence caused for British retail, the landlord hasn’t been able to work mutually on a fair agreement, therefore, resulting in the loss of 200 jobs and a vacant site for the foreseeable future with no immediate plans,’ said a Frasers Group spokesperson. ‘Our commitment to our Frasers strategy remains but landlords and retailers need to work together in a fair manner, especially when all stores are closed.’
Anders Krogh Vogdrup, AAA United director said while it wanted to create a hotel in unused parts of the building, the company wanted to keep the building as a department store and that it had given Frasers Group a substantial rent reduction and rent-free periods to cover lockdowns.
‘Frasers has made the decision that it does not wish to continue in occupation. This will see the end of the 16-year association between House of Fraser and this building, but not of the 180 years of Jenners department store. We fought to keep the current tenant and we are now in advanced talks with other partners. The Jenners department store and building is the jewel in the crown of Edinburgh. We are not turning it into a hotel. It will remain a department store,’ he said.
Jenners was opened in 1838 as Kennington & Jenner by local drapers Charles Jenner and Charles Kennington. By 1890 the store had changed name to Charles Jenner & Co and had expanded to adjoining buildings, making it one of the biggest stores in Scotland.
But in 1892 it was destroyed by fire. Celebrated architect William Hamilton Beattie, who also designed the city’s Balmoral and Carlton hotels, designed the new building, but
Jenner died in 1893 before the work was completed in 1895. House of Fraser bought the Jenners brand for £46m in 2005, before its administration and break up in 2018.
Image: By Stephencdickson – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=38304767
