Customers of troubled department store Allders said today its closure would be a major loss to shopping centres in Sussex.

The firm went into administration yesterday, casting a shadow over 141 jobs in the county.

The chain's directors appointed administrators Kroll following tough trading conditions and a failure to find a buyer for the 138-year-old business.

Allders employs 63 people at its Westhampnett Road branch in Chichester, 49 at the Horsham Retail Park branch in Blackhorse Way and 29 at the Kingsgate Development branch in Queensway, Crawley.

Kroll announced there would be no immediate redundancies and the 45 Allders stores across England would remain open while it reviewed all options.

Several unidentified third parties have already expressed interest in purchasing the business and the administrators hope to sell it as a going concern.

Rival retailers including Debenhams and House of Fraser are also thought to be interested in buying individual stores. Allders, bought by business consortium Scarlett Retail for £158 million two years ago, had a turnover of £524 million in the year to June 2004 and employs 5,700 full and part-time staff.

Alistair Smith, chief executive of the business-led West Sussex Economic Partnership, said trading in the county had been good overall, although some High Street stores had performed better than others.

He said: "We hope someone will take over the Allders stores, keep the jobs that are there and not leave empty premises."

Andrew Pepper, one of three partners at Kroll put in charge of the administration, said those parties that have expressed an interest in the business would be contacted immediately.

He added: "We appreciate this is a worrying time for employees and their families and we will regularly keep them informed of developments. The continued support of employees is vital as we seek buyers for the business."

Going into administration will fuel fears over whether Allders can honour commitments to its pension fund, believed to carry a deficit of about £16 million.

Kroll said all staff had been paid to end of January and future wages would be paid as part of the administration.

Customers who have paid deposits for goods would get them if available or would be offered other products to the value of the deposit.

Friday January 28, 2005