The ‘death of the high street’ looks set to continue this winter with many retailers closing stores despite the Christmas rush.
Shops including New Look, Homebase, Poundland and WH Smith have all announced impending closures as the festive season looms large in the calendar.
It comes as the cost of living crisis, soaring energy bills and high inflation continue to hamper the UK economy.
According to the Office for National Statistics 345,000 businesses closed in 2022- an increase of more than 5% on the previous year – and the highest since records began.
It marked the first time the ‘death rate’ for British businesses exceeded the ‘birth rate’ since 2010.
Just recently the Wilko brand disappeared entirely from high streets around the country, with many of the stores being snapped up by rivals.
According to The Sun, New Look will shut its shop in Shirley, Southampton, in December, following in the footsteps of several other closures.
A store in Stratford-upon-Avon store already closed in October, as did three others in September.
Six other New Look shops closed across the whole of the UK earlier in the year.
But new stores did open in Grimsby and Leicester.
Meanwhile, DIY outlet Homebase is closing a store in Banbury, Oxford, within the week. The Southam Road store is set to shut on December 3.
A London branch in Finchley Road will also shut a week later, and a store in Plymouth also closed earlier this month.
Fashion firm Lacoste is also bringing down the shutters on its Leicester store at the Highcross Shopping Centre on December 3.
And bargain shop owner Poundland is to close a store at the Chineham Shopping Centre near Basingstoke at the end of December.
This is despite it being one of several retailers who snapped up the former Wilko stores.
December will also mark the closure of a WH Smith store in Manchester’s Market Street.
The chain already closed shops in Bicester and Newcastle-under-Lyme in 2023.
A store in Ramsgate, Kent, will also close in the new year with the business as a whole focusing instead on areas of growth such as at airports and railway stations.
However, it is not all bad news for shopping fanatics as some businesses are bucking the trend by expanding.
Among those opening rather than closing stores are discount warehouse Costco, bakery chains Patisserie Valerie, Greggs and Dunkin’ Donuts, as well as fashion brands Bonmarche and The White Company.
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