A long-running dry cleaning store in the centre of Burnham-On-Sea is to close at the end of this month with the loss of three jobs.
Johnson Service Group has confirmed that its Burnham store at 53 The High Street will shut on August 29th as part of a nationwide cost-cutting project to axe 100 of its 460 shops by the end of this year.
Burnham store manager Margaret Merrett told Burnham-On-Sea.com: “We have been told that our store will be closing with the loss of all its jobs at the end of August.”
“It is very disappointing after more than 30 years of business in Burnham but we have seen it coming for some time.”
“Dry cleaning is a luxury that many people cut back on when times are tough. Trade here at the Burnham store has tailed off by over a half in recent years.”
John Talbot, Chairman of The Johnson Service Group, said the 100 stores that are closing are all loss-making, adding: “We are in a lot of locations where the high street is dying around us. If you take out these 100 loss-making locations a lot of the portfolio is growing.”
“But because of the history of the company and how it was put together, we have too many shops on high streets where there are too many shops boarded up, and charity shops. It is a change in Britain’s high streets. In supermarkets or drive-ins, our shops are doing well.”
