Working with Gloucester City Council and Marketing Gloucester, local property developer Chance Malone has offered the centre's traders part of the Grade-1 Listed Old Judges House in Westgate Street which he owns and hopes to have the centre's dealers in on the ground floor by November 14.
The location is in the town centre and is half a mile away from the current dock-side premises.
The shock news of the sudden closure is the more surprising as traders were awaiting ratification of the Peel Group's plans to relocate the centre to the Upper Deck at the Quays Outlet Centre, a move which the group said they hoped would secure the centre's long term future.
This relocation was approved by Gloucester City Council in March, conditional on an escalator being installed at the outlet to reach the centre. Speaking locally, Jason Pullen, managing Director of Peel Outlets said last week: "Gloucester Quays has already invested a significant amount of money in the antiques centre but unfortunately there is no viable alternative location and the business continues to make significant losses. We therefore intend to redevelop the antiques centre."
Local feeling is running high with criticism of the Peel Group's sudden closure of the centre and its treatment of the traders.
The Gloucester Antiques Centre has been a popular presence on the Quays since 2009 when it was owned by property developer Evan Maindonald, being taken over by the Peel Group in 2013.
More on this story in next week's printed issue of ATG.
