‘Such a shame’ sob shoppers as shoe chain with 35 stores to close nine branches on ‘abandoned’ high streets

A SHOE chain with 35 locations is set to close nine branches leaving high streets abandoned.

Shoppers have been left heartbroken after the cherished shoes store announced it is rolling the shutters for good in Devon.

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Fashion retailer Moshulu is the latest retailer to bite the dust in a fresh wave of store closures.

The final curtain has fallen on the Honiton High Street branch.

A poignant sign announcing the closure read: “Closing down, thank you for shopping with us.”

According to reports, the store will stop trading on February 26.

Moshulu has 35 stores nationwide – including the one in Honiton.

The family-run business has long been a shoe retailer staple for over 27 years.

Bosses said the decision follows financial difficulties in standing afloat amid the cost of living.

A spokesman for Moshulu said: “Due to lack of footfall and high business rates, we have made the difficult discussion to close nine stores across the UK, including the store in Honiton.

“It’s not a discussion that we take lightly, the staff working at the store have been given the option to work at other stores or take redundancy, many have chosen redundancy.”

But the move has left local customers who frequented the store devastated.

Taking to Facebook, one user fumed: “What a shame it’s going to be ghost town.”

Another added: “Ooh no! Just got a gorgeous pair of boots from there.”

A third said: “Very sorry to hear this,” and a fourth penned: “Such a shame.”

But doors will remain open at the near branches in Topsham, Taunton and Sidmouth.

Shoppers can still nab their favourite shoes and accessories online through their click-and-collect service.

The Sun Online has approached Moshulu for comment.

It comes as another bargain shoe chain is shutting a branch after a wave of closures – but it’s not all bad news for shoppers.

Shoezone will pull the shutters down on another store in its latest round of closures.

The high street chain has already closed 11 branches this year in the following locations:

• London Road, Waterlooville, Portsmouth
• High Street, Southend (Relocation)
• The Drapery, Northampton (Relocation)
• Bell Centre, Melton, Leicestershire
• Broad Street, Seaford, East Sussex
• Well Croft, Shipley, West Yorkshire
• Longton Exchange Shopping Centre, Stoke-on-Trent
• Dockhead Street, Saltcoats
• Broadmead Shopping Centre, Bristol
• Grand Junction Retail Park, Crewe
• Cameron Toll Shopping Centre, Edinburgh

It comes as the retailer looks to open new “big box and hybrid” format stores from its original, smaller formats.

Why are high street stores closing?

The retail sector has been hit hard in recent years due to the growth of online shopping, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic.

At the same time the cost of living has been rising, leading to shoppers cutting back on non-essential spending.

Brick and mortar stores have also seen a lack of footfall due to consumer habits switching to online shopping.

Beloved discounter Wilko is to close all of its stores by October, with thousands of workers set for redundancy, after it collapsed into administration.

Familiar brands like M&Co and Paperchase also went under closing all of their UK shops earlier this year.

House of Fraser is set to pull the shutters down on one of its stores in its latest round of closures.

Although, some chains have managed to defy high street troubles and are actually set to open new shops.

These include discount chains like Poundland which is set to open 15 shops in the coming weeks and Greggs which is aiming to open 150 new sites this year.

Meanwhile, we’ve also rounded up all the high street chains closing sites in September.

What are my rights if a company I’ve ordered from goes bust or stops trading?

According to Citizen Advice, you might end up without the item you paid for or with unfinished work if a company or trader stops trading or goes out of business.

There are several ways to try to get your money back or get the work done.

But, there’s no guarantee you’ll get what you paid for.You should call the company, visit their office or shop, or write to them to find out what’s happening.

Explain what you’ve paid for and ask for the item you bought or a refund.

If you can’t get hold of a company or want to confirm that they’ve gone out of business you can search for their name on:

• the Companies House website if they’re a limited company (with the letters ‘Ltd’ or ‘Plc’ after their name)
• the Insolvency Register if they’re an individual (a sole trader) or a partnership – search both the name of the person and their trading name

It can take a few weeks for information to appear on these websites.

This post first appeared on thesun.co.uk