LOST SOLE
Iconic shoe shop loved by parents to shut ‘amazing’ store permanently TODAY leaving shoppers ‘sad’
We reveal why so many retailers have closed up shops
AN ICONIC shoe shop loved by many parents is closing an "amazing" store today leaving shoppers feeling devastated .
A Clarks branch in Gowthorpe, Selby closed its doors permanently today (Saturday, September 14).
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The footwear chain had previously been described by customers as "amazing", "welcoming", "excellent", and "perfect".
However, at the start of September, Clarks announced that its store in the North Yorkshire town would shut for food.
A post said: "We’d like to thank our loyal customers who have shopped with us at these stores, and we’ll be delighted to continue to serve them with our full range of products online and at our nearby Clarks stores in York, Monks Cross and Wakefield."
At the time of the announcement, shoppers took to social media to express their disappointment and one said they were "sad to see it go".
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Writing in the Google reviews for the store, one local said: "Was very impressed by the service to fit my daughter's shoes.
"Felt that the lady took time to try different sizes to get the right ones for her. Very happy!!"
A second wrote: "Excellent shop due to the amazing staff. We came out with 9 pairs of shoes.
"Staff couldn't have been more accommodating."
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Another commented: "Really good shoe shopping experience.
"Fantastic customer service from two really helpful ladies.
Inside timewarp shoe shop that has laid untouched for 80 years
"All a perfect example of why we need high street shops."
A fourth posted: "Love this little store, staff are incredibly friendly.
"Would always come to this Clarks before any other store."
While a fifth said: "Brilliant can't recommend them enough the ladies were so helpful and went above and beyond."
"Helpful staff nothing's too much bother always clean and tidy," another said.
At its peak, the popular retailer had more than 1,400 stores and franchises.
Clarks currently has over 300 stores in the UK.
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.
OTHER CLARKS CLOSURES
The sad news comes just weeks after the popular retailer announced that its shop in St Helier is shutting on July 27 after 24 years of trading.
Most recently, the chain announced the closure of a branch in March, Cambridgeshire.
The popular retailer also confirmed that its shop on King Street in the capital St Helier shut on July 27 after 24 years of trading.
Clarks pulled down the shutters on its branch in Stroud, Gloucestershire, on June 10.
Clarks shut down its location on Marlborough's High Street on April 22, leaving locals without a dedicated shoe shop in the area.
So far in 2024, Clarks has also closed:
- Grove Shopping Centre, Witham - January 13, 2024
- Saddlers Shopping Centre, Walsall - February 10, 2024
- East Grinstead - March 24, 2024
- Abingdon, Oxfordshire - April 22, 2024
- Marlborough High Street - April 22, 2024
- Stroud - June 2024
- Maidenhead - June 2024
- St Helier - July 27, 2024
- March - September 4, 2024
- Selby - September 14, 2024
In November 2023, Clarks also brought the shutters down on its site in Newport Retail Park.
The retailer pulled down the shutters on its branch in Murrygate, Dundee last July.
Last year, the branch in Fareham shopping centre was shut for good on August 5 and Inverness in September.
It also closed its shop in Grimsby at the end of October last year and its store in Newcastle under Lyme on November 3.
The full list of sites which have shut in recent years is:
- Kent in Ashford - end of 2022
- Gillingham, end of 2022
- Murraygate, Dundee - July 25, 2023
- Fareham Shopping Centre, Hampshire - August 5, 2023
- High Street, Inverness - end of September, 2023
- Grimsby - end of October, 2023
- Newport Retail Park - November, 2023
- Riverside Shopping Centre, Norwich - November, 2023
- Westwood Cross Shopping - mid-November, 2023
- High Street, Newcastle - November 2023
- Bicester Village, Oxfordshire - December 31, 2023
- The Bridges Shopping Centre, Sunderland - date unknown
But Clarks opened up a new store in Newcastle's Eldon Square shopping centre on May 14, 2023.
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Of course, it's important to bear in mind that chains shut sites for many different reasons.
This might be that the lease is expiring, rents have increased, low footfall or that the area is being redeveloped. It doesn't mean that the company is in trouble.
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