Douglas’s Strand Shopping Centre is in the hands of the receivers
The centre includes stores such as HMV, Millets and Mothercare.
A letter has been sent to various companies in the island that do business with the centre.
It’s from London-based DTZ and from the joint receivers, Fergus Jack and Bryn Williams.
It says that they have appointed Cushman and Wakefield LLP as managing agent on their behalf in the property management of the centre.
In a covering letter, centre manager John Shakespeare says that the Strand Centre will not be able to process invoices. Instead they should go to DTZ.
It’s expected the centre will continue to open as normal for the timebeing.
The shopping centre opened in 1990.
Among its empty units at the moment are the shop that used to house Jessops, the photography company, and the Manx Electricity Authority’s former showroom.
The centre was rocked last year when a number of HMV shops were closed, putting the Douglas store in doubt.
But it bounced back and the shop stayed open.
{http://www.iomtoday.co.im/news/isle-of-man-news/hmv-is-not-dead-yet-1-5327391|Click here for a reminder of HMV’s plight in January 2013.}
Retailing has been struggling in recent years in much of the island, as well as a lot of the western world.
As shoppers have turned to the internet, some traditional shops have found it hard to attract enough trade to turn a profit.
{http://www.iomtoday.co.im/news/isle-of-man-news/how-the-manx-are-switching-to-online-shopping-1-5322841|A Manx Independent investigation last year revealed the extent of the problem for many Manx retailers. Click here for a reminder of that story.}