‘End of an era’ commiserate locals as Co-op shuts ‘lifetime’ branch leaving customers in tears

SHOPPERS have been reduced to tears after supermarket giant Co-op shut its “lifetime” branch in Dorset.

Local customers say it is the “end of an era” over the closure of the store that opened in the ’50s.

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After running for more than seven decades, the Co-op branch at 350 Ashley Road, Parkstone, closed for good on February 10.

A spokesperson for Co-op confirmed: “Co-op regularly reviews its store estate and, only after careful consideration has the decision been taken for its store in Ashley Road, Parkstone, to be sold.

“Our priority is to fully support colleagues and safeguard local jobs, and colleagues will transfer to the new operator.

“Co-op remains committed to serving and supporting its members and customers in the area, and operates three stores within a mile of the Parkstone store including a store further along Ashley Road.” 

For many locals, it’s a sad ending, since the store had been their go-to stop for buying groceries and food items for so many years.

One of the local shoppers Irene Cooper said in a letter statement: “As regular shoppers are are very sorry to see the Co-op in Ashley Road is closing down.

“Our family have been using the shop since the 1960s which has been in Ashley Road since the 1950s.

“For many of us a whole lifetime.”

International food store Makkah Foods has now replaced the Co-op branch after signing a deal to move their Parkstone store from 320 Ashley Road to 350 Ashley Road, where the Co-op branch previously stood.

Speaking about the move, a spokesperson for Makkah said: “Our Ashley Road store is majorly cramped, and we can’t stock near enough half the lines that we want to.

“We’ve been after the deal with Co-op for coming up to about seven or eight years now and luckily, we bought them out.”

The new Makkah Foods store is expected to open its doors in early March.

It comes after Co-op announced a series of closures amid Britain’s retail crisis.

The supermarket chain pulled down the shutters on its branch in Peacehaven, East Sussex on January 20.

Last year, the chain closed its branches in Princess Drive, Grantham, Linthorpe Village, Middlesbrough, and Lodge Lane, Bridgnorth.

Another branch in Castle House, Sheffield, was shuttered for good although nearby stores in Broad Lane and Glossop Road remain open.

The chain’s branch in Mildenhall Road, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, was also closed on August 19.

And on four unlucky Co-op stores closed due to the shopping giant Tesco buying them out and taking over.

Britain’s retail apocalypse

It comes as the cost of living crisis, high inflation and rising energy costs are forcing retailers to close down their outlets.

Figures from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) found the UK had lost 6,000 stores over five years.

Numerous high street brands have collapsed into administration in the last 12 months, including major discounter Wilko.

But it has since returned to the high street under The Range’s ownership, and Wilko-branded items are being stocked in The Range stores.

Both M&Co and Joules are among the well-known brands which went bust in 2022.

Paperchase then collapsed into administration at the end of January last year and all 106 stores later closed for good.

Stores including Next, Boots, The Entertainer, Iceland, Clarks and WHSmith have also suffered.

And Argos, Next, Jack Wills and Poundland have announced they will all shut selected branches forever this year.

In the latest blow, famous cosmetic group The Body Shop has admitted it is on the brink of closing some 200 stores across the UK as the retailer entered administration.

We have created a list of all the Body Shop stores that are at risk of shutting down.

British retailers saw the amount of goods they sold drop last month at its fastest rate in three years as under-pressure families shifted part of their Christmas shop to earlier in the year.

Sales volumes dipped by 3.2% in December, data from the Office for National Statistics suggests, down from a rise of 1.4% a month before.

Several big-name chains are pulling down the shutters for the final time this month.

The trade association’s chief executive Helen Dickinson OBE blamed the closures on “crippling” business rates and the impact of coronavirus lockdowns.

The good news

Thankfully some shops are bucking the trend and opening new locations.

Primark said it will open five new branches, and one is coming in just weeks.

B&M is opening six new locations at the start of 2024, including in former Wilko stores it has taken over.

Beauty retailer Sephora is opening its third location in Manchester this year.

Another skincare and make up icon, Avon, plans to open shops in the UK for the first time in its over 100-year history.

Costco is looking to open 14 new locations in the UK over the next two years, while Greggs will add up to 160 branches this year.

See the full list of shops opening on the high street in our round up.

This post first appeared on thesun.co.uk