Fashion
‘It’s a disgrace’ sob shoppers as major fashion retailer to shut branch
A MAJOR retailer with 400 stores is set to shut one of its branches as shoppers brand the closure “a disgrace”.
It comes after the fashion chain carried out a string of closures across the UK.
New Look is pulling down the shutters on its store in The Centre Cumbernauld, Scotland, on March 20.
A spokesperson for the retailer said: “As part of the normal course of business, New Look occasionally closes stores, while also undertaking relocations and new site openings.
“While some sites have closed recently, we remain on the lookout for appropriate new opportunities across the country.”
Locals finding out about the store closure have reacted with sadness, and one even branded it “a disgrace”.
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Another said “another bunch of employees lose their jobs, how sad,” while a third added “another one bites the dust”.
A fourth dejected shopper commented: “The residents of Cumbernauld deserve better than this.”
It comes following a string of New Look closures since the start of 2023.
Most recently, it pulled down the shutters on its branch in Shirley, Southampton, on December 3.
In October, it closed its store in the Maybird Shopping Park, Stratford-upon-Avon.
Meanwhile, it closed one of its Worcestershire stores for good on September 9 and another in Beverley, East Yorkshire, the day before.
The retailer also shut shops in Slough and Windsor and pulled down the shutters on a Lancaster store in September.
But it’s not all bad news for the retailer as it has been opening branches as well.
It opened a bigger site in The Fosse Park Shopping Park, Leicester, last September after temporarily closing the site in the summer.
New Look has also opened stores in Grimsby and Leicester in recent months too.
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.
It comes as a number of retailers close branches across the UK in a blow for shoppers.
Supermarket chains such as Lidl, Tesco and Iceland have been closing branches.
Meanwhile, retailers such as Poundstretcher, Argos and House of Fraser have been shuttering single stores.
Major names such as Wilko, Paperchase and The Body Shop have crashed into administration since last year as well, shutting hundreds of branches between them.
In June last year, Boots said it would massively consolidate its portfolio of 2,200 stores to 1,900.
However the pharmacy chain said it would shut stores where there was another one nearby.
But it’s not all bad news as others have been expanding their portfolio, including Asda which is opening hundreds of convenience stores.
Primark is also opening new branches and investing and renovating more than a dozen of its existing shops.
Meanwhile, Wilko has made a comeback on the high street, opening stores in Plymouth, Luton and Exeter before the end of last year.
And in January, discounter chain B&M said it had plans to open 17 new sites in 2024.
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