THE JJB Sports shop in Dorchester is to stay open safeguarding nine jobs after it was bought by rival a retailer.
It was feared the store in South Street would become the latest high street casualty after the company went into administration last week.
Around 2,200 staff at JJB Sports were made redundant yesterday after administrators closed 133 stores and agreed to sell 20 remaining outlets, including the Dorchester branch, to Mike Ashley's Sports Direct International.
The Sports World parent bought the stores, the brand and its website for £23.8 million in a deal that will protect 550 jobs in the UK, including its warehouse.
But the agreement is a worse-than-expected outcome for JJB staff as Sports Direct was reportedly hoping to safeguard up to 1,500 jobs and buy up to 60 stores.
However, David McCorquodale, corporate finance partner at KPMG said the level of cash and further operational restructuring required to rescue a substantial part of the business was too much risk for interested parties.
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