A BARGAIN high street shop is shutting more stores after a wave of closures.
Shoezone will pull the shutters down on two more of its stores in its latest round of closures.
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The popular retailer, which has more than 300 stores, will close its branches in Newton Abbot and Watford later, according to local news reports by Devon Live and the Watford Observer.
It comes after Shoezone shoppers spotted closing down signs at the two stores.
It is not known when the shops will close but we’ve reached out to Shoezone to find out.
The shoe shop is also set to close three other stores later this year.
Its Newport store in the Isle of Wight will shut for good in September.
Stores in Hinckley and Beccles will then close later on in the year.
The high street chain has already closed 11 branches this year in the following locations:
- London Road, Waterlooville, Portsmouth
- High Street, Southend (Relocation)
- The Drapery, Northampton (Relocation)
- Bell Centre, Melton, Leicestershire
- Broad Street, Seaford, East Sussex
- Well Croft, Shipley
- Longton Exchange Shopping Centre, Stoke-on-Trent
- Dockhead Street, Saltcoats
- Broadmead Shopping Centre, Bristol
- Grand Junction Retail Park, Crewe
- Cameron Toll Shopping Centre, Edinburgh
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It comes as the retailer looks to open new “big box and hybrid” format stores from its original, smaller formats.
These stores will offer more stock and a greater range of styles, according to the retailer.
In its annual results, Shoezone said it was hoping to expand its store refit and relocation programme this year.
Shoezone closed 63 stores in the year to October 1, 2022, opened 13 and converted 11 existing stores into its new formats.
In 2020, it closed 20 sites and cut jobs after facing losses during the coronavirus pandemic.
But Shoezone isn’t the only retailer that is closing branches this year.
Why are retailers closing stores?
Retailers have been feeling the pinch since the pandemic while shoppers are cutting back on spending due to soaring inflation.
High energy costs and a shift to shopping online after the pandemic are also taking a toll and many high street shops have struggled to keep going.
Brands like Frasers, have been moving and relocating profitable stores and brands within department stores but other brands have been shutting stores for good.
The inability to renegotiate rents and agreements with landlords is also putting pressure on some retailers to pull out of some locations.
A number of well-known retailers including Argos, Lloyds Pharmacy and Poundstretcher have closed stores in recent months.
But others have been hit so hard they’ve been left on the brink of administration.
Wilko appointed administrators last week, and all control of the business has now been passed over to PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) as it looks for a buyer.
It continues to trade as normal for the time being but it is unsure what will happen in the future.
However, some big brands are expanding the number of stores they operate.
Poundland is opening 15 new stores over the next few weeks.
These openings form part of the retailer’s plans to bring the shutters up on 50 new stores by the end of the year.
B&M is also opening more than a dozen new branches across the UK by the end of 2023.
