NI Dobbies store saved from closure following discussions with landlord

The owners of garden centre chain Dobbies have announced that one of their Northern Irish stores which had previously been earmarked for closure will now remain open following discussions with their landlords.

Earlier this year, Dobbies announced that their new store at The Junction in Antrim would be closing its doors just more than a year after opening as part of a restructuring within the company.

Now, following talks with Lotus Property and Tristan Capital the store, which has continued trading since the announcement in September, will no longer close at the end of this year.

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A Dobbies spokesperson said: “We are pleased to confirm that with the support of Lotus Property and Tristan Capital, our Antrim store will no longer close at the end of December as part of our Restructuring Plan.

“We are pleased to be able to retain our team, look forward to continuing to welcome customers into our store, and building our role in the local community. Thank you to our colleagues for their hard work and commitment as we have navigated this process.”

Alastair Coulson, MD at Lotus Property said: "Dobbies continuing to trade at The Junction is fantastic news for Antrim, not least because of the number of local people the site employs. The Junction is one of Northern Ireland's leading retail and leisure parks, and I’m pleased to see the strong working relationship between landlord and tenant, as well as the commitment of our excellent centre management team and the Dobbies’ colleagues here in Antrim."

The RP was launched to address historically uneconomical rent costs and to create a strong platform to return Dobbies to profitability, access future investment, and to ensure a sustainable, long-term future. The other Dobbies stores identified for closure as part of the RP will continue as planned, subject to the restructuring plan being approved by the courts on 9 December 2024.

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