All stores including Homebase are closing before the end of the year

After a difficult few years in city and town centres, MORE stores will be completely shuttered before the end of the year.

Shoppers have faced a number of closures on their local high streets in recent years favorite chains closing sites.

Many retailers have reduced their high street footprint in recent years

There were fewer visitors to high street stores and less money was deposited in the tills. cost of living crisis.

People naturally gave up on retail therapy as they realized they had less cash in their back pockets.

The decline in spending, along with higher rents and costs, has forced many chains to make restructuring plans and close their locations.

figures from center Retail The research found that around 10,500 stores in the UK will close for the last time in 2023.

There were also more than 119,000 sightings in the 12-month period works There were losses throughout the sector.

According to the center’s data, an even later period occurred in 2024 8,543 stores were closed and more than 130,000 retail jobs were lost.

This month will be no different Home Base and Millets are among these closed sites.

Of course, it’s not all bad news. In some cases, branches will be replaced with bigger and better branches. stores.

Retailers regularly open and close stores for a variety of reasons, not just because they are experiencing difficulties.

For example, they might have a better-performing store nearby, or it might be because they want to choose a spot that gets more footfall, like a retail park.

All the chains we’ve loved and lost in recent years

Home Base

Range recently saved 70 Homebase stores from closing after it went into administration.

However, Homebase has confirmed that six branches will close their doors for good in December.

DIY The retailer has launched massive closeout sales across sites with discounts of up to 60% off.

Stores in Sutton Coldfield, Bromsgrove, Cromer, Fareham, Newark and Rugby will all close over the busy festive period.

three more Home Base Sites in Derry/Londonderry, Inverurie and Omagh, as well as a branch in Glenrothes near Fife, will also close in the coming months.

10 Homebase stores are scheduled to close after Sainsbury’s agreed to buy from the DIY chain in August.

Sainsbury’s will convert the units into new supermarkets.

Homebase has closed 93 stores since its acquisition by Hilco Capital in 2018.

Hilco buys hardware store chain for £1 from Australian firm Wesfarmers, which paid £340 million for the brand.

Hilco Capital I am thinking of selling the company.

Other retailers that have previously shown interest in Homebase include London-listed discount retailer B&M.

Homebase currently operates approximately 144 locations across the UK.

Select

Select will close the shutters of its branch in Mall Cwmbran. Wales In December.

Select has over 100 stores across the UK. Manchester, Bolton And Sunderland.

The brand was founded in 1980 and has become a staple on the high street.

An article on the retailer’s site Facebook The page read: “It’s heartbreaking to be writing this but Select Cwmbran will be closing. Our last last day will be 4th or 5th December.”

The reason for the closure is Select’s failure to renew its lease on the site.

Shoppers shared their sadness about the closure on social media.

One customer said: “Oh, never, it’s absolutely deplorable for you.”

The news comes after Select closed its store at County Square Shopping Center in February this year.

Inside Summerat the same time Closed a branch in Ipswich also on a site in Coventry.

Stores that will open in December 2024

Toys R Us

The iconic toy retailer of the 90s will quickly open 23 new stores, following the successful opening of dozens of stores last year.

The stores will all be open by Christmas, with the first customers welcomed at the end of last month.

See the full list of locations Here.

Mountain Warehouse

The outdoor clothing retailer has announced it will open 50 new stores in the UK.

The brand has opened 20 new stores in the UK in the past six months and now plans to expand into new locations, including retail parks.

The full list of locations where Mountain Warehouse will open has not yet been announced.

Lidl

Lidl has said it wants to open 10 more stores in the UK before Christmas as it targets Christmas shoppers.

The discounter currently has around 960 stores but has previously said it wants to operate more than 1,100 stores in England, Wales and Scotland.

Locations where it wants to open branches before the end of the year include Berwick Green in Bristol, Bovey Tracy in Devon, Stirchley in Birmingham and Hoxton, Forest Gate and Caterham in London.

Robert Gatward Jewelers

Robert Gatward Jewelers in Thame, Oxfordshire, will close its doors for the last time Christmas Eve.

The Thame street store is holding a massive storewide sale and owners Keith and Bridie Gill say they have to move £4 million worth of stock.

Sales to be seen gem There is a 50 percent discount on diamond rings, precious stone pieces, earrings, necklaces, bracelets and rings.

Current owners Keith and Bridie bought the business in 1999 from namesake Robert Gatward, who opened the store in 1969.

They said the store would close because the lease had expired.

Czerwik Fine Wines and Cheeses

Czerwik Fine Wines and Cheeses Czerwik Fine Wines and Cheeses in Brighouse town centre, West Yorkshire It will close completely on December 31st.

Store owners shared the following on social media: “After 33 years and much thought, we have decided to close our doors with great sadness and a heavy heart.

“Obviously this was a very difficult decision to make and was not taken lightly.”

The post suggested this wasn’t the end of the road businessand added: “New things are coming.”

Announcement Facebook It sparked hundreds of supportive comments.

Millet

A Millets store on Market Street, YorkIt is expected to close in late December before being converted into a Go Outdoors Express store in the New Year.

The two brands are under the same parent company, JD Outdoors.

CEO Lee Bagnall told Press: “Available Millet The store is located in a prime location on Market Street, an easily accessible and popular destination for shoppers.

“We always aim to offer our customers the best possible experience, so by converting this store to GO Express, customers will be able to benefit from the GO Outdoors loyalty program, which offers members-only and more affordable prices.”

The Millets store in Burgess Hill, one of 100 stores across the country, is also set to close permanently.

A source close to the store said: “We have decided not to renew the lease of our Burgess Hill store, which is in the process of being renovated.

“This affects four of our employees and we are working with them to see if alternative roles are available at other local JDGroup stores.”

These two closures follow the closure of Millets stores across the country in recent weeks, including in Sussex, Halifax and. Cheltenham.

Guinevere

Legendary antique shop Guinevere on London’s King’s Road is to close on the busy high street after 60 years.

The store, founded in 1963 by Genevieve Weaver, is scheduled to close on Christmas Eve.

Weaver’s sons, Marc and Kevin, took over the business in the early 1980s, but the couple was forced to close the store due to rising shipping costs.

They will now switch to running the business online so the business will continue “in some form”.

Why are retailers closing their stores?

RETAILERS have been feeling the pinch since the pandemic, while shoppers are cutting back on spending due to the rising cost of living crisis.

High energy Following the epidemic, costs and the switch to online shopping also had negative effects, and many high street stores had difficulty continuing.

There have been a number of closures on the high street in the past year and more are coming.

The number of jobs lost in British retail fell last year but figures still show 120,000 jobs were lost.

According to the figures of the Retail Research Center, 10 thousand 494 stores were closed in 2023, and 119 thousand 405 jobs were lost in the sector.

There were fewer stores than those lost for several years, a reduction from the 151,641 jobs lost in 2022.

Professor Joshua Bamfield, director of the centre, said the recovery was “less bad” than good.

The center said many major companies, including Topshop owner Arcadia, Jessops and Debenhams, were already bankrupt before 2022, although some big names including Wilko had losses.

“The cost of living crisis, inflation and interest rate rises have caused many consumers to tighten their belts and reduce retail spending,” Prof Bamfield said.

“Retailers have suffered from rising energy and occupancy costs, staff shortages and falling demand, making it extraordinarily difficult to rebuild profits following massive store closures during the pandemic.”

In addition to Wilko, which employed nearly 12,000 people when it collapsed, the biggest failures of 2023 included Paperchase, Cath Kidston, Planet Organic and Tile Giant.

The Center for Retail Research said most stores were closed because companies were trying to reorganize and cut costs rather than because the business was failing.

But experts have warned there are likely to be more failures this year as consumers tighten their belts and businesses’ borrowing costs rise.

The Body Shop and Ted Baker are the biggest names to fall into administration this year.

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