DI-WHY
Huge homeware chain with 230 stores to close city centre branch for good as locals sob ‘we’re turning into a ghost town’
It comes after another beloved DIY store also announced its shock closure after a century in business
A HUGE DIY store with 230 branches is set to close its doors in a few weeks - ending its 30-year legacy.
Staff at Sheffield's Wickes on Moore Street reportedly said it will shut for good on August 16.
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A member of staff at Wickes told : “It’s been very difficult to keep it going.
“The store has been here 30 years, I think. I think people will miss us.”
Shoppers were devastated by the news, sharing their disappointment on Facebook.
One person wrote: "It's a shame to see it go. The clean air zone must of had an impact, whether it's all down to that is anyone's guess."
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Another added: " It’s gonna be weird walking in to town and back home and not seeing Wickes there."
We were quoted a huge sum to transform our kitchen but did it with £33 Wickes panelling - people say it's Pinterest worthy_1
A third replied: "End of an era!!"
While a fourth commented: "I went here for all my gear every day."
Meanwhile, one user said: "Sheffield will become a ghost town."
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In February it was revealed that a Wickes branch in Bristol would close, but the chain has around 230 stores across the country,
Some retailers have closed a few branches here and there for various reasons, like when a store lease has come to an end.
Other examples of one-off rather than widespread closures is if there are changes in the area, like a shopping centre closing, and in some cases a shop will shut to relocate to another area.
Some chains have faced tougher conditions though, forcing them to shut dozens of stores, or all of them in the worst case.
It comes after shoppers were left devastated after their beloved gift store announced it will close its doors after five decades in business.
Meanwhile, iconic DIY store Dockerills in Church Street, Brighton, said the business will shut its doors forever in September this year.
Brighton's Dockerill is the last branch of the family business that has been operating since the business started in 1915 by Walter Dockerill.
The Church Street unit was bought by the Dockerill family in the '70s and went on to become a staple stop for locals.
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In a statement, Dockerills said: "It is with a heavy heart that we announce the closure of our Dockerills high street store at the end of September.
"The business has been a part of the North Laine community for over 100 years and was established in Regent House, Church Street in the mid-70s."
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.
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