Darlington’s Binns department store is saved (again) – but the hard work starts now, writes Graham Soult.

Today’s confirmation that House of Fraser – better known as Binns – is staying in Darlington is great news, but hard work surely lies ahead.

Having first met Alex Nicholson – Darlington Council’s excellent town centre partnership and events manager – when I worked in Darlington with the High Streets Task Force in 2022, we’ve stayed in regular touch ever since.

So I was delighted when Alex called me this morning with the confirmation that House of Fraser (Binns) is staying in the town!

Binns on High Row in DarlingtonBinns on High Row in Darlington (Image: THE NORTHERN ECHO)

It’s been a complicated story these last few years, as I wrote in The Northern Echo when the closure was announced two months ago.

The store was meant to close in 2019, under House of Fraser’s previous ownership, before Sports Direct stepped in to buy the 59-store chain and reverse the closure.

Then, in September this year, it was announced that the property’s landlord had served notice on House of Fraser, and that the store would close this month, despite owner Frasers Group wishing to trade there “for the foreseeable future”.

The next twist was the property being sold last month to a new owner, whose agent announced within days that Binns had “agreed terms” to stay after all, the news that has now been officially confirmed today.

If nothing else, today’s announcement will reinforce the message – after years of potential confusion – that the store is open and staying that way.

 

Realism

Of course, in celebrating this good news we must also retain a dose of realism.

To survive, department stores are having to up their game and deliver superlative customer experiences. As I’ve noted before, Binns is actually one of the better House of Fraser stores – it had a £2 million refurb only in 2016 – but doing nothing now is not an option.

Closing down signs have been taken downClosing down signs have been taken down (Image: THE NORTHERN ECHO)

Furthermore, the House of Fraser format is all but defunct, with little more than a dozen stores still trading under that fascia. Many have shut, and others been converted to the higher-end Frasers format.

Other new Frasers stores have opened in places – like Derby or Blackpool – where there was never (or at least not in recent times) a House of Fraser before.

If its future is secured, will Darlo now get the Frasers treatment?

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Whatever happens, let’s hope the retailer and new landlord can work together to plan the investment that is needed for the long term, perhaps with more diverse uses taking over some of the unseen areas that Binns doesn’t use or need.

As I told The Northern Echo before, the town’s superb independent retail and leisure offer means that “Darlington still has so much for us all to enjoy and be proud of”.

But Binns staying is the icing on the indie cake.