CLOSING TIME
High street bargain chain with 187 branches to shut ‘brilliant’ store as shoppers sob ‘another piece of history gone’
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A BELOVED bargain shop chain is set to pull the shutters down one of its stores.
The Original Factory Shop has announced the closure of another location within weeks.
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The discounter is closing its branch in Deal, Kent, according to its Facebook page.
TOFS said the site, labelled "brilliant"; by shoppers, will be shutting at the end of September.
The retailer thanked local shoppers for their support over the years.
In a post, it said: "We are sorry to let you know our store will close its doors on 28th September 2024.
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"We take this opportunity to thank all of the local community and our store colleagues for their support throughout our time here in Deal."
The shock closure has left several local customers devastated, although the trader maintains around 190 branches nationwide.
One Facebook user said: "Another piece of history and friendly staff gone."
A second wrote: "Such a terrible end to such a popular store.
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"Obviously, this has not been a business decision as business was good, but another sign of the times."
Another commented: "Oh no another brilliant shop closing but why? Love that shop."
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A fourth posted: "I love this shop. I go to Deal, from Dover, regularly the main reason being the factory shop.
"Don't think I will be shopping at Deal much after it closes."
While a fifth said: "Such a shame. It was affordable and you could always get something good.
"Now probably destined for townhouses and artisanal deli's selling £4 sourdough bread."
"That's awful news," another declared.
It's understood that the closure is down to the building being redeveloped and the chain being unable to renew the lease.
A spokesperson from The Original Factory Shop said: “After the landlord informed us that they were redeveloping our Deal store, we were unable to renew the lease.
"We want to remain in town and our property team would consider any alternative suitable sites.
"We are working hard to support all of those colleagues that will be affected and seeking to redeploy them across our business.”
After the Deal store closes, three of The Original Factory Shops will remain in Kent: Tenterden, Biggin Hill and Headcorn.
Other The Original Factory Shop closures
The Deal store closure is not the only one to be announced by The Original Factory Shop this year either.
It has already pulled the shutters down on seven stores in recent months:
- Brightlingsea, Essex
- Bodmin, Cornwall
- Chepstow, Wales
- Fakenham, Norfolk
- Harwich, Essex
- Mildenhall, Suffolk
- Padiham, Lancashire
- Taunton, Somerset
It comes after the retailer, known for selling everything from clothing to homeware and stationery, shut a number of branches last year.
But it's not all bad news, as it has been opening stores across the UK too, as it shakes up its presence on the high street.
The full list of stores that have opened since August 2023 includes:
- Kirkintilloch - opened August 24
- Stonehaven - opened August 31
- Blandford Forum - opened August 31
- Haddington - opened September 7
- Wetherby - opened September 7
- Nairn - opened September 14
- Ashbourne - opened September 14
- Castle Douglas - opened September 21
- Penrith - opened September 21
- Inverness - opened September 28
- Attleborough - opened September 28
- Ayr - opened October 5
- Ringwood - opened October 5
- Perth - opened October 12
- Lanark - opened October 19
- Peterhead - opened October 26
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.
Retail woes
Other retailers, such as Homebase, Boots, and Clarks, have been reducing the number of their high-street branches.
Rising rents, energy bills, and the cost of living have also caused many retailers to fail.
Several big retailers have fallen into administration in the past year, including Wilko, Paperchase, and most recently, The Body Shop and Ted Baker.
The Body Shop collapsed into administration on February 13, putting its almost 198 branches at risk of closure.
Since then, it has closed down 82 locations.
However, it's not all bad news for the high street, as several other retailers and hospitality venues have plans to expand.
Beer giant Heineken announced plans to invest £39million to help reopen 62 previously shuttered British pubs.
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 each new store opening will create around 40 new jobs on average.
In recent months, Asda has been opening hundreds of convenience stores as it seeks 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.
Purepay Retail Limited, the parent company of Bonmarché, Edinburgh Woollen Mill (EWM), and Peacocks, 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.
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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.
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