SHOPPERS have slammed the “death of the high street” as a retailer with more than 400 locations gears up to close another store.
New Look is shutting its shop in Shirley, Southampton, on December 3 after a string of closures.
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Shoppers will find the next nearest branch in the Westquay Shopping Centre in the city centre.
A spokesperson for New Look 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 have opened a number of new stores this year and we remain on the lookout for appropriate new opportunities across the country.”
Local residents have shared their devastation following the announcement, with one saying it marks the “death of the high street”.
Another said: “Such a shame, it’s been there since I was little. Was always the most affordable retail shop back then. Not so much now.”
Meanwhile, a third sad shopper said: “Love it there many memories.”
A fourth dejected local added: “Another shop in Shirley gone. It’s been there since I was little. Shirley has little to offer anymore.”
It comes after New Look closed a number of its stores this year.
Most recently, it pulled down the shutters on its branch in the Maybird Shopping Park, Stratford-upon-Avon, on October 28.
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 on September 5 and pulled down the shutters on its store in the Cornmarket, Lancaster, on September 2.
Meanwhile, its shop in the Crossgates Shopping Centre, Leeds, closed to customers at the end of August.
It shut six branches in January and February this year too.
But it’s not all bad news for the retailer.
The Fosse Park Shopping Park branch in Leicestershire pulled down its shutters in the summer to make way for a bigger venue.
New Look has also opened stores in Grimsby and Leicester in recent weeks too.
It said it has plans to open more stores in 2023, though it hasn’t confirmed how many and where in the UK they will be.
The high street has taken a battering in recent years as shoppers turn their attentions to online retail.
Stubbornly high inflation means consumer’s budgets aren’t going as far too.
It has led to some well-known brands disappearing from the high street entirely, including Cath Kidston.
A number of other companies have fallen into administration this year too, including Paperchase and M&Co.
But it’s not all bad news as some retailers have been expanding their number of stores, including B&M, Poundland and One Beyond.
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