Laura Ashley to exit Regent Street
West End store to close
Fashion and home furnishings retailer Laura Ashley is to shut its store on London’s Regent Street after a rent rise made the outlet unprofitable.
The landlord, Crown Estates, has imposed an increase which will see the rent on the store increase to 19 times the previous level.
Laura Ashley becomes the second high profile retailer to announce an exit from Regent Street in a week. House of Fraser is closing the Dickins & Jones department store, also blaming a rent increase that has made the store unprofitable. The Laura Ashley Regent Street store employs around 70 people.
The company said: “We can confirm that Laura Ashley is to close its Regent Street store. Laura Ashley remains committed to its presence in London’s West End and has three remaining stores in the area, including one on Oxford Street.
“Our decision to withdraw our Regent Street store came after a review that saw an increase in rents to levels that would have made it unprofitable to continue.”
