ANOTHER mainstay of Stockton High Street has shut its doors for the final time. 

Debenhams closed for good on Wednesday – bringing to an end an era which began when the firm bought the premises from the Robinson family in 1962. 

The store is one of 19 being closed this month by the troubled chain.

Attention now turns to what happens to the site. 

Stockton Council owns the ground floor part of the building which fronts on to Wellington Square shopping centre.

It was included in a deal struck last year when the authority bought the shopping precinct for £7m. 

But the rest of the three-storey site is privately owned.

Shoppers in the town offered varying opinions on what should happen next.

The older demographic on show in the High Street is often clear during the week.

Acklam’s Sandra Backhouse, 75, and 77-year-old Dorothea Yale wanted a new food shop in the town. 

Mrs Backhouse said: “Now Marks and Spencer has gone the only place you can go for food is Iceland – people have to get on two buses to get to Middlesbrough and for older people that’s a long way to go with bags.”

The Northern Echo:

“Marks and Spencer should have stayed open as a food hall – we want to see more food halls.

“It’s about time they did more for this place.”

Norman Pitt, from Primrose Hill, suggested an Asda should replace it – while a shopper with him suggested a Primark would be welcome. 

Stockton High Street has seen high profile closures in the past two years with Marks and Spencer shutting in 2018 and New Look due to close this Saturday

The council has already bought the Castlegate Centre and is continuing on a costly redevelopment of the Globe Theatre just yards away from the former Debenhams building.

Cllr Nigel Cooke, cabinet member for regeneration and housing, said: “We’re sad to see Debenhams close and we continue to press the owners of the building to explore options to bring it back into use.

“We know retail habits are changing forever and this is exactly why we’ve committed to a plan to step in and take greater control in our town centres and lead the type of change that’s needed to rebalance them.”

Mandy Wood, 74, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service a museum on the ground floor of Debenhams could be an option.

“I don’t know if it would go down well with the younger age group,” she added.

The building Debenhams occupied dates from the early 20th century and was originally known as the Coliseum.

It continued to trade as Robinsons for several years before becoming Debenhams in the early 1970s.

Norton’s Brian Rochford was in Stockton to pick up some last minute bargains before it shut its doors for the final time. 

The 51-year-old said he remembered when the market stretched all the way up the High Street. 

He suggested a H&M could be an option but was sad to see Debenhams go. 

Mr Rochford said: “Debenhams offers you a little bit more quality.

“The market has shrunk over the years but you can understand in modern times with people shopping online – it’s not one thing which has destroyed the town, it’s a lot of things.”