AROUND 250,000 High Street jobs could be axed as more Brits shop online in the coronavirus crisis.
John Lewis is shutting eight stores putting 1,300 jobs at risk, while Boots this week said 4,000 will be going.
Read our coronavirus live blog for the latest news & updates
Top Shop, New Look, Arcadia, Monsoon and Poundstretcher could be next to announce closures.
Retail guru Richard Hyman said: “If you think there are 9.5million people on furlough, 250,000 redundancies is quite a reasonable number. Pre-pandemic online sales accounted for 30 per cent of non-food sales. That will rise to 40 per cent, which means hundreds of thousands of job losses.
“Lockdown has been the catalyst, not the cause. Big firms like John Lewis have needed to shut stores for years. Fifteen years ago online shopping wasn’t really used, now it’s worth £70billion.
“But in that time they have still opened more stores. It’s not sustainable.”
A source warned: “Boots and John Lewis are just the start.
“Virtually every retailer has too many stores. Timing is everything but this is a good moment to blame a long-term trend away from the high street on the virus.”
Prof Joshua Bamfield, of the Centre for Retail Research, said closures announced to date are the tip of the iceberg. He added: “All big retailers will be having talks as to how many stores they really need open in 2021.”
Don't miss the latest news and figures - and essential advice for you and your family.
To receive The Sun’s Coronavirus newsletter in your inbox every tea time, sign up here.
To follow us on Facebook, simply ‘Like’ our Coronavirus page.
Get Britain’s best-selling newspaper delivered to your smartphone or tablet each day – find out more.
GOT a story? RING The Sun on 0207 782 4104 or WHATSAPP on 07423720250 or EMAIL exclusive@the-sun.co.uk
