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Several high street favourites will leave shop fronts empty this month in an unfortunate blow to shoppers across the UK.
It comes after years of ongoing store closures by brands including Boots, The Body Shop, Ted Baker, and House of Fraser that have been forced to reduce their high street presence.
Some exited shopping centres and high streets completely, like Wilko, though it managed to make a miraculous return shortly after.
In the latest wave of store closures, Marks and Spencer joins Tesco, Starbucks and Wickes in bidding farewell to brick-and-mortar sites.
Large-scale retail restructuring is a reality for many fan-favourite brands, Marks and Spencer included, trying to keep up with changing shopping habits.
Stores closing this week
Tesco
Supermarket giant Tesco is the first to close a shop today, August 15. Locals in Chippenham who frequented the superstore site in the Emery Gate Shopping Centre have bid goodbye to the conveniently placed branch.
Its town centre location made it easy for people without a car to visit for their weekly shop. However, shoppers will now have to make do with a new Tesco Express store that’s opening nearby.
The new branch will debut on Chippenham High Street. Opening hours are expected to be 6am to 11pm, like most other Express stores in the UK.
Since July, signs in the new Tesco Express shopfront have advertised to customers that the branch will be opening on Friday, August 16, the day after the superstore closure.
Marks and Spencer
Shoppers in Redhill, Surrey may have viewed the 33-year-old M&S store as a permanent fixture of the Belfry Shopping Centre, but the branch will close this Saturday, August 17. It comes as part of the brand’s major reshuffle of its UK sites which was announced in October 2022.
Andy Nash, manager at the Belfry Shopping Centre in Redhill, said the site has been “much loved” since it first opened 33 years ago and the centre would be said to lose it.
He said: “We wish all of the M&S staff well and thank them for being part of the Belfry’s history.” Mr Nash noted that the shopping centre remained “extremely positive” going forward with the centre “busier than ever”. He added: “We have strong enquiries on the retail space that we will obviously now seek to progress.”
Starbucks
The Market Square Starbucks in Woolgate Shopping Centre, Witney, will be locking up for the last time in just a few days. Fans of the globally renowned US coffee brand will see the cafe close on Friday, August 16.
Customers have lauded the “extremely nice staff” at the Witney store, with many self-professed “regulars” sharing their positive experiences in Google reviews.
Some locals have speculated that Starbucks might relocate to the former Costa Coffee spot on Welch Way, which is currently empty, but the company has stated there are no plans to open a new store there.
Wickes
The DIY giant Wickes will close down its 30-year-old store in Moore Street, Sheffield this weekend. Fans of the property-focused chain will see the branch close for good on Friday, August 16.
It’s not thought to be part of widespread closures despite following a store in Bristol which recently shut down.
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