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Supermarket to close FOUR shops in days amid 19 stores shutting for good
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A MAJOR supermarket chain is set to close four stores in days after announcing plans to shut 19.
Co-op Central, separate to the Co-operative Group, is pulling down the shutters on branches across middle England.
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A store in Sprowston is permanently closing on February 1 while three others in Narborough, Barnby Dun and Eastwood will shut by the end of March.
The four sites are part of a list of 19 "financially unsustainable" branches that Co-op Central said would close at the end of last year.
The retailer, which operates separately from The Co-operative Group, also announced plans to close six funeral homes.
The 15 other branches started closing in November, with the first three pulling down their shutters on November 30.
Read more on Store Closures
Shoppers have shared their dismay after finding out their local Central Co-op store is on the list of 19.
One said: "Just crazy and unfortunately a sign of the times more will go I bet."
A second simply said: "Terrible times."
These are the 15 stores that have closed, and their closure dates:
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- Narborough Road, Leicester – November 30, 2024
- Blaby Road, South Wigston – November 30, 2024
- Evington Road, Leicester – November 30, 2024
- Mayors Walk, Peterborough – December 7, 2024
- Hallcroft, Shepshed – January 4
- Hawthorne Road, Kingstanding – January 4
- Pochin Street, Croft – January 11
- Overfield Road, Dudley – January 11
- Mill Lane, Enderby – January 18
- Baybrooke Road, Desborough – January 18
- Yew Tree Retail Park, Yardley – January 25
- Baswich Lane, Stafford –January 25
- High Street, Broughton – January 25
- Middlebrook Way, Cromer – January 25
- High Street, Erdington – January 25
Central Co-op has invested £40million in its food stores and funeral homes since the start of 2024, opening five new stores and refurbishing 35 stores and 16 funeral homes.
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But it said inflation had seen its food sales take a hit, with trading "more challenging" compared to previous years.
Chief executive Debbie Robinson said in November: "We’re committed to putting the welfare of our colleagues first when making these tough choices.
"Any decision to sell or close our stores follows an extensive period of careful appraisal, and enables the Society to redirect resources into future growth and further improvements across the business for our Members, customers and colleagues."
It's worth noting, while the 19 branches will stop trading as Co-op Centrals, all of them will reopen under new ownership.
B&M has bought three of the 19 stores, while Samy Ltd, a convenience retailer, has snapped up 16.
Central Co-op said it was "confident" staff working at the 19 stores would be able to take on new roles under new ownership.
The latest closures from Central Co-op come after it sold its store in Atherstone, Coventry, to Tesco in September 2023.
Three further branches were sold to Tesco, closing the following month.
OTHER STORE CLOSURES
Co-op Central is just one of a number of retailers closing branches across the UK.
Although it's worth bearing in mind it's common practice for major retailers to close stores in underperforming areas and open them where they think they'll drive better sales.
WHSmith has confirmed in recent days it will close one of its branches after revealing 17 would shut for good in the coming months.
It comes as the high street staple explores options to sell off 500 UK shops.
Outdoor clothing retailer Blacks has also launched closing down sales at two sites with up to 30% off.
Meanwhile, major charity retailer Scope is said to be considering shutting 77 of its 138 shops.
Bosses said it was facing declining footfall on the high street and spiralling costs.
It comes as the Centre for Retail Research warned more store closures were on the way for 2025.
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The research foundation said over 13,000 retail sites closed last year, as it predicted this rising to 17,350 in 2025.
It said it expected to see an increase in the number of store closures due to the upcoming hike in employer National Insurance Contributions (NICs) and national minimum wage.
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.
The British Retail Consortium has predicted that the Treasury's hike to employer NICs from April 2025, will cost the retail sector £2.3billion.
At the same time, the minimum wage will rise to £12.21 an hour from April, and the minimum wage for people aged 18-20 will rise to £10 an hour, an increase of £1.40.
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.
In some cases, stores have been shut when a retailer goes bust, as in the case of Carpetright, Debenhams, Dorothy Perkins, Paperchase, Ted Baker, The Body Shop, Topshop and Wilko 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.
The Centre for Retail Research (CRR) has warned that around 17,350 retail sites are expected to shut down this year.
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