Iconic shoe shop closes its doors

Tag : low shoe

Iconic Lancashire shop Tommy Ball's Shoe Store has stopped tradingafter going into administration.
It means the 25 members of staff at the company on Hart Street inBlackburn have been made redundant.
The closure of the low cost shoe store comes two months after thedeath of its 83-year-old founder Tommy Ball, who retired to theIsle of Man in 1986.
Administrator Charles Brook, of Cresswall Associates, said it wastoo early to say if the firm could be sold.
The company went into administration on Friday with an undisclosednumber of debts.
Staff were told at the earliest opportunity when they returned towork on Tuesday.
1980s heyday
Mr Brook told the BBC that many were aware the business had beenstruggling, but still found it difficult to come to terms with itsclosure.
"There are staff who had been there for many, many years so theywere obviously quite upset and distraught," he said.
Tommy Ball, who was born in 1925, revolutionised the footwearbusiness by selling shoes in Lancashire at bargain prices in awarehouse setting.