A much-loved baby and school wear store has been forced to close its site at a County Durham shopping centre due to mounting costs.

Little Gems, located in Castle Dene Shopping Centre in Peterlee, will be closing its doors by November 1 due to decreased footfall around the store and the ongoing cost-of-living crisis.

Marie Ibbitson, owner of The School Outfit which runs Little Gems, said keeping the store open was not "feasible" as the store could not cover its expenses.

She said they had tried to keep the location open as long as possible to keep employees in jobs, but said they have unfortunately been forced to close down.

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She said: "We're online, the business is not gone. We're staying in business and we're going to do pop-up shops in the schools.

"We're going to go into the schools and sell uniforms in the schools, delivered to them like a free delivery service as opposed to normal delivery costs.

"We're doing our best with the school uniforms, the babywear is harder really, because a lot of people go online for babywear now, so that's a dying trade.

"We've been in The Chare in Peterlee for over 30-35 odd years now, it's just the way the centre's going, all the shops are closing in the centre.

"It wasn't an easy decision to make, it's really sad. It's like a family firm."

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Mrs Ibbitson added the business' other locations in Washington and Sunderland will remain open and are doing well.

She said a lot of the store's business had stemmed from online sales since the pandemic hit, but this has not continued.

"It's hit us badly," Mrs Ibbitson added.

She added they had informed the schools of their departure from the shopping centre and said they were "sad to see them go."

She said all of the apparel that would have been available from the Peterlee shop can still be found on their website, and all of their schoolwear stock has been moved to their Washington site.

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She estimated the store had provided clothes to more than 100 schools in the area, and uniforms could still be delivered to schools free of charge.

Adding to this, she said they plan to make monthly trips to schools in the area.

The business uses its own own Washington-based factory for embroidery and said it does this to keep costs down for parents.