CLOSING TIME
High street shop with over 60 sites launches huge ‘everything must go’ closing down sale before shutting for good
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SHOPPERS have shared their devastation following the news a major high street store will close for good.
Card Zone, which has 60 locations across the UK, will permanently shutter its site in Scunthorpe in a matter of months.
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A closing-down sale has already been launched, with the retailer offering 20% off products in the store.
In a post shared on social media, locals have expressed their sadness at the card and gift store's departure.
One said: "The town centre is dead."
And another added: "Aww no gutted love this shop especially for my Disney bits."
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Colleagues at the store in North Lincolnshire confirmed to The Sun that the gift and card store will close for good on 23 April 2025.
That gives shoppers around four months to say their goodbyes.
It comes as Card Zone is set to close another store in Stroud, Gloucestershire next month.
Shoppers in the area have been aware of its closure since May, with a closing-down sale also being launched.
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And these are not isolated occurrences.
Earlier this year, it was announced the brand would close its site in Reigate following a major discount sale.
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Two other Cardzone stores were permanently shuttered last year as well.
The retailer, which has stores across the UK, shut branches in Beeston and Kirkby in Ashfield, both in Nottinghamshire.
News of the closure comes amid a challenging time for the whole of the UK’s retail sector.
High inflation coupled with a squeeze on consumers' finances has meant people have less money to spend in the shops.
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Just this month, bosses at a number of prominent retailers have revealed plans to cut stores from their estates.
Garden centre giant Dobbies closed 12 of its stores before Christmas to help shore up extra costs following a restricting plan.
Meanwhile, Homebase has confirmed that six of its sites will close before the end of the year.
These include sites in Sutton Coldfield, Bromsgrove, Cromer, Fareham, Newark and Rugby.
Three more Homebase sites in Derry, Inverurie, and Omagh are also set to close in the coming months, along with a branch in Glenrothes near Fife.
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The garden and homeware retailer crashed into administration last month, but around 70 stores were rescued by CDS Superstores, the owner of The Range and Wilko.
At the time it entered administration, Homebase operated 141 stores.
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.
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