ICELAND is set to close more stores and pull the shutters down for good on a corner-shop style format it only launched last year.
The frozen food retailer is closing its Swift convenience shops, according to The Grocer.
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Iceland’s Swift stores sell a full range of store cupboard essentials as well as chilled and fresh food.
Shopper can also to buy ready-to-eat foods and alcohol and tobacco.
It also stocks frozen food but with less of a focus on that than Iceland’s standard stores.
The first store was a pilot in Newcastle, opening in 2021, followed by more stores popping up throughout 2022.
But now, the supermarket chain is to close all five of its Swift stores, with one set to be converted into a standard Iceland store.
There is expected to be no redundancies, with all staff set to be offered a transfer to another nearby store, according to reports.
Iceland’s executive chairman Richard Walker told The Grocer: “It didn’t work. Clearly through the pandemic, convenience stores had done so well and it was a sector that we thought was quite interesting.
“However, in retrospect launching a new format with separate branding wasn’t the right way of doing it.”
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He added that London also may not have been the right location for these store because of high rents.
Below is a full list of Swift stores that are set to close for good:
The Sun has approached Iceland for comment.
The supermarket is now set to turn its attention to its new Iceland Local stores.
It’s a new concept launched to offer shoppers a convenience-style version of the frozen brand.
The supermarket giant and Costcutter opened the first store on March 31 at a Texaco garage in Wolverhampton.
Customers can purchase various items as well as pay for petrol at the till.
It comes after Iceland announced the closure of 16 stores across the UK this year.
Right now, there are around 800 Iceland branches across the UK.
Iceland’s shop in St David’s Place, Swansea will close on July 29, and will be followed by the closure of its branch in Fife on August 12.
It will then close its Llanelli store on September 2 and its store in Grange Road, Birkenhead on September 16.
The frozen food chain closed two stores in February in:
- Mill Lane, Bromsgrove
- Chineham Shopping Centre, Basingstoke
It then proceeded to close a further four stores in March in:
Plus, a further three stores in Newport, Berwick and Hexham closed on Saturday, April 22.
Shoppers in Flint, Wales, also lost their local store on May 27.
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.
Le Pain Quotidien shut nine of its ten bakeries after falling into administration last week.
The move has left 250 out of a job, in another blow to the hospitality sector.
But some high street stores have plans to expand including Poundland.
We’ve previously listed all the shops closing down in July including Argos and Iceland.
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