A long-established Front Street furniture firm is to shut up shop.

The Living Centre store is to close its doors on Saturday and financial services firm Deloitte has been appointed as receivers.

A legal notice in The Royal Gazette in November announced that bankers HSBC had appointed legal firm MJM Ltd to act for it and that Deloitte would handle the winding up of the company.

The firm, which has operated from the east end of Front Street since 2004, announced a closing down sale last month.

Co-owner of The Living Centre, Danny Moniz, said yesterday: “I have no comment on anything to do with The Living Centre. We’re closing, yes, but that’s all I’m going to say.”

Mr Moniz, together with brother and sister-in-law David and Jan Moniz, bought into the firm which was then known as the Outdoor Living Centre, around 20 years ago and took over control in 1999.

The family later opened other furniture stores, covering a range of markets, as well as Electronics City on Reid Street.

Chamber of Commerce president Kristi Grayston, who is owner of gift and stationery store Pulp & Circumstance, said: “Retail is very tough, especially for furniture stores whose inventory is very highly valued and takes up a great deal of space, which means a high rent.

“From a Chamber perspective, I haven’t heard anything directly from anyone but I don’t see any retailers skipping down the street.”

She added that some businesses — like health food and nutrition stores and gyms — were doing well in January.

But she said: “It’s just so hard to to read what will happen — March and April is when the America’s Cup people and families will start moving to the Island, which will bring more people here, which is what we need.

“Just building critical mass makes people feel a bit more optimistic.”

And Ms Grayston added that Pulp & Circumstance was not laying people off despite what is generally a lean month for retail after the Christmas and New Year period.

She said: “We want to be ready to go when things do pick up.”

Receivers Deloitte were approached for comment, but had not responded by press time.