A MAJOR DIY chain has issued an update on the closure of 74 branches after closing down sales were launched at two stores.
Homebase sites in Bridgend and Bangor, Wales, have launched the sales with shoppers posting their discounted finds on Facebook.
It comes after closing down signs were spotted at stores in Morecambe, Lancaster, Winchester and elsewhere.
Homebase crashed into administration in November, but part of the business was rescued by billionaire Chris Dawson, owner of The Range and Wilko.
The rescue deal looked to retain up to 70 stores and save 1,600 jobs as well as the Homebase brand, leaving 74 branches and roughly 2,000 employees at risk.
A week later, administrators for Homebase, Teneo, put the 74 stores up for sale.
A deadline was set of November 29 for potential buyers to acquire the 74 sites but it’s still unclear whether any of them have been saved.
The Bridgend branch was one of the sites put up for sale, but unexpectedly the Bangor store was not.
The Sun asked Homebase what date the two shops will close but Teneo declined to comment.
However, a spokesperson said all its branches remain open and continue to trade for now, including those acquired by CDS Superstores, which owns The Range and Wilko.
The spokesperson added: “From January 2025, Homebase will transfer around 10 stores each month to CDS which will be relaunched as The Range Superstores.
“Talks with prospective buyers for the remainder of the stores are progressing.”
The CDS buyout saved approximately 1,600 jobs and up to 70 sites.
Alex Simpkin, chief executive of CDS Superstores, owner of The Range, said at the time: “We’ve stepped in following the sad demise of the much-loved Homebase brand, which has had a long and previously successful history of helping UK households with their DIY projects and gardening needs, for over 45-years.”
He confirmed that the Homebase brand will continue to trade online, and the acquired stores will continue to trade as Homebase over the coming months.
HERE'S the full list of Homebase sites that have been put on the market:
England:
Scotland:
Wales:
Northern Ireland:
Republic of Ireland:
Once they are transferred to CDS they will “quickly” re-open as The Range superstores.
We’ve asked Homebase for the full list of stores purchased by CDS Superstores and will update readers once this has been announced.
CDS Superstores also previously acquired the Wilko name and intellectual property after it collapsed into administration last year.
Homebase’s collapse comes after Hilco Capital, which owns the retailer, had put the company up for sale in July.
In August, supermarket giant Sainsbury’s agreed to buy 10 Homebase stores.
Once all stores are closed, Sainsbury’s will convert the units into new supermarkets.
The acquisition of the stores and refit programme to follow is expected to cost Sainsbury’s £130million.
The retail sector has struggled in recent years as high inflation coupled with a squeeze on shoppers’ finances has seen people with less money to spend in shops.
An increasing trend towards online shopping has seen retailers struggle for footfall through stores as well.
A number of major chains have fallen into administration in recent years.
Wilko, Ted Baker and The Body Shop have all plunged into administration but some stores have been saved in rescue deals.
Pressure on the sector is not expected to abate any time soon either.
The Government announced in its Budget employer National Insurance contributions (NICs) will be hiked in April from 13.8% to 15%.
Fears have been raised the hike will be passed onto shoppers in the form of higher prices and job cuts.
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.
