Failed department store set to shut another nine stores this month, including its Salford outlet, which was so badly damaged by recent rioting it could no longer continue trading.
The move will make 474 TJ Hughes employees redundant. Closing down sales are already underway at eight of the stores, with the first closures set to take place tomorrow. However, the Salford outlet, which employed 22 staff, has already closed. Administrators Ernst & Young explained that the store was severely vandalised, with a large quantity of stock taken following rioting last Tuesday evening. As a result, administrators felt it was "no longer viable" to allow the store to continue to trade.

Joint administrator Tom Jack expressed his disappointment at the turn of events, which resulted in the Salford store's sudden closure: "We had hoped to allow trading to continue for longer at the Salford store to give the best chance of find a buyer but, after [Tuesday's] attack, this is no longer possible."

The last day of trading for TJ Hughes stores in Middlesborough, Preston and Southend will be Tuesday, August 16, while branches in Bristol, King's Lynn and Newport will close their doors the next day, followed by Ipswich and Maidstone on the 18th.

Mr Jack said of the announcement: "It is regrettable that we have had to schedule these store closures and we are extremely grateful to the employees and management at all the group's stores, the head office and warehouses for their loyalty and support during what has been a very difficult and uncertain time."

He added: "We continue in negotiations with interested parties for a number of the remaining stores in the group's portfolio, and we are keen to stress that those stores unaffected by these closures will continue to trade for the time being, with new stock lines being added."

To date 23 TJ Hughes stores have closed, including the Salford branch, following news of the department store chain's collapse on June 30. Administrators have secured the sale of six outlets to Lewis's Home Retail, a firm associated with the Benross Group. Following the latest spate of closures, more than 20 TJ Hughes stores will remain open. Ernst & Young explains that it continues to seek a sale of the company's remaining business and assets as a going concern, whilst also trading stock through the rest of the group's store portfolio.