TWO major high street shops in York city centre have closed this week – one for a refit and one for good.

The Disney Store, in Parliament Street, and Habitat, in High Ousegate, have both closed within the last week.

Habitat, which went into administration earlier this year, sold off all of its stores apart from three in London, which were bought by the owners of Argos for £24.5 million. The the company still remains as an online presence.

A spokeswoman for Habitat said: “Habitat York had its final day of trading on Wednesday. The UK branch of Habitat went into administration at the end of June, with Home Retail Group acquiring the rights to the Habitat brand in the UK, together with three flagship London stores – Tottenham Court Road, King’s Road and Finchley Road – and the rights to the eCommerce business.

“The remaining 30 stores continued to trade in administration, but a buyer has not been secured and the stores are set to close by September.”

A spokeswoman for administrators Zolfo Cooper, said there had been no interest to date in the lease for the former Habitat store.

The Disney Store closed for refurbishment on Bank Holiday Monday, and a poster in the window advised it is due to reopen in November, while contractors have been seen removing shelving units and glass items from the popular toy shop.

Caroline Ellis, a spokeswoman for the Disney Store, said the new changes would include free activities for children, and include the first of the company’s new layouts in the Yorkshire area.

She said: “We closed this week, and are planning to open in mid-November, but at the moment there’s no certain date. The York store will be one of our new Imagination concept stores, which are already around Europe and the UK. There will be more new technology, with a much more magical feel. There will be a sparkling floor, it will be open plan, and there will be a Disney Store Theatre, which will run activities every day for free for our younger guests.”

The new shop will also include a big screen, on which visitors can select their favourite Disney clips to play.

Caroline said: “It’s very interactive. We’re very excited about it.”

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