Overview
- The High Row department store, long known locally as Binns, traded for the final time on March 8, 2026, with shutters lowered just after 1pm.
- The closure was brought forward from an expected April date with only days’ notice to staff, following the landlord’s decision to end the lease.
- The landmark building is on the market, and the owner’s agent says formal offers include a national food and drink operator and another national retailer for parts of the site.
- Approved plans allow the ground floor to be split into up to six units, with indicative drawings to convert upper floors into 73 apartments or offices.
- Darlington Borough Council called the shutdown disappointing and said it will offer appropriate support as uncertainty continues for the town centre site.