Carpetright Elgin closure comes as shock to town as ‘use them or lose them’ warning is issued
A “use them or lose them” warning has been issued after yet another town business shut down this week.
The recent closure of Elgin’s Carpetright has left shoppers wondering if “challenging trading conditions” will affect other businesses in the area.
The retailer’s Moray branch, based at Springfield Retail Park, closed its doors for good last weekend after the company went into administration.
More than 1,500 employees across the country, including four in Elgin, lost their jobs despite a rescue deal being made to save the company from administration. Now just four of its 24 Scottish stores remain open.
Elgin Community Council Chairperson Alastair Kennedy has labelled the news “worrying” as more buildings which used to house businesses both on the High Street and in the town’s retail parks are left empty. “It’s a great shame for the town,” he said.
“It’s a real disappointment but we know that it’s really challenging times for local businesses.
“It’s difficult for these businesses to compete with online.
“But if we keep seeing these businesses close then where do we go in Elgin? It’s worrying.
“We’ve got a bigger selection in Inverness and Aberdeen but that means getting onto a bus or into a car to get there. Nobody wants to do that.
“We need to make a conscious effort to use these businesses or we’re going to lose them.
“It’s very difficult and I know people do make that effort to use local businesses where possible but maybe a concerted effort to do so would really help.”
Shoppers were greeted with a note on the front door of the Elgin Carpetright store earlier this week advising them of its closure.
The note said: “Due to challenging trading conditions, on 22 July 2024 the directors resolved to put Carpetright Limited in administration.
“The directors have appointed Zelf Hussain, Rachel Wilkinson and Peter Dickens of PwC as joint administrators of Carpetright Limited.
“As a result of the administration, this store has been closed.
“We would like to take this opportunity to apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused you.”
Customers in the area were shocked to find the store shut.
Moray resident Katy, who travelled to the store to buy a new carpet, was among those who were unaware that the shop had closed.
She said: “I didn’t even know that it had shut down so now I’ll have to go somewhere else.
“It feels like everything in Elgin is getting really empty.
“We’re having to go further and further away to get things that we need.
“It just means that people are going to want to do less things in Elgin and we’ll see more things closing as a result.
“It’s the same with the High Street but the whole purpose of the retail park was to have people come and shop here but we’re losing stores here as well.”
Beth, from Elgin, thinks the town is being dealt a “shorthand” and that more people will go shopping out the region going forward.
She said: “It’s obviously really sad because it’s another shop in Elgin that’s no longer going to be available.
“What’s the point of having a business park like here if we have shops closing down though.
“The other one across the road has had shops come and go as well.
“We’re still a fairly large town but we’re having to go to Inverness and Aberdeen more and more.
“Elgin is horrific so there is a definite feeling that the town has been given a shorthand.”
Earlier this year it was reported that Elgin town centre had recorded its highest number of empty shops since records began.
Vacancies across the town’s two retail parks have dropped slightly but with the loss of Carpetright there remains a number of empty units.
Elgin shopper Aidan, whose friend worked at Carpetright before its closure, says people are becoming more dismayed with the number of shops on offer locally.
“We’ve had a lot of big chains in the business park,” he said.
“But now a lot of our closest ones are in Inverness and Aberdeen.
“It gets to a point for us in Elgin where you think what’s the point in shopping here.
“I really don’t know how it can improve from here.”
Eileen, who worked in a furniture store in Elgin in the 1950s, says online shopping is at the root of the problem.
The 88-year-old said: “People aren’t going to get things in person anymore.
“That’s a real shame. It always is with shops closing and people losing their jobs.
“I grew up in Speyside but I worked in a furniture store on Batchen Street until 1956.
“It was totally different back then and it was great.
“There was a real sense of loyalty but thing have changed and life is very different now.”
