Major bargain chain with over 850 branches to close store’s doors forever in just hours as shoppers sob ‘such a shame’
Why the store is set to close just eight months after it opened
A MAJOR bargain chain store with over 850 branches is set to close its doors forever.
Shoppers have sobbed at yet another loss to our high streets as Poundland will shut up one of its shops in hours.
The cheap and cheerful retailer took over a former Wilko site in Altrincham, Greater Manchester, last October.
Sadly eight months on, Pounland is shuttering the location on George Street in the Stamford Quarter on Monday.
Locals have cried out at the latest blow.
One person on Facebook wrote: “Such a shame,” while a second penned: “The rents need lowering to attract and keep stores.”
A third said: “How sad.”
And a shocked fourth commented: “Blimey it only opened recently.”
Signs went up in May to say: “Sorry. We’re closing on 17th June. Visit our website for other nearby stores.”
A spokesperson for Poundland said the firm had been unable to agree a new lease with the landlord.
He said: “Sadly we’ve been unable to agree lease terms that would enable us to keep the store trading.
“The store is currently planned to close on June 17.
“Whenever we have to close a store, it goes without saying we do all we can to find alternative roles for colleagues.”
The retailer had given priority to Wilko workers when recruiting new staff for the outlet.
It’s not the first former Wilko store Poundland has closed down.
The branch in Jarrow was one of the first ex-Wilko stores to reopen but closed for good on April 20.
Why are retailers closing shops?
EMPTY shops have become an eyesore on many British high streets and are often symbolic of a town centre’s decline.
The Sun’s business editor Ashley Armstrong explains why so many retailers are shutting their doors.
In many cases, retailers are shutting stores because they are no longer the money-makers they once were because of the rise of online shopping.
Falling store sales and rising staff costs have made it even more expensive for shops to stay open. In some cases, retailers are shutting a store and reopening a new shop at the other end of a high street to reflect how a town has changed.
The problem is that when a big shop closes, footfall falls across the local high street, which puts more shops at risk of closing.
Retail parks are increasingly popular with shoppers, who want to be able to get easy, free parking at a time when local councils have hiked parking charges in towns.
Many retailers including Next and Marks & Spencer have been shutting stores on the high street and taking bigger stores in better-performing retail parks instead.
Boss Stuart Machin recently said that when it relocated a tired store in Chesterfield to a new big store in a retail park half a mile away, its sales in the area rose by 103 per cent.
In some cases, stores have been shut when a retailer goes bust, as in the case of Wilko, Debenhams Topshop, Dorothy Perkins and Paperchase to name a few.
What’s increasingly common is when a chain goes bust a rival retailer or private equity firm snaps up the intellectual property rights so they can own the brand and sell it online.
They may go on to open a handful of stores if there is customer demand, but there are rarely ever as many stores or in the same places.
The North East store opened at the end of September last year just 12 days after taking over the premises from Wilko.
Poundland bought up 71 ex-Wilko stores when the retailer fell into administration last year.
The discounter quickly turned around the locations and opened up many of the stores under its brand before Christmas.
Since then several stores have closed down including locations in Ellesmere Port, Glashiels and the Sailmakers Shopping Centre in Ipswich.
In total, Poundland has shut down nine former Wilko locations just months after bringing them back to life.
What else is happening on the high street
Many retailers have had to make changes in recent times in a bid to survive the cost of living crisis.
We have seen several big losses in the last 12 months including popular discounter Wilko and stationary brand Paperchase.
This year, health and beauty chain The Body Shop fell into administration and announced the closure of many of its 200 stores.
Almost 500 staff are set to lose their jobs after 75 stores were earmarked for closure.
Plus, clothing retailer Ted Baker fell into administration in March 2024 too, with 15 stores having shut by April 19.
Other retailers such as Iceland, Boots and Matalan have been slimming down the number of stores they have in their portfolio.
Just this spring Boots is closing a total of nine sites, as part of its wider plans to get rid of 300 locations.
These closures will see the retailer’s total shops reduced from 2,200 to 1,900.
This has upset a lot of locals in the affected towns, however, the health and beauty chain has said where stores are closing there is an alternative shop less than three miles away.
If you are concerned about your favourite store disappearing from the high street we have the full list of shops and supermarkets set to close in May – check if your local is affected.