A MAJOR games retailer with 240 branches is set to shut one of its stores in days as shoppers label the closure “bl**dy annoying”.
GAME is pulling down the shutters on its site at the Guildhall Shopping Centre in Exeter in January.
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But it’s not all bad news as the branch is simply relocating to the nearby Sports Direct unit at Rydon Lane Retail Park in the city.
Signs in the current shop’s window say: “This store will close for relocation in January 2024.
“Game opening soon inside Sports Direct Unit 7 Rydon Lane, Exeter,” Devon Live reports.
The Sun approached Frasers Group, which owns Game, to find out the exact date the Guildhall Shopping Centre branch will close and for comment.
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News of the closure, despite it being just a relocation, has been met with devastation from locals.
One said: “Relocating over the other side of Exeter to be in sports direct its bl**dy annoying.”
A second commented: “Shame so many shops closing,” and a third added: “Be no shops left soon.”
It’s comes after “store closing, all stock must go” signs were spotted at another GAME branch in Rugby, Warwickshire earlier this month.
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Similar signs were clocked at a site in Nuneaton just months ago too, although it’s unclear when the store plans to close for the final time.
The retailer also pulled down the shutters on its branch in Commercial Street, Newport, Wales, on October 18.
However, it reopened inside the Sports Direct unit on the corner of the same street just two days later.
In June this year, closure signs were seen in the windows of a Game branch in Braehead, Scotland, as it too geared up to relocate to a nearby Sports Direct unit.
Game was bought out by business magnate Mike Ashley’s then Sports Direct in June 2019 as part of a £52million deal.
But by January 2020 it had announced plans to close 40 of its more than 300 stores across the UK.
There are currently over 240 Game stores nationwide. You can find your nearest by using the store locator on its website.
It comes after Sports Direct, part of Mike Ashley‘s now-named Frasers Group, relocated two stores this autumn in Norwich and Newcastle.
Plus, in October, House of Fraser confirmed it will close its branch in Lakeside Shopping Centre, Grays, in January next year.
It has closed three stores in 2023 already, including in Cardiff, Guildford and Birmingham.
Which other retailers are closing stores?
Game, House of Fraser and Sports Direct aren’t the only retailers to be closing stores in the UK.
Several others have been hit hard in recent years, particularly on the high street, which has been suffering as consumers increasingly turn to online retail.
High inflation since 2022 has seen households’ budgets squeezed too meaning they’ve got less expendable cash.
That, combined with high energy and wage costs, has seen a number of businesses forced to close stores.
In July, Boots Pharmacy said it would be closing 300 branches as part of plans to consolidate its portfolio.
Meanwhile, a number of retailers have crashed into administration, including Cath Kidston, Paperchase, M&Co and most notably Wilko.
But it’s not all bad news as a number of retailers have been expanding.
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Supermarket chain Iceland has been opening stores, with some under the Iceland Local brand.
Primark, Poundland and B&M have all been growing their portfolios too.
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