[dropcap type=”circle”]T[/dropcap]he ‘when one door opens another one closes’ story of Heswall retailing continues with the news that the Taskers Decorative store on Telegraph Road is to close on January 31 next year.
The homewares chain will shut three stores in total, and says tough trading conditions are responsible. A restructure will see greater emphasis placed on its larger outlets, and on its online business.
Managing Director and majority owner John Tasker told his staff that a “difficult economic climate” had forced the business to make changes in order to guarantee its survival.
Focus will be placed on the company’s Liverpool Wavertree site which will be closed, refurbished and relaunched under a different name in spring 2018.
This new look store will be streamlined and require much lower staffing levels than at present.
While the small, Heswall-like Taskers in Formby will also close, the large operations at Aintree and Hunts Cross will not be affected by the changes. Hunts Cross opened just two years ago and took the company’s turnover to just shy of £20 million.
Clearly the business will concentrate on cost savings, out of town shopping and e-tailing, and it acknowledges that the closures next year will have consequences not only for staff in store, but also at head office and in transport, web and maintenance departments.
The Taskers business is more than 50 years old and employs over 300 people.
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