DOWN AND OUT
‘Getting ridiculous’ sob shoppers as retailers including Ted Baker to close 15 stores this week – check the full list
Plus, we've revealed the brands opening new sites this year
SEVERAL big-name retailers have plans to close over a dozen stores this week.
Ted Baker will shutter 11 stores for good after collapsing into administration last month.
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M&S, Superdry and The Works will also close stores before the end of the week.
Since the pandemic, retailers have been feeling the pinch.
Many have had to grapple with small budgets and consequently chose to close stores to cut costs.
Below, we reveal all the stores set to close for good in days.
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M&S
M&S is closing just one store this month but the branch has played a key role in its local community for years.
Marks and Spencer has confirmed it will be closing its store in Queensgate Shopping Centre, Peterborough.
M&S blamed "customers shopping habits" and said it will be closing the store on April 20.
The store, which was John Lewis's flagship store for 40 years, was taken over by M&S in 2021.
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The store has three floors, includees a food hall and an M&S cafe.
Shoppers could also find various clothes and a Bureau de Change.
Retailers opening shops in 2024
Superdry
Superdry is set to close a branch in Dundee this month in another blow to the British high street.
The store in the Overgate shopping centre is due to shut on April 20.
Earlier this year, the troubled fashion brand said it is looking at various "cost-saving options" after reports it is considering a major restructuring, which could include store closures and job cuts.
Local media reports the Overgate shopping centre has confirmed a new retailer will soon be taking over the space, which Superdry occupied for 12 years.
Ted Baker
Ted Baker hired administrators from Teneo last month and has since revealed a host of store closures and the loss of 245 jobs.
Ted Baker, which has 46 UK stores, will close 11 branches by April 19.
The full list of branches closing by next weekend is as follows:
- Birmingham Bullring
- Bristol
- Bromley
- Cambridge
- Exeter
- Leeds
- Liverpool One
- London Bridge
- Milton Keynes
- Nottingham
- Oxford
Meanwhile, the following four shops will close in the coming weeks, but an exact date is yet to be confirmed:
- Bicester (notice served before administration)
- Brompton Road, London (notice served before administration)
- Floral Street, London (notice served before administration)
- Manchester Trafford (notice served before administration)
The Works
The Works is due to close another two stores this month.
The discount retailer, which sells everything from arts and crafts to gifts, toys and stationery, will close its Swansea branch on April 20.
A spokesperson told the Sun it had "been unable to agree on suitable lease terms to stay".
One said: "One step nearer to a ghost town," while a second added: "This is getting ridiculous."
The retailer has confirmed that its shop in Penrith will shut its doors for the final time in mid-April, although no exact date has been given yet.
The high street retailer has already scrapped its loyalty card scheme, and shoppers have a few months to use up their earned vouchers.
Retailers closing stores in 2024
RETAILERS have been feeling the squeeze since the pandemic, while shoppers are cutting back on spending due to the soaring cost of living crisis.
High energy costs and a move to shopping online are also taking a toll, and many high street shops have struggled to keep going.
Here's a list of all the big-name brands closing stores this year:
- Argos - The brand announced plans to close 100 standalone UK branches last year as it looks to move away from the high street and focus on expanding its presence in supermarkets.
- B&Q - The chain has over 300 shops across the UK, so chances are you have one near you, but some stores have closed in recent months.
- Boots - The health and beauty chain announced that it would be closing 300 stores last July. Closures are ongoing and this will see the retailer's estate reduced from 2,200 to 1,900 shops.
- Clintons - Clintons mulled plans to close 38 shops in a bid to avoid insolvency late last year. We've listed the stores affected.
- Costa Coffee - The caffeine giant has around 2,000 sites nationwide, so chances are you'll have one near you. The chain has shut the doors to dozens of its sites recently. We've revealed which stores are due to close this year.
- Iceland - The supermarket has more than 900 stores but closed nearly two dozen sites in 2023, and more selected shops are due to shut.
- Lidl - The supermarket, which has 950 stores, is changing up shop locations, which has meant that some stores have to close. But the retailer is also looking to open 12 new supermarkets.
- M&S - M&S, which runs 405 stores across the country, has been closing a string of branches across the country in a blow for shoppers. It's not all bad news, though, because the chain also has big plans to open dozens of new shops as well.
- Trespass - The firm announced in July last year that it was closing six branches, but more are on the way.
- WHSmith - The retail giant, which runs over 1,100 stores, has shuttered eight stores since March 2023, but more are coming.
Why are retailers closing stores?
Retailers have been feeling the squeeze since the pandemic, while shoppers are cutting back on spending due to the soaring cost of living crisis.
High energy costs and a move to shopping online after the pandemic are also taking a toll, and many high street shops have struggled to keep going.
The high street has seen a whole raft of closures over the past year, and more are coming.
The number of jobs lost in British retail dropped last year, but 120,000 people still lost their employment, figures have suggested.
Figures from the Centre for Retail Research revealed that 10,494 shops closed for the last time during 2023, and 119,405 jobs were lost in the sector.
It was fewer shops than had been lost for several years, and a reduction from 151,641 jobs lost in 2022.
The centre's director, Professor Joshua Bamfield, said the improvement is "less bad" than good.
Although there were some big-name losses from the high street, including Wilko, many large companies had already gone bust before 2022, the centre said, such as Topshop owner Arcadia, Jessops and Debenhams.
"The cost-of-living crisis, inflation and increases in interest rates have led many consumers to tighten their belts, reducing retail spend," Prof Bamfield said.
"Retailers themselves have suffered increasing energy and occupancy costs, staff shortages and falling demand that have made rebuilding profits after extensive store closures during the pandemic exceptionally difficult."
Alongside Wilko, which employed around 12,000 people when it collapsed, 2023's biggest failures included Paperchase, Cath Kidston, Planet Organic and Tile Giant.
The Centre for Retail Research said most stores were closed because companies were trying to reorganise and cut costs rather than the business failing.
However, experts have warned there will likely be more failures this year as consumers keep their belts tight and borrowing costs soar for businesses.
The Body Shop and Ted Baker are the biggest names to have already collapsed into administration this year.
News of shop closures across the UK might have you thinking it's all doom and gloom on the high street.
But plenty of retailers have announced plans to open hundreds of stores between them over the coming years.
Which retailers are opening new stores in 2024?
Home Bargains, which was running just under 600 branches as of last June, has said it wants to "eventually have between 800 and 1,000 retail outlets open".
Tesco has revealed plans to open 70 more stores across the UK over the next year as part of major expansion plans.
The parent company of Bonmarché, Edinburgh Woollen Mill (EWM and Peacocks, Purepay Retail Limited, has said it wants to open 100 new high street stores over the next 18 months.
The UK's cheapest supermarket Aldi is set to open 35 new stores across the UK over the coming months.
Screwfix is set to open 40 new stores across the UK over the next financial year.
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WHSmith is one of the retailers which has been closing stores across the UK, but it also wants to open branches in other locations.
One of the UK's favourite bakery chains - Greggs - has exclusively revealed to The Sun plans to open 50 more outlet branches by the end of 2025.
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