The end of the road for Threshers?

The future of UK off-licence group Threshers is in doubt after it was revealed that 100 stores have been closed by its owner First Quench in the last six months. There are also ongoing discussions about the future of further shops as its parent company continues to talk to landlords regarding the reduction of rental payments for unprofitable stores.

These reductions are aimed at bringing the payments down to more manageable levels, or change from quarterly to monthly rent payments.

First Quench owns approximately 2,000 stores across the UK, a number that its website describes as "constantly evolving". As well as Threshers, it also owns Wine Rack, The Local and Haddows.

The company is restructuring its business, something first revealed last March, though only Threshers seems to be at risk of closure. Since that announcement, 23 Threshers have been converted into The Local stores, and 276 Wine Racks have been updated with a new "True Blue" colour scheme.

Though 100 have closed already, the Daily Mail has reported that the company could close as many as 400 overall.

A landlord told db: "First Quench have offered to buy their way out of the lease they currently have, which runs to 2011. They are doing the same thing with a number of landlords. The difference between what they are offering now and what the rent payments would be worth is too great at the moment. In addition, they converted two brand new shops into one when they took the site over, so we are also looking to recover the cost of that. Apparently, most landlords are accepting the offer and more stores will close."

 Alexis Hercules, 22.01.09