Lee Longlands is closing its doors at its location in the centre of Derby and selling a massive £2 million worth of stock at discounted prices before permanently disappearing. 

After 12 years, the store has said it will not be renewing its lease and plans to relocate to a retail park with a purpose-built showroom.

To clear its stock, the furniture store will hold a major closing-down sale, including a £2 million clearance event starting with a private sale for invited customers next week on March 12 and 13, followed by public sales from March 14 to 16.

From March 14 to March 16, the sale will be open to the public from 10am to 6pm on Friday and Saturday, and 10.30am to 4.30pm on Sunday. 

A spokesperson from Lee Longlands said: “Lee Longlands have decided not to renew the lease on its Derby showroom, after more than 10 years of trading from the city centre location.

“The plan is to relocate its Derby store to a more prominent, purpose-built showroom on a strategically located retail park.”

“After the success of opening its Bristol showroom, the business is hoping to complete shortly on the Derby relocation and expects to make the announcement about the new showroom in the coming weeks.

“Lee Longlands will be holding a Derby closing-down sale to allow the stock to be cleared, which will start mid‐March.

“This demonstrates the business’s continued commitment to reinvest in the right areas of its infrastructure, following a clear strategic growth map.”

Despite the closure, the company will fulfill all current orders, and has offered relocation options to its Derby staff.

The move is part of the company’s broader strategy for business growth.

The spokesperson said: “We have offered alternative employment to all Derby sales staff, with the option of relocating to alternative Lee Longland showrooms or to our head office and we very much hope the majority of the five-strong team will remain within the Lee Longlands group.

“The Derby showroom will need to be open beyond March 16 to manage orders and the sale may continue beyond March 16 if stock is still available, but this is obviously unknown at this stage.”

Lee Longlands opened its Derby store in 2013, situated in the former Co-op building on East Street, marking a significant expansion for the company.

The Derby showroom became part of Lee Longlands’ retail network, which focuses on offering a wide selection of furniture, carpets, rugs, lighting, and home accessories.

Founded in 1902 by Robert Lee and George Longland, Lee Longlands was the first store outside of London to install “after hours” window display lighting in 1907 and expanded into furniture manufacturing by 1910.