SHUTTING UP SHOP
Full list of 27 shops and venues closing in September including DIY giant and big cinema name
A number of major retailers are planning on exiting high street sites this month
UP to 27 shops are set to shut their doors in September as retailers continue to quit the high street.
Shoppers have been hit with a swathe of closures in recent years as many of their favourite chains shutter sites.
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Troubles on the high street have been apparent for several years.
The cost-of-living crisis has meant households have less money in their pockets, cutting back on their spending.
As a result high street shops have seen lower footfall and less money landing in the tills.
That, coupled with ongoing restructuring plans and high rents, has forced many chains to close.
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Figures from the Centre for Retail Research revealed almost 10,500 shops closed for the final time in 2023.
The 12-month period also saw over 119,000 jobs lost across the sector.
According to the centre's most recent data, 1,846 stores closed and 23,982 retail jobs were lost during the first six months of 2024.
This month will be no different, with up to 27 stores closing their doors for the last time.
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Of course, it's not all bad news, in some cases the branches will be replaced with bigger and better shops.
Retailers regularly open and close shops for a number of reasons - not just because they are struggling.
All the chains we've loved and lost in recent years
It could be because they have a store nearby that is performing better or it may be because they want to pick a spot that has higher footfall, such as in a retail park.
Clarks
Clarks will close its store in March, Cambridgeshire, on September 4.
The shoe chain has shut several stores this year, following a string of closures in 2023.
Clarks was founded in 1825 and operated across 1,400 stores and franchises internationally at its peak.
But as of July 2023, the brand had just 320 UK stores - with plenty more having shut since then.
All is not lost for shoppers though, as the retailer has also relocated and opened new shops.
The brand opened a new store on East Street in Taunton in April 2023 following the closure of its original high street store.
Clarks also opened up a new store in Newcastle's Eldon Square shopping centre on May 14 last year.
Why are retailers closing shops?
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.
Homebase
Up to 12 branches of Homebase could close in September following a major transfer of sites to Sainsbury's supermarket.
Ten stores are to be closed and taken over by Sainsbury's, with the handover scheduled for this month.
Two further closures have been announced by the retailer, separate to the deal, with sites in both Northampton and Cambridge set to shut their doors.
A branch in Northampton's Riverside Retail Park is shutting its doors on September 6.
Ahead of the closure, the store launched a major sale, with discounts of up to 70%.
It's understood the closure followed the landlord's plans to transform the site into two separate units, leaving the company forced to depart.
Homebase will also be pulling down the shutters on its branch in Cambridge Retail Park.
The store will be closed on September 13.
The sites set to be converted into Sainsbury's supermarket are in:
- Sutton Coldfield
- Bromsgrove
- Cromer
- Derry/Londonderry
- Fareham
- Inverurie
- Lowestoft
- Newark
- Omagh
- Rugby
Homebase currently operates around 144 locations across the UK.
The home improvement retailer and garden centre has closed 106 stores since it was taken over by Hilco Capital in 2018.
Beales
Beales department store is closing its Southport store on Saturday 7 September and is currently holding an "everything must go sale".
The Beales department store building had been home to the retailer for the past 135 years and the building carries signs saying ‘Beales, formerly Broadbents & Boothroyds’.
The store also housed several local businesses including Remedy at Beales, Baby Love, Lucy Lou’s Boutique, Plaza Cards and more.
Founded in 1881, Beales once operated 23 department stores in market towns across the UK selling a range of furniture, fashion, toys and cosmetics.
The department store chain fell into administration back in 2020 and failed to secure a rescue deal.
However the brand was later purchased by a new owner and Beale's reopened its Southport store in 2021, attracting huge queues on its opening day.
After the Southport store shuts there will be just one left in the UK - in Poole.
WHSmith
WHSmith will pull down the shutters for good on its Bridgwater branch in Somerset on Saturday 7 September.
A week later on 14 September it will close another outlet in Stanley Square, Sale.
The Somerset site had been put up for sale, prior to the announcement and the retailer confirmed it was "no longer sustainable to trade from the location".
The stationary store said the Sale closure was due to the landlord’s redevelopment plans.
WHSmith has shuttered eight stores since March 2023, including in Manchester and Bicester, England.
Despite these latest closures it has 1,400 UK stores and is on the expansion trail.
It has earlier announced 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.
While still expanding WHSmith is looking to cut costs of up to £10million, following a four per cent drop in sales.
Pizza Hut
Pizza Hut is closing its Surrey Quays Leisure Park site on Saturday 14 September, alongside neighbouring attractions Odeon cinema and Hollywood Bowl.
The closures are a result of the redevelopment of the leisure park.
In the future the area will house a Tesco Extra and 384 new homes.
Pizza Hut also closed its store in Dartford, Kent last month but still has more than 260 venues in the UK
After launching in Islington in 1973, Pizza Hut grew to more than 700 restaurants and delivery outlets in the UK.
During the 1980s the chain was opening an average of one restaurant each week in the UK.
But the future of the pizza chain was left hanging in the balance last year as it battled ongoing debt.
Earlier this year, the chain had also suffered sales slump by 7 per cent as cash-squeezed customers cut back on takeaways.
Blacks Outdoors
Blacks Outdoors will shut its Leicester branch on 21 September.
The closure leaves the chain, which specialises in selling and renting camping equipment and climbing and mountaineering supplies, with more than 70 stores.
Blacks began life on the banks of the River Clyde in Greenock, a shipbuilding town 20 miles west of Glasgow in 1861.
By 1928, fuelled by growing demand for its products, Blacks began expanding its footprint by opening its first English premises in London.
It bought the Outdoor Group, which included Millets and Free Spirit, in November 1999 for £51 million.
At the time, Blacks had 42 stores and a 40% share in the Fila UK Ltd sportswear firm.
In December 2011, the group was put up for sale.
Blacks entered a "pre-pack" administration for only four hours, to allow the new owner JD Sports to take the business forward debt-free.
Bonmarché
Bonmarché is set to close its branch in Arnold, Nottingham, on September 22.
It is believed to be closing because the retail unit landlord has increased the rent.
Locals were disappointed by news of the closure and even local MP Michael Payne commented.
He said: "Bonmarché has been part of our community for many years, offering an essential service to numerous residents, including those with limited mobility who find it difficult to shop elsewhere or prefer not to shop online.
"The store has also been a vital source of employment for many dedicated staff members who have consistently contributed to the company and local area."
After falling into administration in 2019, Bonmarché has experienced a resurgence in popularity and opened a run of new branches at the end of 2023.
In June Bonmarché confirmed plans to bring more stores to UK high streets in the next 18 months.
It also opened a concession in Co Op's Louth store.
Frasers
Mike Ashley's Fraser Group will permanently close its Fraser's branch in Middlesbrough in September.
An exact date has not been confirmed for the closure.
Tycoon Ashley bought House of Fraser, which had traded for almost 40 years on the high street, in December 2020 for an undisclosed sum and gave the store its new name, Frasers.
The wider Frasers Group, which also includes brands Sports Direct, USC and Jack Wills, has been shaking up its portfolio across the UK amid a turbulent time for retailers.
USC is set to pull down the shutters on its shop at The Potteries Shopping Centre in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent.
It shut down another USC branch in Stockton-on-Tees in December last year.
House of Fraser, also owned by Frasers Group, closed its store in Carlisle in May.
A Sports Direct branch in Stroud, Gloucestershire, also pulled the shutters down for good at the end of March.
However, it's not all bad news as the Frasers Group has been opening stores across the UK as well.
In recent months it has welcomed in customers to "new concept" stores which sell brands from across the group including Sports Direct and Jack Wills.
Last September, it cut the ribbon on one of the stores in Norwich and has opened two more of the stores in Blackpool and Sheffield.
Plus, it has plans to open one of the concept stores in a former John Lewis site at Queensgate Shopping Centre, Peterborough by the end of 2025.
The firm also took on the famous Compton House in Liverpool earlier this year and will reopen the site as its flagship Sports Direct branch.
Frasers Group also snapped up luxury chain Choice in 2022 and has since rebranded some of them as Flannels.
Dockerills
DIY store Dockerills in Church Street, Brighton, will shut its doors on September 27 - bringing the chain's 109 year legacy to an end.
Brighton's Dockerill is the last branch of the family business that has been operating since 1915.
The Church Street unit was bought by the Dockerill family in the 1970s and went on to become a staple stop for locals.
What shops are opening in September?
It's not all bad news for September. Here are some of the shops opening this month:
Primark: Bradford - Tuesday 10 September
Weird Fish: Bowness-on-Windermere - Saturday 7 September
The Range: Hexham - date yet to be confirmed
In a statement, Dockerills said: "It is with a heavy heart that we announce the closure of our Dockerills high street store at the end of September.
"The business has been a part of the North Laine community for over 100 years and was established in Regent House, Church Street in the mid-70s."
It is understood that the shop was struggling due to less footfall as many shoppers now prefer to order DIY items from online e-commerce stores.
Boots
Boots has not confirmed dates for September closures but has been shuttering shuts following a review of its estate.
The health and beauty chain announced last year that it would close 300 branches, and more than 250 have since shut.
The remaining stores marked for closure will have shut for good by the beginning of October.
The move is aimed to reduce the chain's store portfolio from around 2,200 to just 1,900.
The pharmacy chain employs over 52,000 team members, and it has said that these closures will not lead to any redundancies.
Cineworld
Cineworld has plans to close six UK sites as it enters the first phase of a major restructuring.
Venues in Glasgow, Bedford, Hinckley, Loughborough, Yate, and Swindon are expected to close down over the coming months.
A Cineworld spokesperson said: “We are implementing a restructuring plan that will provide our company with a strong platform to return our business to profitability, attract further investment from the group, and ensure a sustainable long-term future for Cineworld in the UK.”
If the plan is approved by the court, it is expected to become effective in late September 2024.
The total number of impacted sites cannot be confirmed until the process is complete.
The chain is also said to be renegotiating rent agreements for around 50 of its sites.
Struggling businesses often do this to help lower their operating costs and help retain more of their brick-and-mortar estate.
However, landlords don't need to accept what's put forward in these discussions.
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This means that up to 50 additional Cineworld complexes could also be at risk of closure if the chain and its landlords cannot reach an agreement.
A further 25 cinemas will be left unaffected by the restructuring plans and will remain open for the foreseeable future.
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