A POPULAR sports store with 500 branches is set to close one of its sites permanently.
Sports Direct is shutting down its store on Octagon Parade in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire.
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One disappointed local took to Facebook to say that she was “seriously worried” what the closure would do for the town.
The post read: “Pretty soon there will be no shops left. Sports Direct is closing down so now Wycombe has hardly any sportswear shops, no computer games shops and no toy shop.
“I am seriously worried as to what is being done to attract people to come and spend money in Wycombe.”
Others commented on the post to give their thoughts.
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I am seriously done with this dead town
Social Media user
One person said: “I blame it mainly on online shopping, it’s killed the high street and also councils don’t help matters with their high rents.”
Another added: “I am seriously done with this dead town.”
While a third commented: “Until people stop buying online no high street shops will survive.”
However, all is not lost for shoppers as the store is relocating to other premises in the town.
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The new Sports Direct store will be located in the ex-Zara unit in the Eden Shopping Centre.
A spokesperson for Frasers Group who owns Sports Direct told The Sun: “We are pleased to be opening a new, elevated retail destination in High Wycombe’s Eden Shopping Centre.”
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“The Sports Direct store will give High Wycombe customers access to the world’s best sports and lifestyle brands, as well as offer other brands from the Frasers Group ecosystem, including USC and GAME.”
The Frasers Group is owned by billionaire businessman Mike Ashley who stepped in to save House of Fraser from collapse back in 2018.
The group operates a number of high street and online brands.
What chains does the Frasers Group own?
MIKE Ashley’s Frasers Group owns dozens of high street and online brands, here is the full list.
- House of Fraser
- Sports Direct
- Flannels
- Evans Cycles
- Everlast Gyms
- Everlast
- Game
- Frasers
- I saw it first
- Gieves and Hawkes
- Jack Wills
- Slazenger
- Studio
- Sofa.com
- USA Pro
- USC
In recent months the group has been shutting down branches across its store portfolio.
Branches of Game, House of Fraser and Flannels have been shut down in the past 12 months.
Just recently we revealed that Game is to close its store in Union Square Shopping Centre in Torquay, Devon.
A Sports Direct branch in Stroud, Gloucestershire, will be also be pulling the shutters down for good at the end of March.
Meanwhile, designer clothing chain Choice has pulled the shutters down on one of its stores in Bromley.
The group also put luxury brand Matchesfashion into administration earlier this month.
What about new store openings for the group?
It is not all bad news for the Frasers Group, as it has also been opening up several sites across the UK.
The group has opened up new concept stores, which hold various Frasers brands like Sports Direct, Flannels and beauty halls as well as products from USC, Jack Willks and GAME.
In September, it cut the ribbon on the latest of its new department stores combining popular brands like Sports Direct and Game in Norwich.
There are plans to open two further concept store sites in Blackpool and Sheffield.
The group also announced it will be taking over the former John Lewis site at Queensgate Shopping Centre, Peterborough.
It is also set to open a new branch of sportswear shop in The Precinct in Coventry.
What else is happening on the high street?
Retailers are feeling the pinch since the pandemic and many are struggling to stay afloat.
High energy costs and rents mean many big companies are starting to slim down on the number of high street stores they operate.
We have seen several big losses in the last 12 months including popular discounter Wilko and stationary brand Paperchase.
More recently, health and beauty chain The Body Shop has fell into administration and announced the closure of many of its 200 stores.
Other retailers such as Iceland, Boots and Matalan have been slimming down the number of stores they have on the high street.
Just this month Boots has announced that it will be closing a total of nine sites, as part of its wider plans to get rid of 300 locations.
These closures will see the retailer’s total shops reduced from 2,200 to 1,900.
Marks and Spencer is another retailer that has been making changes to its store portfolio.
In 2022, M&S announced that it would be shutting 67 “lower productivity” stores as part of the 110 stores it had already earmarked for closure.
However, it was not all bad news for M&S shoppers as where some stores closed, others opened up in new locations.
We have the full list of chains opening stores in 2024 – see if one is coming to a high street near you.
Why are retailers closing stores?
RETAILERS have been feeling the squeeze since the pandemic, while shoppers are cutting back on spending due to the soaring cost of living crisis.
High energy costs and a move to shopping online after the pandemic are also taking a toll, and many high street shops have struggled to keep going.
The high street has seen a whole raft of closures over the past year, and more are coming.
The number of jobs lost in British retail dropped last year, but 120,000 people still lost their employment, figures have suggested.
Figures from the Centre for Retail Research revealed that 10,494 shops closed for the last time during 2023, and 119,405 jobs were lost in the sector.
It was fewer shops than had been lost for several years, and a reduction from 151,641 jobs lost in 2022.
The centre’s director, Professor Joshua Bamfield, said the improvement is “less bad” than good.
Although there were some big-name losses from the high street, including Wilko, many large companies had already gone bust before 2022, the centre said, such as Topshop owner Arcadia, Jessops and Debenhams.
“The cost-of-living crisis, inflation and increases in interest rates have led many consumers to tighten their belts, reducing retail spend,” Prof Bamfield said.
“Retailers themselves have suffered increasing energy and occupancy costs, staff shortages and falling demand that have made rebuilding profits after extensive store closures during the pandemic exceptionally difficult.”
Alongside Wilko, which employed around 12,000 people when it collapsed, 2023’s biggest failures included UK Flooring Direct, Planet Organic and Tile Giant.
The Centre for Retail Research said most stores were closed because companies were trying to reorganise and cut costs rather than the business failing.
However, experts have warned there will likely be more failures this year as consumers keep their belts tight and borrowing costs soar for businesses.
Last year, around 14% of insolvencies were in retail businesses, according to official figures.
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