Clothiers closing at Cornwall Square

Store closing signs greet shoppers outside Le Chateau at Cornwall Square on Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2017 in Cornwall, Ont. The store is closing at the end of February as part of the parent company's plan to reduce its footprint. (Newswatch Group/Bill Kingston)

CORNWALL – Slumping sales and a change in people’s shopping habits are partly to blame as two clothing stores at Cornwall Square are slated to close in the coming weeks.

Tip Top Tailors and Le Chateau have been discounting and selling off their existing stock.

Le Chateau spokesman Pierre Boucher told Cornwall Newswatch the store, which will close at the end of February, is the latest location closing as the company consolidates its operations.

“We’ve been closing a lot of stores over the past few years so it’s just a continued strategy of reducing the footprint of the company and parting away with some of the least performing stores,” Boucher said.

Le Chateau has closed 22 locations across Canada within the last year, he said.

He wouldn’t say how many staff will be laid off or whether they will be offered jobs at other locations. “I don’t think it’s something we would want to provide anyway,” Boucher said.

Sale signs flank the windows at Tip Top Tailors on Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2017 at Cornwall Square in Cornwall, Ont. The store is closing at the end of the month due to slumping sales. (Newswatch Group/Bill Kingston)

For Tip Top Tailors, the cash register wasn’t ringing enough.

“The sales are not there so we decided to close the door. It’s a business decision,” operations manager spokesman Nasser Rifai told CNW.

The store is slated to close at the end of the month.

Rifai said two part-time and two full-time positions are affected.

Mall ‘very active’ with new tenants

“The retail industry is always changing and Cornwall Square has been in the process of adding new tenants to the tenant mix. There has been and continues to be very active leasing at the mall,” said Karen Burns, Cornwall Square manager, in an email to Cornwall Newswatch.

“We are very excited about the most recent tenants that have joined the roster in November…Alia N TanJay and Maritime Travel have both been part of very successful openings,” she said.

Burns added that Dollarama should be open in early March, Captain George’s Express in the food court will be open mid to late March and and DavidsTea is scheduled to open mid April.