THOUGH all "non-essential retailers" are currently closed under lockdown laws, a string of major brands have recently confirmed they will not be reopening their Brighton stores when restrictions are eased.
In other cases, the future of city centre sites has been thrown into doubt after their owners entered into administration.
These are the major brands who have confirmed their stores have served their last customer in the city, as well as those whose future remains uncertain:
1. Topshop and Topman
The Arcadia group confirmed that all Topshop and Topman sites in the UK would be closing after the brands were bought by online fashion retailer ASOS.
This includes the flagship store in Brighton's Churchill Square shopping centre.
Sites in Worthing, Crawley, Eastbourne, Chichester and Horsham have also met the same fate.
ASOS took on about 300 employees as part of the takeover deal, but this did not include any of the brands' stores. Miss Selfridge was also involved in the deal. As a result, thousands of jobs have been axed.
Administrators for Sir Philip Green's retail group said ASOS has paid an additional £65 million for current and pre-ordered stock.
Arcadia collapsed into insolvency at the start of December after pandemic closures further exacerbated the group's troubles.
2. Debenhams
All of the department store's UK branches will close for good if a last-ditch rescue deal cannot be reached.
This would put 12,000 jobs at risk across the country, including those held at the large site in Brighton's Churchill Square.
Last December, JD Sports pulled out of rescue talks with the department store chain, which has been in administration since April.
It is understood that the collapse of the deal was partly linked to the administration of Arcadia, which is the biggest operator of concessions in Debenhams stores.
As a result of the failed deal, the company started a liquidation process.
Last month, Debenhams told staff at stores in Portsmouth, Staines, Harrogate, Weymouth and Worcester that they will not reopen.
Debenhams’ administrator FRP Advisory said it is continuing to talk with potential suitors over the potential sale of all or parts of the business.
3. New Look
On February 1, a New Look spokeswoman confirmed the shock news that the brand's city centre site in Western Road would be shutting for good.
This came after the inside of the building was cleared out ahead of the third national lockdown.
The Argus contacted New Look with regards to the future of the site, and was told: "I can confirm our Brighton store on Western Road has permanently closed.
"We don’t have any further information to share on this."
The reason for the permanent closure of the store is currently unknown.
4. Peacocks and Jaeger
The future of the Peacocks and Jaeger sites in the city was thrown into uncertainty last October when it was discovered that owners, the Edinburgh Woollen Mill Group, were on the brink of collapse.
Peacocks, Jaeger and Edinburgh Woollen Mill, all owned by the organisation, plunged into administration.
Last month, Edinburgh Woollen Mill was saved after a deal was secured to rescue the brand and another of its sister businesses, Ponden Homes, from disappearing for good.
But Peacocks, which is also a sister brand to Edinburgh Woollen Mill, remains in administration.
The clothing chain's shops in London Road, Brighton, and Blatchington Road, Hove, both advertised "closing down sales" shortly before shutting for the third national lockdown.
Last month, Marks and Spencer agreed a deal to take over Jaeger, another part of Mr Day’s business empire
However, the business did not buy the Jaeger stores, so no jobs are expected to be saved.
The Jaeger site in Brighton's Castle Square has been cleared out with its signage removed from the exterior of the store.
The Argus contacted the Edinburgh Woollen Mill group regarding the future of the Peacocks and Jaeger stores in the city. No comment has been provided.
5. Argos
Questions were raised over the future of the Argos store in Western Road, Brighton, when it did not reopen when coronavirus restrictions were eased after the first national lockdown.
It was not until December that company bosses confirmed that the site had shut permanently.
"Any standalone Argos store which has not reopened since March will remain closed permanently," a spokeswoman for Argos owners Sainsbury's told The Argus.
A total of 120 standalone Argos stores in the UK have not been open since March, when the first lockdown was introduced, and so all of these sites will now remain closed for good.
The spokeswoman said that many of the staff who had been working at these sites had been "redeployed" to other Argos and Sainsbury's stores.
There are plans to shut a further 300 Argos stores - on top of those which have been closed since March - by March 2024 leaving just 100 standalone stores remaining in the UK.
But Sainsbury's has announced plans to open 350 new Argos stores and collection points within its supermarkets.
6. Paperchase
Paperchase has secured a rescue deal which will preserve around 1,000 jobs and the majority of stores after tumbling into administration.
But the card retailer said 37 of its 127 stores will still shut their doors permanently, despite the move.
It is not yet known which stores will shut.
The high street chain has a store in East Street, Brighton, as well as shops in Crawley, Lewes, Eastbourne, Shoreham and Chichester.
7. Cath Kidston
In April last year, fashion retailer Cath Kidston confirmed it would be closing all of its 60 UK stores permanently after the brand fell into administration. The move led to the loss of more than 900 jobs.
The store closures included a shop in North Street, Brighton.
Owners Baring Private Equity Asia then secured a deal to buy back the online business, brand and wholesale arm from administrators Alvarez and Marsal.
Cath Kidston chief executive Melinda Paraie said it was an "extremely difficult day" for the 908 staff who will lose their jobs.
"Despite our very best efforts, against the backdrop of Covid-19, we were unable to secure a solvent sale of the business which would have allowed us to avoid administration and carry on trading in our current form," she said.
8. Miss Selfridge, Burton and Dorothy Perkins
In October, 2019, it was confirmed that the Miss Selfridge, Burton and Dorothy Perkins sites in Brighton's Churchill Square would be shutting.
This came shortly after the closure of Italian fashion brand Calzedonia and lingerie store Intimissimi have already shut at the shopping centre.
A flagship JD Sports moved into the space vacated by the five stores, opening in October last year.
A spokeswoman for Churchill Square said: “The Churchill Square branch of JD Sports opened its doors to an all-new flagship store earlier this month, which is providing an elevated shopping experience for Brighton customers.
“It has also created ten new jobs, with potential recruitment for another 30 seasonal selling assistants."
JD Sports previously occupied a smaller site in the north west corner of Churchill Square. This remains empty.
Miss Selfridge, Burton and Dorothy Perkins were bought by fashion website Boohoo for £25.2 million on Monday.
The deal is for the inventory, e-commerce and digital assets of the businesses, which were owned by Sir Philip Green’s Arcadia retail empire when it entered administration in December.
But it does not include the brands’ 214 remaining shops, which will close, according to administrators from Deloitte.
Nearly 2,500 jobs are expected to be axed as a result.
9. Co-op and Boots
The Boots and Co-op stores in London Road, Brighton, shut in September and October in 2019 respectively.
Boots apologised to customers ahead of the store closure, saying that “despite significant efforts” it had “unfortunately been unable to confirm a new location for this store”.
The building which previously housed the stores has since been demolished and new student flats are being built on the site.
Plans for the new development outlined a five-storey which included space for 232 student flats as well as shops on the ground floor.
Much of the structure of new student flats being built in London Road, Brighton, is now visible as it rises from the former site of the supermarket.
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