A MAJOR discount chain with 500 branches is set to shut a store for good.
Savers is shutting its shop in Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, in another blow for the town.
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The popular discount retailer has announced it will be closing its Riverside Quay premises this summer.
A spokesperson for Savers told local news outlet The Pembrokeshire Herald that it hoped the current staff would be “redeployed” to other locations.
They added: “We can confirm that our Savers Haverfordwest store will be closing in the summer month – we are looking to offer roles to staff at local stores where possible.”
Locals have taken to social media to vent their frustration at the store closing.
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One person said: “Next went a while ago, M&S now closing, there is hardly anything left.”
Another added: “Gutted, bad news for our towns.”
While a third commented: “The continued decline of our high streets and town centres.”
The continued decline of our high streets and town centres!
Social Media user
It comes as many retailers are struggling to make it work on the high street.
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The rising cost of living and a move to online shopping means that many towns are resembling more like ghost towns than the thriving shopping centres they once were.
Big names such as Wilko, The Body, Shop and Paperchase have all fallen victim to the retail crisis as they tumbled into administration.
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Wilko and Paperchase left the high street last year, and most recently The Body Shop announced it would be closing 21 more shops, along with the 46 already shuttered.
Other retailers such as Boots and Marks and Spencer are shaking up their store portfolios in a bid to survive the changing retail climate.
However other retailers are bucking the trend and looking to expand their store portfolios giving hope to shoppers that all is not lost on the high street.
We have the full details of what is happening with other retailers below.
What about other retailers?
Earlier this month Boots announced that it will be closing a total of nine sites, as part of its wider plans to get rid of 300 locations.
These closures will see the retailer’s total shops reduced from 2,200 to 1,900.
This has upset a lot of locals in the affected towns, however, the health and beauty chain has said where stores are closing there is an alternative shop less than three miles away.
Marks and Spencer has been closing down locations following its announcement in 2022 that it would be shutting 67 “lower productivity stores” as part of a five-year plan to shake up its branch portfolio.
M&S, which runs 405 stores across the country, shut down locations in Manchester, Swindon and Birmingham between August and November last year.
In addition to this, 40 M&S clothing stores closed between November 2016 and July 2023.
If you want to know if your local might be next, we have the full list of M&S stores that are marked for closure in 2024.
Last year Argos started to put in place its plans to reduce the number of standalone stores and focus on opening more locations inside Sainsbury’s supermarkets.
It closed 42 UK shops, including all 34 of its branches in the Republic of Ireland last June.
However, things are looking up for other retailers, and despite the difficult trading conditions some are expanding the number of stores they have.
Primark recently confirmed plans to open new branches and invest and renovate more than a dozen of its existing shops.
Also, supermarket giant Asda is massively expanding its portfolio of smaller Express stores, with plans to open 110 new stores.
We have the full list of chains opening stores in 2024 – see if one is coming to a high street near you.
Why are retailers closing stores?
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.
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