A CLOTHES shop that spent eight years on a town’s high street before moving into a unit in a large shopping centre, has closed.

Independent fashion retailer, DaVinci, moved into a prominent position in The Mall in Blackburn earlier this year, doubling its size and adding a ladieswear range.

It had previously spent eight years in a shop on King William Street, but moved to the former tReds premises next door to Primark and opposite Costa Coffee.

The new store, which has twice the capacity of the old shop allowed owner, Zulf Ali, to offer ladieswear for the first time.

At the time of opening he said: “We took the decision to move earlier this year and we are delighted with the new shop.

“With more than 15 years’ experience in the fashion industry I wanted to expand into providing clothing for women as well as men and the extra space has also allowed me to extend some of my most popular ranges.

"We are constantly adding new lines and with more space than ever before we are really excited."

However, around two weeks ago, the shop had been emptied of all stock and fixtures, the doors closed, and a To Let sign placed in the window, giving rise to suggestions the business had folded.

On Monday, managers at The Mall confirmed the store had gone into administration.

Loraine Jones, General Manager at The Mall Blackburn, said: "We were very disappointed to hear that DaVinci had gone into administration.

"We have already had a lot of interest in the unit."

The Lancashire Telegraph were unable to contact Mr Ali for a comment.

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In August another troubled fashion store called in the administrators for the second time in two years.

Time Clothing, also on King William Street, operated two stores in East Lancashire and a third in Preston.

The Blackburn store had been closed for some time for refurbishments, with customers referred to the other outlets in Blackburn Road, Accrington, and the Fishergate shopping centre in Preston, but were called into administration in the summer.

The clothing firm ran into difficulties after it secured a deal to act as a wholesaler for the German footwear brand Djinns, racking up debts to the value of around £83,000.

In April, the footwear and fashion retailer, tReds, which occupied the same unit DaVinci has just departed from, also closed, with an estimated 10 jobs affected by the decision.

And just 11 months ago, historic menswear retailer Greenwoods, which dated back to 1860, left The Mall, after 22 sites were identified for closure.