GONE FOR GOOD
‘No shops left’ as high street fashion giant loved by bargain hunters with 180 branches closes areas last remaining site
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LOCALS have cried there will "be no shops left" after a high street fashion giant closed one its stores.
H&M pulled down the shutters of its branch at the Croft Retail Park in Bromborough, Wirral, on December 23, days before Christmas.
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A spokesperson for the retailer, which runs over 189 stores in the UK, confirmed the closure to The Sun.
It means Wirral has been left with no H&M stores, leaving locals devastated.
One said: "Be no shops left," while another added: "They are all leaving a sinking ship."
A third commented: ";My daughters are devastated to hear that H&M is closing down."
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And a fourth said: "Absolute nightmare it’s a great one."
It comes after H&M closed a number of other branches this year, including in Hartlepool and the Isle of Wight.
Stores in Burton and Maidenhead shut at the start of 2023 too.
In November 2022, the fashion chain revealed it had closed one in five of its UK stores in a blow for shoppers.
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At the time, the move left H&M with 192 stores across the UK after closing more than 50 locations.
In January this year, the Sweden-based retailer reported a 68% drop in net profits for the year ending November 30, 2022.
H&M also saw a surprise loss in the fourth quarter as it closed branches in Russia after the nation's invasion of Ukraine.
However, in September, the retailer said its operating profit had soared to £353million, up from £67million, in the three months to August 31.
Which are other retailers are closing stores?
Plenty of major retailers and small businesses have been hit hard in recent years as consumers turn to online retail.
High inflation since 2022 has seen households' budgets squeezed too, meaning they've got less expendable cash.
That, combined with high energy and wage costs, has seen a number of businesses forced to close stores.
In July, Boots Pharmacy said it would be closing 300 branches as part of plans to consolidate its portfolio.
Meanwhile, a number of retailers have crashed into administration, including Paperchase, M&Co and most notably Wilko.
But it's not all bad news as a number of retailers have been expanding, like Poundland.
Supermarket chain Iceland has been opening stores, with some under the Iceland Local brand.
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Primark and B&M have all been growing their portfolios too, with B&M acquiring 51 former Wilko sites.
Meanwhile, Paperchase has since relaunched 250 concession stores in Tesco branches and Wilko has returned to the high street.
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