THE new owner of iconic Edinburgh retailer Jenners yesterday moved to reassure customers that its cherished identity would be retained, as agreement was reached on the financial details of the transaction.
House of Fraser is buying Jenners, the world's oldest independent department store, for pounds-46.1m in cash. The chain is also assuming the Jenners pension scheme and will inject pounds-3.4m into the underfunded scheme when the deal is completed.
The purchase will give House of Fraser the Jenners brand, its flagship store in Princes Street, and three other stores at Loch Lomond, and Glasgow and Edinburgh Airports.
Jenners has 750 employees and the stores will continue to operate under the Jenners name.
David Adams, deputy chief executive of House of Fraser, said: "It is business as usual.
What Jenners does it does very well and it would be absolutely wrong to lose any of that.
"We see it as very much building with the strengths we've got from being a much bigger group so, maybe a bit more buying power and a few brands that they don't have will be put in. The customers hopefully won't notice too much change but what they will notice will be for the better.
"It will still be Jenners not just in name but also in essence."
In the 1990s Jenners' Princes Street store alone regularly churned out annual profits of pounds-4m-pounds-5m a year, but competition from Knightsbridge arriviste Harvey Nichols and other designer stores has seen margins slashed.
Last year Jenners, which has been owned by the DouglasMiller family since 1881, showed pre-tax profits of pounds-2.75m - 7-per cent down on 2003 and the lowest surplus for years. However, unaudited profit before tax and interest receivable came in at pounds-2.7m in the year ended January 30 2005, suggesting the business has at least stopped the rot. All four branches were said to be trading profitably.
The Jenners deal will bring the portfolio of stores owned by House of Fraser to 52, complementing Fraser stores in Glasgow and Edinburgh.
Robbie Douglas-Miller, Jenners managing director, said:
"The directors of Jenners believe the benefits of this deal are significant to all parties. The famous name of Jenners goes forward, there are exciting opportunities for the staff of Jenners, and Edinburgh continues to have a premier department store operating on Princes Street."
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