Sports store with 54 branches to close within DAYS – and shoppers are disappointed

A SPORTS store with more than 50 branches is to close within days and shoppers are gutted.

Decathlon is closing one of its shops this weekend, just two years after it first opened its doors.

The sporting goods retailer revealed it is closing its branch in Bromley High Street, in Greater London, on September 17 in an email to customers.

The announcement said: "Your local Decathlon store in Bromley will be closing permanently as of Sunday, September 17 2023.

"This has been planned as part of our retail optimisation project."

It added that a clearance sale is underway and will continue until the shutters come down for the final time.

Decathlon's online store locator tool also confirms that the store will close for good this weekend.

The Sun has approached Decathlon for comment on the closure and for more details of its clearance sale.

But remember, it's only a bargain if you were thinking of buying it anyway and you shouldn't buy something just because it's reduced.

Local residents have been left disappointed at the news that their area is losing its Decathlon store.

One wrote on Facebook: "That's a shame! I am disappointed."

Another said: "It’s only been open a couple of years."

And a third added: "Probably business rates are too high, hence why Bromley is looking like it will be full of charity shops and the odd bank."

Decathlon has 54 stores across the UK, including in cities like Nottingham, Portsmouth, Manchester, Leeds and Southamtpon.

It opened its store in Bromley in May 2021.

It stocks a range of sporting essentials as well as outdoor equipment like tents and sleeping bags.

Other high street closures

The high street has been hit hard in recent years due to the growth of online shopping, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic.

At the same time the cost of living has been rising, leading to shoppers cutting back on non-essential spending.

Brick and mortar stores have also seen a lack of footfall due to consumer habits switching to online shopping.

Wilko is to close all of its stores - with hundreds of workers at the shops set for redundancy - after it collapsed into administration.

It comes a day after administrators confirmed all the group’s remaining shop, warehouse and support centre workers are set to lose their jobs.

While popular chains including M&Co and Paperchase closed all stores this year.

It's not all negative news though - some retailers have been opening branches across the UK.

A huge bakery chain that closed 170 stores after collapsing into administration is set to reopen branches.

Meanwhile, homeware chain The White Company is opening five new branches over the next three months.

Plus, Poundland and B&M are opening stores too.

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