A TOTAL of eight stores are set to close in the coming days, in a fresh blow to the UK high street.
Shoppers have been hit with a swathe of closures in recent years, seeing some of their favourite chains shutter sites.
The cost of living crisis has seen households with less money in their pockets, leading some to cut back on their spending.
This has had a knock-on effect on high street shops, which have seen lower footfall and less money landing in the tills, and many have been forced to close outlets.
That, coupled with ongoing restructuring plans and high rents, has meant several chains have shuttered hundreds of sites.
Figures from the Centre for Retail Research, a research foundation, revealed almost 10,500 shops closed for the final time in 2023.
The 12-month period also saw over 119,000 jobs lost across the sector.
According to the Centre’s most recent data, 804 stores have closed and 16,565 retail jobs were lost during January, February, March, April and May 2024.
This month will be no different, with at least 10 stores closing their doors for the last time.
Of course, it’s not all bad news though, in some cases the branches will be replaced with bigger and better shops.
Retailers regularly open and close shops for a number of reasons – not just because they are struggling.
It could be because they have a store nearby that is performing better or it may be because they want to pick a spot that has higher footfall, such as a retail park.
We reveal which sites are pulling down the shutters one final time in July – plus the chains opening too.
B&Q will shut its Sudbury store in Suffolk this summer due to the expiry of the lease.
The landlord has secured planning permission to redevelop the site and occupy the B&Q unit.
The store’s proposed closure date is July 20.
Reacting to the news on Facebook, one local shopper said: “I suppose the lack of investment in maintaining the potholed car park was a telltale sign – pity as it was a useful store.”
It comes after B&Q also shut an “essential ” store in June.
Card Factory has branches across the country including in major cities like London, Nottingham and Sheffield.
But shoppers in Cumbernauld, North Lanarkshire, Scotland, will soon need to find an alternative shop as the chain is set to close its store on July 20.
A Card Factory spokesperson said: “We continually review our estate of over 1,050 stores across the UK and Ireland.
“With our other Cumbernauld store just around the corner in the Antonine Shopping Centre on Forth Walk, (0.2 miles away), we have taken the decision to close our store on Teviot Street from July 20.
“We look forward to continuing to serve all our Cumbernauld customers and helping them celebrate their special life moments.”
Peacocks, on Holywell High Street in Flintshire, Wales, is closing down on July 25.
The store is famous for selling cheap and fashionable clothing.
A spokesperson for Peacocks confirmed the closure but The Sun has also reached out for a comment.
The closure follows Peacocks in Arc Shopping Centre in Bury St Edmunds closing on January 25th 2024.
The infamous budget store Poundland has told customers that its branch at The Shires Shopping Centre in Trowbridge will close today – 20 July.
Signs have sadly been put up on the shopfront, warning locals about the imminent closure.
They read: “Sorry. We’re closing July 20. Visit our website for other nearby stores.”
For residents of Trowbridge, the closest nearby locations are in Warminster, Devizes, Chippenham, Swindon, and Salisbury.
It comes after terms on the shop’s lease could not be agreed between the retailer and shopping centre’s management.
The Works is set to shut down its site in Berwick-upon-Tweed, Northumberland.
The discount retailer claims the decision was made after failing to agree on a new lease for the premises on Marygate.
Specialising in gifts, arts, crafts, toys, books and stationery, The Works has been a high-street favourite for a number of years.
But the Berwick store will bring its shutters down for the final time on Friday, July 26.
A spokesperson for the retailer told the Northumberland Gazette: “We can confirm that we will be closing our Berwick-upon-Tweed store on the 26th of July.
“This has been a great location for The Works, but sadly we have been unable to agree on suitable lease terms to stay.
“We apologise for any inconvenience caused by this closure and would like to thank customers for shopping at the store over the years.”
An “excellent” Robert Dyas branch will be shutting in July too.
The popular site, in Castlepoint, Bournemouth, is set to shut up shop on July 20.
The sad news comes after the store was served a notice by their landlord.
A Robert Dyas spokesperson confirmed: “The landlord has served notice on our Castle Point store, as they wanted to split the unit in two and sadly we were not able to mutually agree terms in bidding for one of those units.
“We will leave that store on July 20th, and continue to look for an additional and appropriate new site in the area, as it is a strong performing store for us.
“The next nearest stores in the meantime, for our loyal Robert Dyas customers, are Poole and Christchurch.”
The Costa Coffee on Inglis Street in Inverness, Scotland, will close its doors for the final time on July 24.
The branch in the city centre is a popular haunt for residents and tourists.
Costa has said all staff working at the shop will be deployed to other branches.
In April, an announcement was made that the branch would be closing sometime later this year.
The coffee giant operates several shops around the city, including one just a three-minute walk from the Inglis Street branch within the Eastgate Centre.
There are also Costa outlets at the Inverness Retail Park, Inshes Retail Park and the train station.
A Costa Coffee spokesperson said: “We can confirm that our Costa Coffee store on Inglis Street in Inverness is due to close for trade on the 24th of July.
“Customers can still enjoy their favourite Costa coffee at the nearest Costa Coffee store found in Eastgate Shopping Centre.”
The owners of Picturehouse have confirmed it will be closing its site in Stratford East on July 29.
It comes after Cineworld, which operates the chain of cinemas, said it would shutter two other Picturehouse locations in Bromley and Fulham Road, London.
A Picturehouse spokesperson said it had made the difficult decision to close all three cinemas due to “increasing operational costs and declining admissions”.
It commented: “Picturehouse Members will be contacted directly about the remaining time on their Memberships in the coming days.
“We’d like to thank our hard-working teams and our loyal customers for their support over the years.”
The spokesperson also confirmed Picturehouse has opened three new cinemas in the past six months in Ealing, Chester and Epsom.
One local said: “The first cinema I was ever a member of. A real shame it’s closing.”
A second commented: “Oh no this is really upsetting. I’m a member & it was the cheesiest place to go plus they did all the special nights etc – gutted.”
Several other retailers and hospitality venues have plans to expand.
Superdrug has plans to swing the shutters up on 25 new branches in the coming months.
Beer giant Heineken announced plans to invest £39million to help reopen 62 previously shuttered British pubs.
Aldi has announced that it will open 35 new UK stores.
The openings form part of Aldi‘s long-term target of 1,500 stores in the UK.
The supermarket is set to invest £550million in expanding its UK footprint this year alone.
Aldi said each new store opening will create around 40 new jobs on average.
Asda has been opening hundreds of convenience stores in recent months as it looks to rival major players Tesco and Sainsbury’s.
B&M plans to open “not less than” 45 brand new stores across the UK in each of the next two consecutive years.
The parent company of Bonmarché, Edinburgh Woollen Mill (EWM) and Peacocks, Purepay Retail Limited, has said it wants to open 100 new high street stores over the next 18 months.
It has yet to give the exact locations where it will open the 100 stores or when they will open.
One of the UK’s favourite bakery chains, Greggs, has exclusively revealed to The Sun plans to open more outlet branches by the end of 2025.
Home Bargains, which was running just under 600 branches as of last June, has said it wants to “eventually have between 800 and 1,000 retail outlets open”.
The major discounter has stopped short of saying when it wants to reach the 1,000 store target, however.
Primark is also opening new branches and investing and renovating more than a dozen of its existing shops.
Screwfix is set to open 40 new stores nationwide as its owner, Kingfisher, seeks to expand the DIY brand’s national presence.
The brand opened two new stores in March, and a further three new shops will open this month.
Tesco has revealed plans to open 70 more stores across the UK over the next year as part of major expansion plans.
WHSmith has turned its focus to the travel side of its business, with plans to open new sites in airports, railway stations and hospitals.
Morrisons wants to open 400 Morrisons Daily convenience shops as part of its plans to take on retail giants Aldi and Lidl.
The supermarket has set its sights on opening up 2,000 stores across the UK in 2025.
However, the exact list of locations has not yet been revealed.
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