Major high street brands to close 11 sites in weeks – is your local going?

HUNDREDS of popular shops have already disappeared from the high street this year, with 11 set to close in the coming weeks.

Over the last few weeks, major chains have announced closures, including Boots, Iceland and M&S.

1

Food and pub chains have also been closing doors at several locations across the country, such as Wetherspoons pubs.

It comes following a tumultuous period for businesses struggling to bounce back after Covid combined with rising energy bills.

With costs high for shoppers too it means that people have been cutting back on non-essentials and prices continue to skyrocket.

There’s also been a switch to online shopping for many consumers, meaning that brick and mortar shops have been struggling.

This has had the same effect on banks too, with customers turning to online and mobile banking, resulting in big lenders closing hundreds of sites.

Below is the full list of high street chains closing sites this week.

Boots

Three more Boots stores are set to pull the shutters down for the final time in October.

The closures are part of the pharmacy chain’s plans to shut 300 locations over the next year

Both the Kings Square branch in York and the Warminster site are due to shut on October 28.

While the Guildford Road Boots in Woking will be closing by the end of October.

The retailer previously said that it is closing stores where there is an alternative shop for customers less than three miles away.

In its quarterly results Boots said the consolidation of its estate would “concentrate its team members” where they are needed and enable more “focused investment.

Boots said in all cases there is an alternative store less than three miles away.

Affected team members have been offered opportunities in other stores in the local area.

M&S is set to close another store permanently this month.

The store in Swindon was marked for closure in August and now the date it will shut for good has been confirmed.

According to local news reports, a large sign has appeared on the front of the store stating that it will close for the final time on October 28.

A spokesperson for M&S told The Sun it is “investing £480m in bigger, better stores across the UK”.

They added that the investment programme is about having “the right stores, in the right place, with the right space”.

While there are closures happening they said the intention is to open up and relocate some stores.

It comes after the retailer revealed it had plans to pull the shutters down on ten stores and relocate to new sites this year.

It isn’t all bad news for M&S fans as the retailer is opening a number of new stores that will all contain clothing, homeware, cafes and food halls.

Sainsbury’s is closing its Whitgift Centre store in Croydon after 54 years of operation from today.

The store which has been located in the shopping centre since 1969 will close for the final time this weekend.

A sign at the entrance to the store now reads: “This store will be permanently closed from 15 October.

“Your nearest alternative store is West Croydon Station Local.”

There are five other smaller convenience stores in the area.

That and after dwindling footfall to the run-down shopping centre, and with plans by owners Westfield to build a new site, the store has been dealt a death knell.

Farmfoods is closing its supermarket in Tranent, East Lothian for good at the end of this month.

The discount chain will pull the shutters down for the final time on Sunday, October 29.

Shoppers in the local area were left gutted when it revealed the news, sharing fears it would leave the area “a ghost town”.

It’s not the only Farmfoods store which has shut this year.

The frozen food specialist pulled down the shutters at its Baillieston branch at the end of February.

Its Cowgate store in Dundee shut in March, with another Glasgow shop closing the month before.

Plus its store in West Bromwich closed in May.

The Farmfoods store in Market Street, Huddersfield closed for the final time earlier this month.

Sports Direct

Popular sportswear retailer Sports Direct is set to close its Coventry store later in October.

The Central Six Retail Park branch will close by the end of the month but an exact date hasn’t been given yet.

The discounter chain has launched a closing-down sale of up to 20%.

Sports Direct is part of The Frasers Group, which has been opening new stores over the last few weeks.

It opened its newest outlet earlier this month in the Chantry Place shopping centre in Norwich.

House of Fraser

House of Fraser is pulling down the shutters on yet another one of its branches next month.

The store at The Oracle shopping centre in Reading town centre will close for good on October 29.

The clothing store has occupied its space in The Oracle since it opened in 1999.

To mark the closing, a huge closing down sale has launched in store.

House of Fraser was saved from collapse by billionaire businessman Mike Ashley back in 2018.

But while the deal saved the chain’s 59 stores and 17,000 workers who were facing the axe, a number of its stores have closed in recent years.

It comes after its store in Solihull will closed on August 28, while its branch in Guildford will shut on Saturday, September 30.

Bargain supermarket Iceland is set to close two more branches by the end of October.

Its store on Trinity Street in Huddersfield will close on October 28.

A spokesperson for Iceland said: “The Trinity Street, Huddersfield store is due to close on October 28, we anticipate many of our customers will instead choose to shop at the nearby Food Warehouse on Great Northern Retail Park.

Its Fulford Road branch in York will also shut for good at 4pm on the same day.

A spokesperson for Iceland confirmed to The Sun that the store was closing due to the lease coming to an end.

Iceland has already shuttered 17 stores this year including in Crewe and Birkenhead.

The chain says it typically opens more than 20 new stores each year, creating new jobs and contributing to the growth of local economies.

Game

Game is pulling down the shutters on its branch in Commercial Street, Newport, Wales, on October 18.

But the store is relocating and will reopen inside the Sports Direct unit on the corner of the same street just two days later.

Game was also bought out by business tycoon Mike Ashley’s then Sports Direct in June 2019 as part of a £52million deal.

But by January 2020 it had announced plans to close 40 of its more than 300 stores across the UK.

Now some Game stores, along with Sports Direct sites, are being moved into new Frasers department stores.

Each contains several Frasers Group brands and the new-concept shops are in the same areas as the former individual sites.

Meanwhile, here is the full list of retailers closing locations in October including Iceland and Wetherspoons.

Plus, a beloved department store is getting a new lease of life after abruptly closing following 106 years.

Do you have a money problem that needs sorting? Get in touch by emailing money-sm@news.co.uk.

You can also join our new Sun Money Facebook group to share stories and tips and engage with the consumer team and other group members.