Locals fear town ‘will be deserted’ as major budget supermarket chain with 900 sites closes another branch

RESIDENTS have shared fears their town “will be deserted” as a major supermarket chain gears up to close one of its branches.

Iceland, with over 900 UK stores, is set to pull the plug on its shop in Portswood, Southampton, on March 2.

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A member of staff at the branch confirmed the closure to The Sun. Iceland was approached for comment.

The news has been met with devastation from locals who rely on the store for their daily essentials.

One shopper said: “Oh no that’s out of order,” while another said: “Waitrose will be next then Portswood will be deserted.”

Another said: “The days of the little shops are fading fast on the high street now.”

A fourth added: “It will be a shame for it to go its (sic) been there for some years.”

It comes after Iceland shuttered 19 stores in 2023, including in Crewe and Birkenhead.

Branches in Huddersfield and York also welcomed in customers for the final time.

But it’s not been all bad news for the retailer.

In March last year, it opened the first of its “Iceland Local” stores – a convenience-style format – and said it had plans to open more, although did not say how many.

In March 2022, it announced plans to open four convenience stores.

Which other retailers are closing stores?

It’s not just Iceland which has been closing branches across the UK.

Recent figures from the Centre for Retail Research reveal over 10,000 shops and almost 120,000 retail jobs were lost in 2023.

The high street has been hit hard as shoppers increasingly turn to online retail and away from the high street.

High energy and wage costs have forced many businesses to shut up shop too.

In June last year, Boots announced it would massively consolidate its portfolio of stores from 2,200 to 1,900.

The health and beauty retailer said it would only close branches in areas where there was another nearby.

Meanwhile, popular retailers M&Co, Wilko and Paperchase all fell into administration in 2023.

All three have relaunched either online or with new stores since however.

Fashion retailer Next also shuttered 11 branches last year, with a further store in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, closing tomorrow.

In total, three retailers are closing stores just this week.

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This post first appeared on thesun.co.uk