MANY high street retailers are closing down branches for good in December.
Shops including Poundland, New Look and Homebase are among those pulling down the shutter on locations for the final time.
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The cost of living crisis, high inflation and energy costs are all taking their toll on retailers.
Many shoppers do not have extra cash to spend on anything other than household bills and essential items.
Rising fuel costs and expensive parking also mean that it is also often cheaper and easier for people to get what they need online.
The latest official figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show a record 345,000 businesses closed in 2022 – the highest on record since 2022
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Plus more businesses are closing rather than opening for the first time in 12 years – the height of the global financial crisis – though these figures cover all types of company.
Figures from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) this summer found the UK had lost 6,000 stores over a five-year period.
Several major brands have also collapsed and disappeared from our high streets forever, such as Wilko and Paperchase.
Meanwhile some retailers are closing some shops to open bigger and better ones nearby, so it’s not all bad news for shoppers.
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M&S and B&M are among the names that have relocated some shops and opened new locations too.
Here is a full list of some of the well-known retailers that will be shutting branches before the end of the year.
New Look
Clothing retailer New Look is shutting its shop in Shirley, Southampton, on December 3, following a string of closures.
In October it closed its branch in Stratford-upon-Avon and in September another three branches closed for good.
Six New Look shops closed down across the UK in January and February.
However, it is not all bad news, the retailer recently opened stores in Grimsby and Leicester.
Homebase
Homebase will be closing one of its stores in Banbury, Oxford within days.
The store on Southam Road is set to close its doors for the final time on December 3.
The retailer will also be pulling the shutters down on its shop at the O2 Centre on Finchley Road in London on December 10.
It also closed down one of its branches in Plymouth in November.
Homebase was taken over by Hilco Capital in 2018 and has closed 93 stores since then.
It currently has 153 locations across the country.
Lacoste
Fashion brand Lacoste has 20 stores located across the UK.
However, it will close the doors for the final time on one of its branches before Christmas.
Its Leicester branch is located in the Highcross Shopping Centre in the town and will shut on December 3.
The retailer displayed a notice in the shop window informing shoppers and thanking them for their loyalty.
Poundland
Bargain retailer Poundland is set to pull down the shutters on its store at the Chineham Shopping Centre near Basingstoke on December 31.
However, as well as closing some stores the popular store has opened up in some new locations recently.
The bargain chain took on 71 Wilko sites as part of its expansion plans after its rival collapsed into administration in August.
Ex-Wilko sites have now opened up as Poundland in locations such as Newcastle, Leicester and Leeds and more are expected to follow.
Poundland has over 800 locations in total.
WHSmith
WHSmith is all set to close its Market Street store in Manchester on December, 2.
The retailer previously pulled the shutters down on two branches earlier in the year.
Its Bicester store closed on August 30 and prior to this, its Newcastle-under-Lyme branch shut permanently in March.
Meanwhile, it is also set to shut its branch in Ramsgate, Kent, at the start of 2024.
That’s just a handful of its 1,400 branches.
Earlier this year the retailer’s top boss said it had not plans to open new high street stores, but will focus on areas such as airports and railway stations.
What about store openings?
Despite the closures coming in December, it is not all bad news for shoppers are some retailers are expanding.
The Sun recently revealed discount retailer Costco is expanding in the UK and is planning to open 14 more warehouses over the next two years.
Bonmarche is opening at least seven new stores after filing for administration in 2019, while The White Company is also opening up new locations.
Once-huge bakery chain Patisserie Valerie, which also collapsed into administration and closed most of its stores, has started reopening branches, as revealed by the Sun.
We also recently revealed bakeries Wenzels, Greggs, Dunkin’ Donuts and The Cornish Bakery are all in the process of expanding in the UK.
