A SUPERMARKET giant is set to shutter one of its beloved superstores, leaving locals devastated as the final closure date looms.
Tesco has confirmed it will be closing its store in Chippenham next week, pulling down the shutters for good on August 15.
The Chippenham superstore, a staple of the Emery Gate shopping centre since 2008, has been a lifeline for many, especially the elderly and vulnerable who live nearby and rely on its convenience.
The announcement of its closure was made back in January, but the final date has now been set, causing a wave of disappointment and frustration among shoppers.
A sign displayed at the store read: “This store will permanently close on August 15, 2024. Your nearest Tesco store is Chippenham, SN15 3EY.”
The closure marks the end of Tesco’s 15-year lease at Emery Gate, as the company made what it described as a “difficult decision” to shut down the store permanently.
Tesco previously told The Sun: “We have taken the difficult decision to close our Chippenham Superstore.
“We have, however, secured a new smaller premises in Chippenham town centre which we will open as Tesco Chippenham High Street Express, and we look forward to continuing to serve our customers at our local stores.”
The new Express store, set to replace a former Wilko site, aims to provide continuity for Chippenham shoppers, though no opening date has been confirmed.
Despite Tesco’s efforts to maintain a presence in the town centre, many locals feel the loss of the larger store will leave a significant void.
Shoppers have taken to social media to voice their concerns and frustrations.
One wrote: “Huge loss to Chippenham. Appalling that it has got to the point where we will have no supermarket in the town centre.
Many elderly and vulnerable people who live near the town centre (and don’t have transport) have relied on it for years.
It is an excellent store. What we will be left with is a puny Tesco Express, with few lines and increased cost.”
Another said: “Just another nail in the coffin that was Chippenham town centre.
“People won’t be doing a weekly shop in a Tesco Express with those prices.”
The sentiment was echoed by another user, who said: “Making a big mistake closing it down. Nobody is going to spend large amounts of money in Tesco Express where the prices are much inflated.”
Despite the backlash, Tesco has assured customers that this closure is not part of a wider trend.
The company continues to operate over 2,000 stores across the UK, and this particular closure is a standalone decision rather than part of a wave of cuts.
Retail closures have become an all-too-familiar sight on British high streets, with several major chains announcing closures or entering administration in recent years.
The British Retail Consortium reports that over 6,000 retail outlets have shut since 2018, a trend driven by rising business rates, the fallout from coronavirus lockdowns, and the shift to online shopping.
While other supermarkets have managed to weather the storm, the retail sector as a whole has seen significant turmoil.
Iconic brands like Wilko, Paperchase, and The Body Shop have all faced closures or gone into administration, leading to a reshaping of the UK’s high streets.
However, it’s not all doom and gloom.
Some retailers and hospitality venues are expanding, with Aldi planning to open 35 new stores this year alone as part of its goal to reach 1,500 UK stores.
Beer giant Heineken has also announced a £39 million investment to reopen 62 shuttered British pubs.
As for Chippenham, while the loss of Tesco’s superstore will undoubtedly be felt, the opening of the new Express store offers a glimmer of hope for locals who rely on the chain.
For now, the community braces for the change, hoping that the new store will serve their needs as well as the old one did.
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.
