A MAJOR high street chain with 1,400 stores is gearing up to close another store, and shoppers fear the premises will “stay empty”.
WHSmith is pulling the shutters down on a popular store in Somerset for good next month.
The stationery retailer will close its Bridgwater branch on Saturday, September 7.
The decision was made after the retailer said it was no longer sustainable to trade from the premises.
The closure is due to increasing rents and this would not be profitable for the business.
The branch will close at the end of the store’s current leasing agreement, so the premises have now been put on the market.
A WHSmith spokesperson said: “We can confirm that the WHSmith store in Bridgwater will be closing on Saturday, September 7.
“It is no longer sustainable to continue to trade from this location, and the decision has been made to close the store as a result of the forthcoming lease expiry.
“We are disappointed to be losing our presence in Bridgwater and we would like to thank all our customers for their support and for shopping with us.
“We are also extremely grateful for the commitment of our in store colleagues who we will support with this transition and redeploy to nearby stores, where possible.”
Many locals were surprised to hear of the closure despite heavy speculation about the store’s future.
However, shoppers have been quick to share their views on social media about the closure.
One shopper posted on Facebook and said: “They need to stop upping the rent on these places all the time then we may have places stay and get some decent shops.”
Another said: “It’ll stay empty as rates and rents are too high for decent shops.”
“Surprised they have lasted this long. But sorry for the staff losing there jobs,” said a third shopper.
The Bridgewater unit has been put on the market for rent at £52,000 per year or for purchase £750,000.
The building features 4,240 square feet of ground-floor sales, 491 square feet of stores, and 2,840 square feet of first-floor ancillary accommodation.
The first floor can be accessed via both the front and rear of the building and is serviced by a staircase to the rear of the shop, which leads to a kitchen, staffroom, two offices and male and female WCs.
WHSmith said they were “disappointed” but thanked customers for their support over the years.
However, it’s not all bad news for the retailer.
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.
Despite the closure, the WHSmith is set to benefit from more stores in the near future.
It comes after news that WHSmith plans to open 110 new shops this year in airports, railway stations and hospitals.
More than 50 of them will be in the US and 15 in the UK.
The stationer already has 580 sites in various global travel locations.
UK travel sales grew by 15% in the 20 weeks to January, but it’s in the US where the chain has the potential to flourish.
Chief exec Carl Cowling said: “I am particularly excited by the substantial growth opportunities that exist in [the US] market.
“The group is in its strongest ever position as a global travel retailer.”
Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor said: “WH Smith benefits from ‘captive’ customers in many key sites, such as railway stations, motorway services, hospitals and, in particular, airports.
“The return of near-normality in air travel has been a particular boon to this segment of the group.”
UK high street sales fared less well, falling four per cent.
As a result, the group is aiming to cut costs by up to £10million.
Several other major retailers have plans to increase their store counts.
German discounter Aldi has announced it will open 35 new UK stores this year. The openings form part of Aldi’s long-term target of operating 1,500 stores in the UK.
Asda has been opening hundreds of convenience stores as it looks to rival major players Tesco and Sainsbury’s.
Purepay Retail Limited , 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.
Home Bargains has said it wants to “eventually have between 800 and 1,000 retail outlets open”.
Primark is also opening new branches and investing and renovating more than a dozen of its existing shops.
Lidl is set to open hundreds of new stores across the UK.
Screwfix is set to open 40 new stores nationwide as its owner, Kingfisher, seeks to expand the DIY brand’s national presence.
Superdrug has plans to swing the shutters up on 25 new branches in the coming months.
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.
