March shoe shop is safe after Clarks announces some stores will close

A Fenland shoe shop is safe despite its parent company announcing some stores are to close.

Clarks in Broad Street, March is not among the small number of the footwear company's shops which will remain permanently closed once the coronavirus crisis is over.

The retailer announced today (Tuesday) that it would not reopen some of its stores once lockdown is lifted after deciding not to renew leases.

A statement from the firm said: "Clarks continually reviews all its stores to ensure that they are the right size and located in the right areas in order to provide the best possible service and offering to its customers.

"As part of this normal review, we have decided not to renew the leases on a small number of stores and as such, these will cease to trade and will not reopen following the coronavirus closures.

"We have a strong duty of care to our employees and are doing everything we can to minimise the impact on colleagues."

However, a spokesman for the family-run company, which has about 6,000 employees, confirmed the March store is not on the list of those that will close. She confirmed the number of stores affected is small and are located in other areas of the country including Scotland, Wales and London.

The news comes amid an exceptionally difficult time for retail, with Beales department store in Wisbech closing its doors for the last time just last month.