A HIGH street retailer with 240 shops is closing a handful of stores.
Shoppers are rushing to grab big discounts from Game after it was announced many up and down the country would be boarding up the windows.
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Fans have said they’re “gutted to hear” that the store in Witney, Oxfordshire, is closing – with staff members losing their jobs.
Customers are now flocking to get their hands of last minute bargains before the big day.
A post on Facebook read: “Unfortunately, the Game store in Witney is closing down.
“It’s very sad times for us staff members who will be losing our jobs and for our customers who enjoy coming into the store.
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“The stores last trading day will be the 7th January, hope everyone has a good Christmas.”
One person commented: “We’re gutted to hear this! This was such a great store with lovely staff.”
A second added: “That’s genuinely devastated me that.”
A third wrote: “So sad to hear yet another game shop is closing.”
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It comes after Game stores in Plymouth and Cambridgeshire are also shutting up shop, according to local reports.
The retailer also pulled down the shutters on its branch on 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 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.
As of today, there are over 240 Game stores nationwide. You can find your nearest by using the store locator on its website.
It comes as Sports Direct, part of Mike Ashley‘s now-named Frasers Group, relocates two stores this autumn in Norwich and Newcastle.
House of Fraser has closed four stores this year too, including in Cardiff and Solihull.
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.
It’s not just retailers closing locations either – a number of high street banks and building societies have been shutting branches in the UK.
A lot of bankers can do the majority of tasks online now and have less need to visit a physical site.
But it’s not all bad news as a number of retailers have been expanding too.
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.
