Palmers Fashion Store in Bury St Edmunds is set to close after more than 50 years trading in the town.

The closure will lead to 35 job losses when the store stops trading in January next year.

Bruce Sturrock, chairman of Palmers, said he was ‘extremely sad’ that it was necessary to close the store.

“Some people may remember that I tried very hard to expand our business in Bury by incorporating our St Andrews Street property into the Cattle Market development,” he said.

“However, it was not to be.

“This has left is at a disadvantage and combined with recession, high rates and changes to shopping habits, the store is no longer profitable.”

Mr Sturrock said he would be ‘making every effort’ to ensure all staff find alternative employment.

The shop, in the town’s Buttermarket, was the first expansion of the Palmers brand which was originally established as a small drapery shop in Great Yarmouth in 1837.

Palmer’s Fashion Store in Bury St Edmunds opened in 1961 and was later joined by a second shop in the town, Palmers Homestore, which opened in St Andrews Street in 1998.

The Palmers Fashion store has since become a landmark in the town centre, sitting close to the gateway to the Abbey Gardens and the town’s popular market.

Palmers Homestore has since received planning permission for a mixed retail and residential development.

Details of the project are still a work in progress but if all goes to plan, work could start in spring next year.

Ben Guest, investment manager at Pigeon said he was optimistic that the building had a bright future ahead of it.

He said: “We are a Bury based property company so are long term investors in the town and we see it as a really good building for the town centre. “We will be looking for high quality tenants when Palmers leave.

“It is on the main drag down to the Abbey and you have the market there as well, you could say it is on a strategic corner in the town centre.

“We are optimistic the building will have a bright future.”

Palmers’ remaining stores in Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft are unaffected by the Fashion Store’s closure and will continue trading as normal.