MAJOR shops and chains are closing dozens of branches next month in a blow to shoppers.
Boots, Lidl and WHSmith are among the retailers shutting sites in the coming weeks.
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It comes after retailers saw the amount of goods they sold drop over Christmas at its fastest rate in three years piling more pressure on the sector.
Sales volumes dipped by 3.2% in December, data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) suggested.
This meant that December saw the biggest drop in sales for the retail sector since January 2021, when the country was still under Covid-19 restrictions.
The high street has been hit hard in recent years as shoppers increasingly turn to online retail, a trend made worse by the coronavirus pandemic.
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The Centre for Retail Research recently revealed that over 10,000 shops and almost 120,000 retail jobs were lost in 2023.
High energy and wage costs have forced many businesses to shut up shop as well.
Plus, soaring inflation in 2022 and 2023 squeezed households’ budgets meaning they had less expendable money and retailers suffered.
Below, we detail all the stores set to close for good in February.
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Boots
Boots is set to close several stores in the coming months as part of its plan to shut 300 shops over the next year.
The pharmacy chain will close its branch in Hough Lane, Leyland, on February 2.
Its store on Wood Street in Swindon will close for the final time on Friday, February 9.
Just eight days later, Boots in Clifton, York will shut on Saturday, February 17.
The closures are part of wider plans that will see the retailer’s total shops reduced from 2,200 to 1,900.
When the plans were announced in June, 2023 Boots had not confirmed which stores were set to shut.
Over time, closing down notices have been appearing in the health and beauty chain’s affected locations.
But there are still many more set to close in order to reach it’s target meaning more sites could shut for good in the coming months.
Fenwick
Iconic department store Fenwick will be closing its central London store in Bond Street for good.
It will shut permanently on Saturday, February 3.
Fenwick’s website started an “archive sale” exclusively for its Bond Street location, offering up to 70% off.
Shoppers are already mourning the loss of the beloved store and have taken to Facebook to share their sadness.
One fan of the store said: “I can’t believe it! What is going on in London? All the best places are disappearing!”
The site is set to become a home to a pop-up shop run by innovative charity shop department store project Charity Super.Mkt, according to Time Out.
Fenwick started trading in 1882, opening its store on Bond Street in 1891.
There are eight other Fenwick stores across the country, including in Canterbury, Colchester, Newcastle, Tunbridge Wells and York.
Lidl
Lidl has pulled down the shutters on several of its supermarkets in the past year with more to come.
The chain is closing its shop in Paignton, Devon, next month after 25 years.
The store in the Victoria Centre will shut for good on February 4 after long speculation about its future.
A spokesperson said locals can be assured that they can head to its larger White Rock Way store, just 10 minutes’ walk away.
Lidl has also confirmed that it will be shutting its Kentish Town Road branch on February 11 – after a decade on the high street.
Although, it’s not all bad news and Lidl has plans to acquire an alternative site nearby so that they can reopen.
Most recently Lidl confirmed its Thornaby store in Stockton-on-Tees will be closing on February 29.
But shoppers will instead be able to head over to its Tower Street and Billingham Road stores, along with the store on Yarm Road.
Lidl has more than 960 stores across the UK and is currently in the middle of a huge expansion.
Last year, Lidl revealed it is looking to open hundreds of new locations across the UK as part of huge expansion plans.
The potential locations would be for high street, standalone, mixed use, or shopping centre stores.
The full list, of which there are 1,168 locations, includes sites across all areas of Great Britain – including: 66 in Scotland, 83 in Yorkshire, 83 in central England, 91 in south London and 42 in south-mid Wales.
It’s important to note that the locations listed represent only potential sites.
Costa
Costa Coffee, which has more than 2,000 cafes across the country, will close its store on Chiswick High Road by February 6.
The nearest Costa Coffee for locals will now be King’s Street in Hammersmith.
The coffee chain has closed a dozen sites over the past year with seven sites gone already.
Costa told The Sun that it regularly reviews its store estate across the UK to ensure it’s right for its communities and teams.
This can include the closing or renovation of existing stores, or the opening of new stores.
Plus, Costa is set to open several new sites, including a new cafe in Kent and a drive-thru in Lancashire.
WHSmith
WHSmith is set to pull down the shutters on its shop in Union Street, Aberdeen city centre on February 17.
It is currently unclear how many staff members are going to be affected by the closure.
The Union street shop is the latest in a handful of WHSmith branches to have shut over the last year.
In June last year, WHSmith’s boss Carl Cowling said the retailer had no plans to open any more UK high street stores.
He said that the retailer is refocusing its efforts on UK airports and train stations, as well as looking to expand in the US and Europe.
Chain Reaction
Chain Reaction, an outdoor sports store, will be pulling down the shutters for the final time next month.
The online cycling retailer will be closing its only store in Belfast in February.
It comes after the company, which trades as Wiggle CRC, fell into administration back in October.
The collapsed company, which includes Wiggle, Chain Reaction Cycles and the Vitus and Nukeproof cycling brands, became insolvent after losing the financial support of parent company Signa Sports United.
The news of the store closure was announced on social media in a heartfelt post.
The website is currently still up and running as usual though.
Aldi
Aldi on Halbeath Road, Dunfermline plans to shut its doors on Sunday, February 18 to allow renovations to take place.
Shoppers will not be able to go back into the store for three months until May when renovations are expected to be finished.
Instead they will need to head to Nightingale Place in Dulock Park to do their weekly shopping.
The discount supermarket, which has over 1,000 stores across the UK, has made plans to temporarily close quite a few stores.
This includes the Thetford store, which shut its doors on October 14 before reopening a few weeks later.
Aldi has also announced a series of permanent closures, including its store in Sheerness town centre in November.
But it’s not all bad news because Aldi has also announced plans for its next phase of expansion which will include another 500 new stores.
Jack Wills
Jack Wills is gearing up to pull down the shutters on its branch in Worcester city centre in February.
Signs announcing the closure appeared inside the shop and outside on its front windows.
They read: “Jack Wills – This store will be closing February 2024.
“Closing down 20% off full price.”
Signs are also directing customers to shop online with a link to the firm’s website.
The Sun has asked Jack Wills to confirm the exact date the shop will close.
The chain was bought out by Mike Ashley‘s Sports Direct, part of the Frasers Group, in August 2019 as part of a £12.75million bid.
At the time, there were 110 stores across the UK and Ireland.
But the preppy fashion brand lost its appeal in the following years as sixth-formers and university students turned to grungier styles.
In March 2020, it announced it would permanently close nine stores, just days after revealing five would shut.
Matalan
Matalan in The Core Shopping Centre on The Headrow will close on February 24.
The closure is due to plans to demolish the shopping centre, according to local news reports.
In January, another Matalan in Leytonstone shut up shop.
Reacting to the news, shoppers took to Facebook, and one said: “That’s very sad to hear.”
Shoppers in Renfrew were left devastated in September when it announced the closure of its Blythswood Retail Park store.
The bargain store launched a 30% off everything sale before it closed for good on September 30.
Age UK
Age UK will close the doors of its Furniture and More store in Dereham’s Yaxham Road for good in February.
With 250 locations across the UK, Age UK is Britain’s leading charity dedicated to helping everyone make the most of later life.
The charity, which sells an ever-changing range of goods to support the elderly, confessed both inflation and the pandemic played a role in the inevitable closure of the warehouse store.
The charity chain announced the news in a heartfelt post on Facebook.
It read: “It is with sadness that we want to share with you all that we will be closing the doors to our Dereham Furniture and More store in Yaxham Roas permanently in February 2024.”
What about store openings?
Times are tough for the high street, but there’s still hope as several chains are set to open new sites.
B&M will open a branch in Harrow, London, on February 10, then another in Arnold, Nottinghamshire, on February 21.
The retailer will cut the ribbon on a branch in Thamesmead, London, on February 22 and Beaumont Lays, Leicester, a day later.
B&M also said it would open a branch in Worthing, Sussex, in February or March next year after taking on the lease.
One Stop is opening a new store in Doncaster in February 22.
Nando’s is in the process of opening 14 new UK restaurants after returning to profit for the first time since the pandemic.
The peri-peri chicken chain originally planned to open 14 new sites in the UK this financial year, which runs from February 2023 to February 2024.
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So far, 10 of these restaurants have swung their doors open to customers.
The next to open will be at Marine Point in New Brighton in the Wirral.
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