Austins was a

department store A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store under one roof, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store mad ...

in the Diamond area of

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry, is the second-largest City status in the United Kingdom, city in Northern Ireland, and the fifth-largest on the island of Ireland. Located in County Londonderry, the city now covers both banks of the River Fo ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

. The store was established in 1830 and, until 2016, remained standing as the world's oldest independent department store. The building measures and is five stories high, with an

Edwardian In the United Kingdom, the Edwardian era was a period in the early 20th century that spanned the reign of King Edward VII from 1901 to 1910. It is commonly extended to the start of the First World War in 1914, during the early reign of King Ge ...

-style baroque exterior built in 1906 by MA Robinson after the original building was destroyed by fire. The Austins Department store building in the Diamond was owned by the City Hotel Group, but the actual retail operation was leased to Hassonzender, which went into liquidation. The department store closed its doors to staff and the public without warning on 8 March 2016. The liquidators state that the unforeseen costs of dealing with

asbestos Asbestos ( ) is a group of naturally occurring, Toxicity, toxic, carcinogenic and fibrous silicate minerals. There are six types, all of which are composed of long and thin fibrous Crystal habit, crystals, each fibre (particulate with length su ...

, and the disruption to trading this would have entailed, proved to be a stumbling block to attracting investment and this led to the sudden closure.

Derry City Council Derry City Council (; Ulster Scots dialects, Ulster-Scots: ''Derry Cittie Cooncil'') was the Local government in Northern Ireland, local government authority for the city of Derry in Northern Ireland. It merged with Strabane District Council in ...

officials raised the issue of dealing with the asbestos following the introduction of new regulations, in the Spring of 2015.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Austins Buildings and structures in Derry (city) Department stores of Ireland Defunct department stores of the United Kingdom Grade B1 listed buildings Department store buildings in the United Kingdom 1830 establishments in Ireland 2016 disestablishments in Northern Ireland