‘The town is dying’, shoppers despair as high street fashion chain with more than 200 UK locations to close store

SHOPPERS are in despair after a high street fashion chain with more than 200 UK locations announced it is closing a store.

Clothing giant River Island is shutting up shop at the Friary Centre, in Guildford, Surrey, in just days.

The popular store, a staple on Britain's high streets, will cease trading at on Saturday, May 11, in another blow for the town.

The store is currently having a closing down sale to get rid of as much stock as possible.

Customers have been quick to share their concern on social media.

One wrote: "Guildford sadly is dying."

Another said: "Can't believe it one of the few shops I get clothes as presents for my son. It's destroyed the town."

A third wrote: "No one can afford the high rent anymore."

The brand had to get rid of 350 staff a few years ago, due to Covid, and is now subjecting more to redundancies.

Retailers have been feeling the squeeze since the pandemic, while shoppers are cutting back on spending due to the soaring cost of living crisis.

High energy costs and a move to shopping online after the pandemic are also taking a toll, and many high street shops have struggled to keep going.

The high street has seen a whole raft of closures over the past year, and more are coming.

The number of jobs lost in British retail dropped last year, but 120,000 people still lost their employment, figures have suggested.

Figures from the Centre for Retail Research revealed that 10,494 shops closed for the last time during 2023, and 119,405 jobs were lost in the sector.

It was fewer shops than had been lost for several years, and a reduction from 151,641 jobs lost in 2022.

The centre's director, Professor Joshua Bamfield, said the improvement is "less bad" than good.

Although there were some big-name losses from the high street, including Wilko, many large companies had already gone bust before 2022, the centre said, such as Topshop owner Arcadia, Jessops and Debenhams.

"The cost-of-living crisis, inflation and increases in interest rates have led many consumers to tighten their belts, reducing retail spend," Prof Bamfield said.

"Retailers themselves have suffered increasing energy and occupancy costs, staff shortages and falling demand that have made rebuilding profits after extensive store closures during the pandemic exceptionally difficult."

Alongside Wilko, which employed around 12,000 people when it collapsed, 2023's biggest failures included UK Flooring Direct, Planet Organic and Tile Giant.

The Centre for Retail Research said most stores were closed because companies were trying to reorganise and cut costs rather than the business failing.

However, experts have warned there will likely be more failures this year as consumers keep their belts tight and borrowing costs soar for businesses.

Last year, around 14% of insolvencies were in retail businesses, according to official figures.

IT'S NOT ALL BAD NEWS

Lidl is set to open hundreds of new stores across the UK.

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 that 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.