Furncity in CBD to close

ELLERINES Holdings Limited plans to close its Furncity furniture shop in Windhoek’s city centre this month.

Ellerines’ Director for Foreign Holdings, Marais Kock, confirmed the closure from Johannesburg on Friday, citing problems with the shop’s lease agreement as the reason. “The only reason we’re closing one of our stores is that the lease cannot be renewed.The landlords aren’t playing the game with us,” he said.However Nicky McNamara, Human Resources Manager at Swaco Industries Namibia Ltd, which owns the building where the shop is situated, said they had been contacted by Ellerines, which asked for the lease agreement to be terminated earlier than was agreed to.According to her, the lease would have expired in May.”We were fine with it as long as we could get someone else in there,” she told The Namibian on Friday.The Furncity sign on the building will apparently now be replaced by that of Simply Shoes.Kock said on Friday that only three to four workers were likely to be affected by the closure, while the rest of the shop’s workers would be accommodated at other Ellerines stores in Windhoek.He dismissed rumours that the group planned to close three more Furncity shops throughout Namibia.”It’s absolute nonsense that we’re closing four shops.We’re closing one shop and that’s that.”He noted, however, that he could not say for certain whether this would be the only shop to be closed.Employees spoken to at the affected shop on Friday could not yet speculate on their future, saying that they were waiting for a decision to be conveyed to them.Ellerines Holdings Limited owns Ellerines, Furncity, Oxford and Royal Furniture, and is represented in Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa and Swaziland.”The only reason we’re closing one of our stores is that the lease cannot be renewed.The landlords aren’t playing the game with us,” he said.However Nicky McNamara, Human Resources Manager at Swaco Industries Namibia Ltd, which owns the building where the shop is situated, said they had been contacted by Ellerines, which asked for the lease agreement to be terminated earlier than was agreed to.According to her, the lease would have expired in May.”We were fine with it as long as we could get someone else in there,” she told The Namibian on Friday.The Furncity sign on the building will apparently now be replaced by that of Simply Shoes.Kock said on Friday that only three to four workers were likely to be affected by the closure, while the rest of the shop’s workers would be accommodated at other Ellerines stores in Windhoek.He dismissed rumours that the group planned to close three more Furncity shops throughout Namibia. “It’s absolute nonsense that we’re closing four shops.We’re closing one shop and that’s that.”He noted, however, that he could not say for certain whether this would be the only shop to be closed.Employees spoken to at the affected shop on Friday could not yet speculate on their future, saying that they were waiting for a decision to be conveyed to them.Ellerines Holdings Limited owns Ellerines, Furncity, Oxford and Royal Furniture, and is represented in Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa and Swaziland.